iTunes Podcasting Subscription

One key area where I see iTunes making a big difference in the podcasting space is improving the subscription process. Currently, most of the subscribe options require podcasters to explain to users how to right-click and copy the URL before pasting it into a specific podcast receiving application or news aggregator. At the moment, most of us are stuck with scaring listeners away when they click on a link that reveals raw RSS code. A few javascript hacks have attempted to make this better, but the real solution is to have something imbedded in the URL that directs listeners to a subscription location. iTunes does this better than any other option (assuming your podcast is already listed in iTunes) Clicking on a link to the iTunes page for your podcast launches iTunes and displays the page with the option to preview specific "episodes" or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

A standard http://link for your podcast looks like this:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lockergnome-daily-report-chris/id73330048

Subscribers are directed to your page in iTunes with a simple one-click subscribe process directly in iTunes.