Fusebox Smart Podcast Player Review 2023- Legit? Really the Best Podcasting on the Market?

Quick Summary: Did you know that 51% of Americans have listened to at least one podcast episode in their lifetime, and are aware of the concept of podcasting?

And did you know that 31% of Americans listen to podcasts every month? And that said number is rising steeply with no end in sight?

Podcasting is exploding, and as a smart marketer and webmaster, it’s time for you to join in and have a slice of that pie.

In my Smart Podcast Player review for 2023 (now rebranded as Fusebox Podcast Player), I cover both pros and cons, who should get and should avoid this WordPress plugin.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What is Smart Podcast Player?

---

Smart Podcast Player is a feature-rich WordPress podcast plugin that lets you publish and display your podcast episodes directly on your website or blog.

Fusebox is the brainchild of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income and Matthew Gartland of Wining Edits.

Pat Flynn built the first version of the plugin in 2015 and named it “AskPat” after his, then-new, podcast.

He developed the plugin to serve his own needs, and because he was deeply dissatisfied with other podcasting plugins on the market at the time.

Initially, he had no intention of monetizing it and selling it to other podcasters.

However, he got encouraging feedback from early listeners and that spurned him to keep reiterating and improving upon this plugin.

And now we have Fusebox Smart Podcast Player, a popular and rapidly improving WordPress podcast plugin.

Smart Podcast Player Features

---

This WordPress plugin is feature-rich.

Here are some of the features that make Smart Podcast Player stand out among its competitors.

#1- Multi-Platform Support

Smart Podcast Player used to be a just WordPress plugin for displaying your podcast episodes on your WordPress website.

Now, they’ve shifted into being a multi-platform tool that can help you grow your podcast following regardless of the blogging platform.

Fusebox Smart Podcast Player works with:

#2- Abundant Integrations

You can connect Smart Podcast Player with your visitor’s favourite podcasting platforms.

Fusebox Player easily integrates with:

Plus ESP providers like:

• MailChimp;
• ConvertKit;
• Aweber;
• etc.

[/wps_lists]

#3- Lots of Customization Options

You can fully customize Smart Fusebox Player to match the look and feel of your website.

For example, you can switch between dark and light modes, use one of the template colour schemes provided, or create your own.

The sky is the limit!

And it’s all done quickly and easily in the back end.

I find that having abundant customization options is very important and helps you differentiate your site from your competitors.

It’s a branding thing, and people trust brands

#4- It Loads Very Fast- And Won’t Bog Down Your Site

Most podcasting plugins are slow to load, and often crash and don’t load at all.

Not Smart Podcast Player. This WordPress plugin is so lightweight that it won’t affect your site speed at all.

In fact, it’ll often seem like you haven’t installed it at all.

Except of course that it’ll always be there and working hard on your behalf 🙂

#5- Mobile Responsive

Fusebox Smart Podcast Player is a fully responsive WordPress plugin.

This means it looks and works great on any device and on any screen size.

Your content will always be very accessible, front and centre.

#6- Fully Interactive Player

Pat Flynn built Fusebox Player so as to create a better listening experience for his audience.

And now your audience can benefit too 🙂

They’ll easily be able to:

#7- Download, Share, And Subscription Options Galore

Each podcast episode embed in each of your blog posts helps your marketing in 3 ways.

First, your visitors will be able to share your content with their audience on Twitter, Facebook, and via email…

Second, they will also be able to subscribe to your show on their favourite podcasting platform, be it Apple Podcast, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Buzzsprout, or RSS feed…

Third, your visitors will be able to download your episodes so they can listen when it’s most convenient for them.

Great opportunity for you to expose them to your brand even when they’re not in front of their computers.

#8- Built-in Email Capture Tool

Smart Podcast Player is the only podcasting plugin on the market that can help you build your email list and generate new leads.

When you customize the plugin you can embed an opt-in form into the podcast player.

And when users click on the button, a popup appears and they can subscribe to your newsletter.

Here’s what it looks like on Pat Flynn’s website.

#9- Sticky Player

Do you know what Sticky Bars are?

Here’s a good example.

Sticky bars “stick” to top or bottom of the page and move with the user as they scroll up or down.

So they never leave their sight and are PERFECT for subtle, but persistent promotion.

You can achieve the same with Fusebox Smart Podcast Player.

It’s a wonderful feature that helps you promote your podcast episodes in a non-obtrusive fashion.

What’s more, each page on your site can have its own dedicated sticky podcast episode that thematically ties into the page.

This is a wonderful, strategic, and passive way of promoting your best content!

#10- 3 Different Players

Did you know that Smart Podcast Player is actually 3 players rolled into one product?

You probably didn’t, because here you are reading my Smart Podcast Player review.

But it’s true!

First, there is the Fusebox Full player (also called Archive player) which lets you display all your podcast episodes in one place.

On the right, there are episodes (which you can order the way you like, btw) and on the left are episode titles, descriptions, tags, etc.

The feature I particularly like is the search function above the episode list. It makes finding a particular episode you want to listen to a breeze.

Finally, the newly introduced feature to Archive Player is the Full Page View feature, which lets your web visitor open your podcast episode in a new tab so they can listen while browsing your site.

Because earlier you had to stay on the same page as that podcast episode and if you left, the episode stopped playing.

Very annoying.

Second, there is Fusebox Track Player which lets you embed and showcase individual important episodes on any page on your site.

You can also use it highlights new episodes as they roll out.

Thirdly, there is a Site-Wide Sticky Player. It’s similar to Track Player, but the difference is that this one sticks to the bottom of the page and follows your visitors, as they scroll.

#11- SEO Friendly Transcripts

Here’s the truth:

Most transcripts are not SEO-friendly.

Google cannot parse them easily and as such, they don’t contribute to SEO one iota.

With Smart Podcast Player, things are different, very different.

It’s because you get another plugin called “Fusebox Transcript” to install and create SEO-friendly podcast transcripts.

Here’s what it looks like.

With the help of Fusebox Transcript you’ll serve up SEO-friendly transcripts to Google, without needing a complete guide to podcast transcription and in turn, they’ll index and rank your podcast episodes for a bunch of natural, long-tail keywords.

Another clear benefit is letting your auditory-impaired visitors consume your content.

Did you know that 3.6 percent of Americans are auditory impaired?

By giving them a way to easily consume your content, you’ll be both making their life easier and building appreciation and good equity for your brand.

It’s a win-win.

#12- Customer Support

Smart Podcast Player offers excellent customer support. It’s done via chat on their website or email (help@fusebox.fm)

However, before contacting support,  I suggest you explore their extensive knowledge centre, where you can learn pretty much everything you need to know about the SPP plugin.

I got my answer in a span of a few hours.

Very fast and responsive support.

Smart Podcast Player Pros and Cons

---

My Smart Podcast Player review would be incomplete without a pros and cons section.

Enjoy 😀

PROS

#1- Simple To Use

Smart Podcast Player is yet another WordPress plugin.

This means it’s easy to install, easy to set it up, and easy to use it. And all done through your WordPress back-end, which is super convenient.

So there’s no extra hassle of using some cloud app to access Smart Podcast Player since it’s right there on your site.

And no need to do any coding because you can manipulate pretty much everything with a set of shortcodes you can find here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1avuVvqcky2bikSFd0xH_9A-BY_FZ8HRAfgJ8bSpv80s/edit#gid=0).

For example, you can hide the tags, the podcast description, the download, and RSS subscription buttons.

You can change colour and do many other things by adding different elements to your main shortcode.

And you don’t need to memorize shortcodes as the button for them will appear right within your WordPress dashboard.

#2- Fusebox Smart Podcast Player Enhances Your Marketing

Fusebox Smart Podcast Player is built for marketing.

It can help you get:

It’s like a machine working on autopilot on growing your brand.

#3- Universal Podcast Host Compatibility

I hope you’re not hosting your podcast directly on your WordPress site.

If you are, you better stop ASAP as it’ll eat through your storage and bandwidth like hungry mice eat through Swiss cheese.

Instead, you need to purchase decent podcast hosting.

As for which one?

Whichever one you like and can afford.

The good news is that Smart Podcast Player works with all podcast hosting platforms. You just need to add in your podcast feeds.

#4- Integrates With PodPage

As of recently, Pat Flynn’s Smart Podcast Player integrates with PodPage.

PodPage is an innovative platform that lets podcasters create simple websites in 10m or less.

The platform works by creating sites out of podcast RSS feeds and those are completely functional and customizable as per the podcaster’s taste.

PodPage is the answer for those podcasters who just want to podcast and need a simple website to represent their brand.

Perfect for those who don’t want to fumble about with WordPress, Weebly, Wix, or even worse, hand-coded HTML sites.

And now that Smart Podcast Player integrates with PodPage, it’s a double whammy.

Here’s a simple tutorial to making podcasting websites with PodPage

#5- 60-Day Money Back Guarantee

60 days is plenty of time for you to see if you gel with Fusebox Smart Podcast Player or not.

If you decide you don’t like it, simply ask for a refund and it will be given to you.

#6- The Plugin Won’t Stop Working If You Decide To Not Renew License

If you use the plugin for a while and then you decide you don’t want or need it anymore, you can safely cancel your subscription and the plugin will still work just fine.

That said, if you cancel, you won’t get any more updates as new and better versions roll out.

This could leave your site vulnerable to hackers, and outdated WordPress plugins are the easiest entry point for them.

#7- Awesome Customer Reviews

Smart Podcast Player has gotten some awesome reviews from satisfied customers.

Take a look at what people say over at ProductHunt.

Smart Podcast Player CONS

---

#1- It’s a WordPress-Exclusive Plugin

Fusebox SPP is a plugin built for WordPress sites.

So it won’t work with free websites and Web 2.0’s (for example SquareSpace and Tumblr).

Again, if your blog is built with any other CMS besides WordPress, you won’t be able to use this plugin.

Update: starting from 2021- Fusebox Smart Podcast Player DOES work on other blogging platforms and it’s no longer a WordPress-exclusive tool 🙂

#2- Support Could Be Better

Fusebox support is handled by FPP Labs, who’re the parent company behind Fusebox Podcast Player.

They support you via email and you can contact them here help@fusebox.fm.

Not bad, but I would’ve preferred a live chat system because that’s always much faster than even the fastest email support.

Update!

Fusebox have recently added an extensive knowledge center where you can learn pretty much everything you need to know to use Fusebox on your site.

There’s also a hybrid live chat option. It’s not truly live, but from experience, I can tell you answers come through typically in a few hours.

4 Reasons Why You Should Use Smart Podcast Player Instead of Other Podcasting Plugins

---

There are more than 4 but I want to keep my Smart Podcast Player review lean, informative, and not overbearing. I know you don’t have time to read novels here 🙂

#1- Platform Exclusivity

What I mean is, SPP Smart Podcast Player lets you display your podcast episodes on your website.

See what I’m getting at?

On your site, you’re in control and you have zero competition for your visitor’s attention.

Whereas on platforms like Spotify, Stitcher or Podbean you get competition from all sides and it’s very easy to lose those would-be listeners.

#2- Website-Podcast Synergy

What do I mean by this?

I mean that Smart Podcast Player gives you a unique ability to grow your site AND podcast at the same time.

Think about it, people that listen to your podcast episodes on your site obviously like it and will want to subscribe to your list.

Once subscribed they’re firmly on the road to becoming your future customers and brand evangelist. The money that you make from your list you can later reinvest into your site’s SEO helping it rise faster in the SERPS.

I know it seems far fetched, but it’s actually a quite realistic, long-term game, and it’s you intelligently using your podcast to get people into your funnel.

No other podcasting plugin on the market does that.

#3- Fast Email List Building

Smart Passive Income Player is the only WordPress plugin that lets you collect emails from your listeners. No other plugin offers this feature and it alone makes SPP plugin worth it.

It’s because… well you know perfectly well why.

Money is in the list! But so is security.

Owning a big email list is like having a non-perishable asset you can use again and again.

Big email list means having full control of your financial situation at all times.

And Smart Podcast Player helps turn it into reality.

#4- SEO Benefit

This sounds like a bit of a stretch, but it’s actually not.

Google like to see people stay on your site for longer. That means your site is of sufficiently high quality. And it also means they as a search engine did a good job of displaying your site in the SERPS.

And when your visitors listen to your podcast episodes, that automatically makes them stay longer and boosts your average session dwell time.

In other words- higher dwell time can help with your rankings in Google SERPS.

Who Should Avoid Getting This Plugin For Their WordPress Site?

---

Here are 2 reasons why you should NOT buy Smart Podcast Player WordPress plugin for your site.

First, It doesn’t make sense to invest your money in this plugin if you have a new site with zero traffic. Or an older site that’s still struggling to get organic traffic from Google.

In that case, it’s much better to use that money to buy a decent keyword tool (I recommend SEMrush).

Second, if you’re not serious about podcasting; and you plan to publish episodes here and there and when you get around to it. Then you shouldn’t get this plugin.

You simply won’t find much value in it.

Fusebox is best suited for pro podcasters, and also for people who want to become pros.

Smart Podcast Player Pricing- What Does it Cost?

---

Smart Podcast Player pricing plans are:

PLANS	MONTHLY PRICE	YEARLY PRICE
Free	/	/
Pro	$19/mo	$15.83/mo (billed annually)

Monthly Fusebox Pro plan is best for people who want to test out the plugin and see if it’s the right choice for them.

Yearly plan is for people who already know Smart Passive Income Player is perfect for them and can’t wait to get started with professional podcasting.

There is also a free version of Smart Podcast Player, However, the best features this plugin is renowned for are missing from the free version.

Fusebox Smart Podcast Player FAQ- All Your Questions Answered!

---

And if not all, then most of it 🙂

#1- Is Smart Podcast Player Free? Is there a Free Trial?

Smart Podcast Player is a premium plugin and product.

They also offer a free version of their plugin which you can download from their website.

But free plugin lacks important features like the ability to collect emails.

There is no free trial available, but there is a 60-day money-back guarantee.

#2- Is Smart Podcast Player a Popular Plugin?

Yes it is.

It’s the best and most widely used WordPress plugin for podcasting.

Besides Pat Flynn, other podcasting powerhouses using it are John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire, Loz James of Content Champion, Jeff Sanders of 5AM Miracle and thousands more.

#3- Does Fusebox Smart Podcast Player Work With Free Website Platforms?

Yes, it does.

With the launch of Fusebox 2.0 earlier this year the plugin supports:

This is a major update because earlier, Fusebox Podcast Player was a WordPress plugin and nothing more. And now it’s a multi-platform tool for podcast growth.

#4- Is Fusebox Smart Podcast Player a Suitable Replacement for Podcast Hosting?

No, it’s not.
Fusebox is a suite of podcasting tools, and not a hosting platform.

So you’ll still need to host your podcast with some podcast hosting platform. I recommend Blubrry (get the discount).

#5- Can I Use Smart Podcast Player With Multiple Podcasts?

Yes, you can.
As long as those podcasts are on the same WordPress website.

But you cannot install one plugin on two separate sites.

For that you’ll need two Fusebox licenses.

#6- Do Smart Podcast Player Have An Affiliate Program?

Yes they do.

Here are some points worth knowing.

If you’re an affiliate marketer looking to earn money, then you should join the Smart Podcast Player affiliate program as they’re legit.

#7- What’s the Customer Support Like?

Support is active from Monday to Friday and is done via email.

Their staff is very knowledgeable, friendly and professional, and you can reach them on this email address-help@fusebox.fm.

There’s also a live chat feature on the website itself and I recommend you go there first because most problems can be solved with a simple chat:)

#8- How To Change Smart Podcast Player Appearance?

Learn how to change Smart Podcast Player appearance with my tutorial here.

Concluding my Smart Podcast Player Review 2023… Worth it or Not?

---

Look:

If you’re going to start podcasting for real and not just dabble in it, then I suggest you get equipped with the best tools that can help you reach the success you crave sooner, rather than later, or NEVER.

Besides physical gear (like a good mic) Smart Podcast Player is at the top of that list of helpful tools.

Smart Podcast Player can help you build your brand.

It can help you grow your email list.

It’ll keep people on your site longer, so they engage with your business some more.

It’s an invaluable plugin to have and it’s only getting better with age.

So let me conclude my Smart Podcast Player review by asking you a simple question:

are you going to buy it?

Remember, there’s a 60-day refund guarantee, so you have nothing to lose.

Here is the link to get it now!

You’ll thank me later that you did.