Better Radio Websites

We believe more radio people should adjust their mindset and think of your station website as a sister radio station. You want visitors to come back day after day. So, just like your radio station, this requires “programming” the content that pulls people back on a consistent basis. Think how easy of a sell it would be to walk into a business and show them that their banner ad will be in front of...

We’ve always preached here to do all you can to drive traffic back to the website where you can monetize it. Newsletters are an awesome way to do that and inform your listeners. Have your doubts? Rest assured that newsletters remain an effective communication channel for radio stations to keep in touch with their listeners. So, why send regular newsletters? Drives brand awareness for your radio st...

Just because you’ve built a website for your radio station does not mean visitors will start flowing in. Thankfully, there are some tactics that you can employ right now to boost your visitors. These are not tips you can do once or twice and expect to gain numbers. These are tips that need to become of your daily routine. Before we get to the tips, you must think of visitor page views and unique v...

Every year at this time it’s customary to look back on the previous year and examine things you could be doing better, and this should include your station website. Here are eight website resolutions that we think are worth considering. 1) Devote More Resources to Your Station Website: The importance of your station website across all departments should be equal to the importance of programming yo...

We’re visual by nature and visually driven. We perceive pictures faster than words, so images are scanned first, before the text. It’s important to include images on your station website. Unfortunately, one of the most proven ways to slow down your website (especially on mobile) is to use images that are not sized and compressed properly for online use. This can vary depending on the file format....

One of the neatest and surprisingly easiest ways we’ve seen to engage with your local community is to offer a “Best of” campaign on your radio station website. These are created for your listeners to submit and/or vote on their favorite local businesses like restaurants, auto service shops, coffee shops, best pizza, etc. It’s sure to generate a buzz on-air and through social channels… not to menti...

Any successful website, whether it’s for a radio station or not, needs to do all it can to keep visitors coming back regularly… multiple times per day is ideal, but at least once per day. Great content is the number one reason for visitors to return often. Let’s say you have great content covered whether it be local news, events, etc. There could be some mistakes you’re making that can leave a bad...

The speed of any website helps form the first impression for a visitor of that website and the business it represents. Developers and content creators strive hard to make a website aesthetically pleasing as well as functional by adding numerous features, content, and functionalities. However, if these features or the content are not adequately optimized it may adversely affect website speed. How f...

You can spend a lot of time creating content so that your listeners and website visitor stay informed. This great content helps with search engine optimization as well. But what if there were evidence that many of your visitors are not finishing the articles you publish? Would you still take the time to create extensive news articles and blog content and if so, would you feel bad about dedicating...

Before you sit down to make your list of website goals, you need to know why your site exists. Please don’t say, “because everyone including my competitor does” or “for better branding”. Neither of those is the proper response. What action do you want your website visitors to take? What do you want them to do or know once they’ve left your website? Do you want them to…? - Give you their contact in...

Each week we explain ways to make your radio station website more appealing to listeners, but what are you doing online to attract more advertisers?  How are they finding out about all the opportunities that your radio station has that could benefit them?  This week we’ll talk about why your station or group of stations should have an additional dedicated corporate/group website. Having...

The homepage slider. They’re sometimes called “carousels” or “slide shows“. They once ruled the web because people were captivated by something moving on the page. Over time though, and especially in recent years, they’ve become a disappointing user experience.  Here are 5 reasons why you end the relationship with your huge homepage slider. 1. Sliders Contribute to Lost Traffic: Sliders slow...

Evergreen content is a powerful tool for building traffic, earning links, and improving rankings. If you want to create a successful website, it should be part of your content strategy. What Is Evergreen Content? The term “evergreen” comes from the world of plants. It describes those plants that don’t lose their leaves with the seasons and instead stay green all year round. That is also what everg...

I recently had a conversation with a local sales manager who works for a national group in a medium-sized market and asked him how they were doing at selling their station websites. I was blown away by his response, “We don’t unless someone asks about it – which is never.” When I asked why he said that there, "wasn’t much local content and really no reason to focus on the website". And then most t...

It’s probably safe to say that when most people upload images to their station website, they neglect adding additional meta information they should. We’re talking about the ALT TAG, DESCRIPTION TAG and the CAPTION. Most of the time these three meta fields will NOT appear on the frontend of your website, but if you DO add them, it can help your website grow and help a special segment of your visito...

Today we’re talking about Display Ad Networks that can help you generate passive income you’re your radio station website. Ideally, you have a team of sellers that are excited to sell your website on the street, but if you have great content to offer and having trouble in that department, these Ad Networks can help your website generate revenue while your team gets up to speed. Don’t expect making...

The best way to ensure your station website pages and posts are found by people using search engines is by utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. SEO covers a wide range of strategies and activities based on what we know about how search engines determine their rankings. Here are some 10 beginner-friendly ways to give your site a push-up in the search rankings. 1. Build Your Conten...

Banner ads are one of the best forms of marketing used in today’s online world. All companies use them in one form or another because they’re an affordable, measurable, and effective way to increase brand awareness. Need a free Photoshop alternative?  Try https://pixlr.com/editor/ . Every day we are tasked with taking client information and turning that into effective radio campaigns. We shou...

An old/outdated website sends a message that you aren’t up on the latest trends. There comes a time when every radio station needs to revamp and re-launch for better impact. For example, older websites might not be optimized for speed. You can’t afford to keep a bulky, outdated website that doesn’t look great or load fast on mobile devices. The general recommendation is that you redesign any websi...

Being a radio personality is much different than it was just 10 years ago. In the past, the hardest part of your day was the hour or two of show prep.  But today you need to do much more before, during, and AFTER to have a successful show.  These tips apply no matter what market size you're in. 1. Use Digital Tools for Show Prep Use an RSS Reader that pulls content from a combination of...

Knowing there are so many options, your agency and smart local clients will ask, “What do you have available?” Unfortunately, many sellers will not have a clear answer. A radio station website alone can provide many of the same opportunities as your radio station, but as you grow your website and other digital assets, there are oh so many more opportunities to sell. “Inventory” is the total amount...

Copyright laws are getting stricter and the means photographers and agencies have to find their images is getting much better. Don’t think you’ll ever get caught. Stay on top of it. The best photos you can post are the ones you take locally. Take a day or two and devote time to building a local repository of local images. Schools, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, post offices, city buildings,...

Local sports programming can be a huge revenue generator. Airing play-by-plays on Friday nights is nothing new, but a growing number of stations are using apps and websites to expand their coverage. Adding a digital component isn’t something new. Some early-adopting radio stations have built year-round online revenue generators just providing local sports content on their station websites. Some ha...

Countless research papers and benchmarks prove that optimizing your website speed is one of the most affordable and highest ROI providing investments you can make in your radio station website. Why Speed is Important? Lightning-fast page load speed amplifies visitor engagement and retention. Every second delay in page load decreases customer satisfaction by 16 percent, page views by 11 percent, an...

RSS Feeds Limit the number of external links that take your visitors away from your visitors (and advertisers).  LOCAL content wins!  Give your visitors content they can't find anywhere else.  Not the stuff that can be found everywhere else. What content can you provide that isn’t provided anywhere else in your coverage area?  Here are some examples: High school sports scores,...