How to Use the Podcast Block in UniLink (Embed Your Podcast on Your Bio Page)
How to Use the Podcast Block in UniLink (Embed Your Podcast on Your Bio Page)
A step-by-step guide to adding the Podcast block to your UniLink page so your audience can discover, play, and subscribe to your show without leaving your bio — whether you publish on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Buzzsprout, or via an RSS feed.
- The Podcast block embeds a playable podcast player directly on your UniLink page — visitors can listen to your latest episode or browse your full playlist without clicking away to a separate app or platform.
- Supported sources include Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor/Spotify for Creators, SoundCloud, Buzzsprout, Podbean, and direct RSS feeds or MP3 URLs — pick the source that matches your publishing setup.
- Choose between three display modes depending on your goal: latest episode (auto-updates whenever you publish), a specific episode by URL, or a full playlist with multiple episodes visible at once.
- Add a dedicated "Subscribe on Spotify" or "Listen on Apple Podcasts" Links block directly below the Podcast block — the embedded player builds interest but a subscription link captures it for the long term.
Most podcasters share their show the same way: they post the Spotify link or the Apple Podcasts link, and whoever taps it gets redirected to a streaming app that may or may not have the episode ready to play. That redirect adds friction and adds a step between your audience and your content. The Podcast block removes that step by bringing the player to your bio page — a visitor who taps your UniLink can hear your voice within three seconds without downloading an app, navigating a platform, or doing anything other than pressing play. For creators who work across platforms — posting Reels, publishing newsletters, running a TikTok — the bio page with an embedded player becomes the single place where anyone can experience your audio content regardless of which podcast platform they prefer or whether they use podcast apps at all.
What the Podcast block does
The Podcast block embeds a fully functional podcast player on your UniLink page. Depending on the source and display mode you choose, it can show a single episode with play/pause controls and a progress bar, your latest episode with metadata pulled automatically from your feed, or a playlist view showing multiple episodes that visitors can scroll and select. The player runs inline — no pop-up, no redirect — so visitors who start listening continue listening as they scroll through the rest of your page. The embed is responsive and works on both desktop and mobile.
The block supports a wide range of publishing setups. If you publish on Spotify, paste your Spotify show URL or episode URL and the Spotify embedded player renders with your show's cover art, title, episode list, and all playback controls. If you publish on Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout, Podbean, or SoundCloud, each platform has its own embed URL format that the block handles. For shows published directly to an RSS feed without relying on a major platform's embed code, the block includes a generic RSS player that pulls episode data from your feed and displays it in a clean list format. For creators with direct MP3 hosting — a Patreon bonus episode, a standalone audio file — direct MP3 URL embeds also work, playing the file in a simple inline audio player.
The block's limitations are mostly platform-specific. Spotify episodes or shows marked as private or podcast-only will not embed publicly — the embed requires the episode or show to be publicly accessible. Apple Podcasts embeds depend on Apple's own embed service, which sometimes renders differently across browsers. RSS-based players pull episode artwork from the feed metadata, so if your feed does not include episode-level artwork tags, the player may show your default show artwork for all episodes rather than individual episode images. None of these are problems with the block itself; they reflect the constraints of each platform's embed system.
Before you start
- Identify your primary publishing platform: Where does your podcast live first — Spotify for Creators (formerly Anchor), Buzzsprout, Podbean, Libsyn? Knowing this determines which embed URL or RSS feed URL you will use in the block. If you publish on multiple platforms through a distributor, your RSS feed URL is the most platform-neutral choice and will display correctly regardless of where each individual listener subscribes.
- Get your embed URL, not your share URL: For Spotify shows, the embed-ready URL format is
https://open.spotify.com/show/YOUR_SHOW_IDfor the full show orhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/EPISODE_IDfor a specific episode. For Buzzsprout, go to your episode, click Share → Embed, and copy the src URL from the iframe code (you do not need the full iframe tag, just the URL). For Apple Podcasts, the embed URL format is your Apple Podcasts show link — the block handles the conversion to embed format. For SoundCloud, your public show URL works directly. - Decide on your display mode before configuring the block: Latest episode mode is the right default for most podcasters — it auto-updates as you publish and always shows your newest content without requiring you to edit the block after each release. Specific episode mode is useful when you want to permanently highlight a flagship episode or a high-value interview regardless of what you have published since. Playlist mode is best for a dedicated podcast page where you want visitors to browse multiple episodes.
- Plan the blocks around your Podcast block: The player generates interest but does not capture it for the long term. Decide now what goes below the player — at minimum, a Links block with "Subscribe on Spotify" and "Listen on Apple Podcasts" buttons. Optionally, a text block with your show description, a Testimonials block with listener reviews, or a Links block pointing to a Patreon or newsletter. The player is the entry point; the surrounding blocks determine what happens to visitors after they have listened.
How to add the Podcast block to your page
- Open your page in the Dashboard: Log in to UniLink, navigate to My Pages, and click Edit on the page where you want the podcast player to appear.
- Add a new block: Click + Add Block in the editor. In the block picker, find the Media or Audio section and select Podcast.
- Select your source type: The block settings panel shows a source type dropdown. Select the platform that matches your publishing setup: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Buzzsprout, Podbean, RSS feed, or Direct MP3. This selection determines which URL field appears next and how the block handles the embed.
- Paste your URL or RSS feed: Enter the podcast show URL, specific episode URL, or RSS feed URL in the field that appears. For RSS feeds, this is the feed URL from your hosting platform — in Buzzsprout it appears in your dashboard under Podcast Settings → Destinations as "RSS Feed." In Podbean it is under Settings → Feed. Paste the URL exactly as provided — do not add or remove anything.
- Choose your display mode: Select Latest episode, Specific episode, or Playlist from the display mode options. If you choose Specific episode, a second URL field will appear — paste the episode URL here. If you choose Playlist, a count field will appear letting you set how many episodes to display (typically 3–5 is the right range for a bio page).
- Configure player style: Choose between full player (shows cover art, episode title, description, and full controls) and compact bar (a minimal strip with title and play/pause only). Full player is better for a podcast-focused page where audio is the primary content. Compact bar is better when the player is one element among many on a general bio page and you want it to take less visual space.
- Set autoplay preference: The autoplay toggle determines whether the episode starts playing automatically when the page loads. Leave autoplay off for most use cases — autoplay audio on page load is widely disliked by visitors and can increase bounce rate. Autoplay is only appropriate if your page is specifically designed as a listening page and visitors arrive expecting audio.
- Save and publish: Click Save, then Publish. Open your live page on a phone (this is important — podcast pages see high mobile traffic from social media referrals, and the player should look correct at mobile screen sizes). Tap play and confirm the episode loads and plays without errors.
Key settings explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Source type | Which platform or format the block uses to load the podcast player | Match this to your primary publishing platform; if you want a platform-neutral embed that works regardless of where listeners subscribe, use RSS feed — it is the most portable and does not favor any single platform's player UI |
| Podcast/episode URL | The URL of the show, specific episode, or RSS feed that the player loads | Use the public-facing show URL for your platform (e.g., open.spotify.com/show/...), not the dashboard URL from your hosting platform — dashboard URLs are internal and will not embed correctly |
| Display mode | Whether the block shows the latest episode, a specific episode, or a playlist of multiple episodes | Use latest episode as your default — it auto-updates with each new publish and keeps your page current without any manual editing; switch to specific episode only if you have a flagship episode you want permanently featured |
| Player style | Full player (art, title, description, controls) vs. compact bar (minimal strip with play/pause) | Full player on podcast-focused pages where audio is the primary content; compact bar when the podcast is one element among many on a general bio page — the compact bar takes less space and loads faster |
| Episode count (playlist mode) | How many episodes appear in the playlist view | Three to five episodes is the right range for a bio page; showing more than five makes the block too tall and pushes other page content below the fold on mobile; less than three does not give visitors enough context to assess whether the show is worth subscribing to |
| Autoplay | Whether the episode begins playing automatically when the page loads | Leave off in almost every case — autoplay audio on page load increases bounce rate; most browsers on mobile also block autoplay by default anyway, so enabling it produces inconsistent behavior across devices |
| Show/hide episode list | In playlist mode, whether the list of episodes is visible below the player or hidden | Show the episode list — visible episode titles are the primary way visitors decide which episode to play first; hiding the list forces them to skip blindly, which reduces engagement |
Getting the most out of your Podcast block
The Podcast block solves a specific problem that every podcaster who is also a social media creator faces: their content lives in podcast apps, but their audience primarily sees their content through Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. Someone who discovers you through a TikTok video and taps your bio link almost certainly does not have a podcast app open. Putting a playable episode directly on your bio page means they can hear your show in the same browser session where they discovered you, without needing to download Spotify or navigate Apple Podcasts. That low-friction first listen is the difference between a curious visitor and someone who subscribes later that day.
The display mode you choose determines how the block serves different types of visitors. Latest episode mode works well for returning visitors who already know the show and want to catch up on new content — they arrive, see the newest episode, and play it without hunting. Specific episode mode is powerful for showing new visitors your best work: your most downloaded episode, your highest-rated interview, the episode that consistently converts listeners into subscribers. If you have data on which episode has the best completion rate or generates the most subscription activity, that is the one to feature permanently in specific episode mode.
Playlist mode serves a different audience entirely — people who are doing research on whether to subscribe. They want to see the range of topics you cover, assess whether your production quality is consistent, and understand what kind of guest or format the show typically uses. A playlist of four or five episodes signals a catalog rather than a one-off experiment. For a podcast that has been running for more than six months, playlist mode often performs better than single-episode mode because it gives the "is this show worth my subscription?" visitor enough evidence to decide yes.
One pattern worth testing: create a dedicated podcast page within your UniLink account — separate from your main bio page — and link to it from your main page with a block labeled "Listen to [Show Name]." The dedicated podcast page gives you room to write a proper show description, display a full episode list, include listener reviews, and link to every platform. Your main bio page stays clean while the podcast page does the depth work for visitors who arrived specifically because of the show. This two-page approach is especially effective for TikTok creators whose bio pages need to serve multiple audiences with different intents simultaneously.
Troubleshooting common issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify embed shows a blank or "not available" message | The episode or show is set to private, podcast-only on Spotify, or geo-restricted in the visitor's region | Open the episode in Spotify and confirm it is publicly available — log out of Spotify and try loading the episode URL in an incognito window; if it shows "not available" there, the episode's privacy settings are the issue and need to be changed in Spotify for Creators |
| RSS player shows no episode artwork for individual episodes | The RSS feed does not include episode-level image tags — it only has the show-level cover art | In your podcast hosting platform (Buzzsprout, Podbean, etc.) confirm that each episode has a unique episode image uploaded; if no episode image is set, the feed defaults to the show cover art for all episodes and the RSS player has no episode-level image to display |
| Latest episode mode is showing an old episode | The block is caching the feed and has not refreshed to detect the new episode | Edit the block and click Save (without changing anything) — this forces the block to re-fetch the RSS feed and update to the latest episode; UniLink caches feed data periodically and a manual save triggers a fresh pull |
| Player does not appear at all on the live page | The URL pasted is the hosting platform's internal dashboard URL, not the public-facing show URL | Copy the URL from the show's public page (the URL a listener would visit), not from your hosting platform's backend dashboard; internal dashboard URLs require authentication and will not embed publicly |
| Apple Podcasts embed renders differently across browsers | Apple's embed service has known inconsistencies between Safari, Chrome, and Firefox in how it handles the podcast player widget | Test on the browsers your audience actually uses (Chrome on Android, Safari on iOS are the most common for social-referral traffic); if Apple's embed is too inconsistent, switch to a Spotify embed or RSS player which has more consistent cross-browser behavior |
| Playlist mode shows episodes from the wrong show | The RSS feed URL points to a Feedburner or redirect URL that resolves to a different feed than expected | Use your hosting platform's native RSS URL, not a Feedburner or third-party redirect URL — go directly to Buzzsprout, Podbean, or your host's settings to copy the canonical feed URL; redirect chains can resolve to unexpected feeds |
Best fit for
- Podcasters who build their audience primarily through social media and need a frictionless way for new visitors to hear the show without being redirected to a separate app
- Creators who want to convert bio page visitors into podcast subscribers by giving them a playable sample directly in the bio context, before they have to commit to opening a podcast app
- TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube creators who also podcast and want to surface their audio content to an audience that primarily engages with video
- Podcast hosts with flagship or high-performing episodes they want to permanently feature rather than letting them disappear into the feed as new episodes are published
- Shows running dedicated subscription drives or launch pushes where maximizing listening and subscribing from every traffic source matters
Not the right tool if
- Your podcast episodes are private, paywalled, or Patreon-exclusive — the Podcast block requires publicly accessible episodes; private content will not embed and visitors will see an error or blank player
- You want to monetize the listening experience directly from the bio page — the Podcast block has no built-in monetization; pair it with a Links block pointing to your Patreon, membership, or tip jar if that is the goal
- You are linking to audio content that is not a podcast (a music track, a voice memo, a raw recording) — the Music or Audio block handles non-podcast audio in a way that is better matched to how visitors expect to interact with it
- Your primary goal is directing listeners to a specific platform's subscriber ecosystem — a plain Links block with platform buttons (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts) is cleaner and more intentional than an embedded player for audiences who prefer to listen in their native app
Frequently asked questions
Which podcast platforms does the Podcast block support?
The block supports Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor/Spotify for Creators, SoundCloud, Buzzsprout, Podbean, any RSS feed URL, and direct MP3 URLs. If your hosting platform is not in this list, use your RSS feed URL — virtually every podcast hosting platform generates a standard RSS feed and the block's RSS player will read it correctly as long as the feed is publicly accessible. The RSS player is also the most portable option if you ever change hosting platforms, since your RSS URL can be migrated with your content while platform-specific embed URLs would need to be updated.
Does the latest episode mode update automatically when I publish a new episode?
Yes — latest episode mode reads your feed or platform's API periodically and displays the most recently published episode. The update is not instantaneous; there is a cache window of up to a few hours after publishing before the new episode appears in the block. If you need the block to show a new episode immediately (for a time-sensitive launch), edit the block and save without changing anything to force a fresh feed pull. You do not need to edit the URL or reconfigure the block between each new episode — that is the primary benefit of latest episode mode over specific episode mode.
Can I embed a private or paywalled Patreon episode?
No — the Podcast block requires the episode URL to be publicly accessible without authentication. Private Patreon bonus episodes, Supercast-gated episodes, and any content requiring a login will not embed and visitors will see an error or a blank player. For exclusive content, use a Links block pointing to your Patreon or membership page rather than attempting to embed private episode URLs. The Podcast block is designed for public content that any visitor can hear as a discovery or conversion tool, not for content already gated for paid subscribers.
Should I use Spotify embed or RSS for my Podcast block?
If the majority of your subscribers are on Spotify and you primarily promote there, use the Spotify embed — it shows the familiar Spotify player UI which your audience already knows and the UX is polished and consistent. Use RSS if you want a platform-neutral experience that does not implicitly favor Spotify over Apple Podcasts or other platforms your listeners use. RSS also updates more reliably across browsers and does not depend on Spotify's embed infrastructure, which occasionally has API outages that temporarily break Spotify embeds on external pages. For most podcasters, the Spotify embed is the right default choice; RSS is the right choice if your audience is distributed across multiple platforms or if Spotify embed reliability has been an issue.
What should I put in the blocks above and below the Podcast block?
Above the Podcast block, put context that explains what the show is and who it is for — a short Bio block or a text block with your show's pitch in two sentences. Visitors who arrive from social media may not already know the show exists. Below the Podcast block, put action blocks: a Links block with "Subscribe on Spotify," "Listen on Apple Podcasts," and your other platform links. Optionally add a Testimonials block with listener reviews, and a Links block pointing to your newsletter or Patreon if those are relevant to your monetization setup. The player creates interest; the blocks below capture what visitors do with that interest.
- Use latest episode mode as your default — it keeps your page current without requiring you to edit the block each time you publish, and it ensures new visitors always hear your most recent work rather than an older episode you forgot to update.
- Always add subscription platform links (Spotify, Apple Podcasts) immediately below the Podcast block — visitors who decide to subscribe do so in the moment after their first listen, not at the bottom of a long scroll, and the link needs to be right there when they make that decision.
- Leave autoplay off — it increases bounce rate, most mobile browsers block it by default anyway, and the inconsistent behavior across devices makes it a net negative for almost every podcast page.
- If your Spotify embed shows blank, the episode is likely private or geo-restricted — open the episode in an incognito browser window while logged out of Spotify to confirm whether the episode is publicly accessible before troubleshooting the block settings.
- For podcasters who are also active on TikTok or Instagram, consider a dedicated podcast page within UniLink (separate from your main bio page) linked via a "Listen to [Show Name]" block — the dedicated page gives you space to fully showcase the show without competing with your other bio content for attention.
Ready to bring your podcast to your bio page? Create your free UniLink page and add the Podcast block to let any visitor hear your show in seconds — no app required, no redirect, just press play.
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