Routine Content Audits Boost Your Radio Website Engagement

Just this morning, a station general manager I know discovered that their online stream had been down for quite some time—and no one had noticed. Unfortunately, this kind of issue is all too common when websites go unchecked for long periods. We’ve touted the benefits of annual content audits, but if you wait until the end of the year to do a major audit, you risk missing day-to-day problems that can turn away listeners and cost you advertising dollars. So, let’s talk about why a regular, ongoing content audit is essential and how to build it into your station’s workflow.

Why Routine Content Audits Matter

1. Spotting Critical Issues Faster: Issues like a broken audio stream, outdated contact forms, or expired promotions can crop up at any time. A structured audit—done weekly or monthly—helps you catch these errors early before they become bigger problems.
2. Consistent, Up-to-Date Information: Listeners rely on your station for the latest local news, community events, weather, traffic, and more. Advertisers expect accurate information about the services and reach you offer. Updating your site regularly ensures no one is greeted with stale pages, broken links, or outdated rates.
3. Boosting Engagement and Loyalty: Ongoing audits allow you to keep refreshing your site with new interactive features, polls, or listener shout-outs. If you’re always adding something fresh, listeners have a reason to come back daily or weekly, rather than tuning in once a month—or less.
4. Supporting SEO Best Practices: Search engines favor sites that are regularly updated with quality content. A routine audit involves checking titles, metadata, and keyword usage—plus reviewing site speed and mobile friendliness. These incremental improvements can add up over time and keep your website high in search results.
5. Maintaining Brand Consistency: Your on-air brand voice evolves over time—new shows, new personalities, changing formats. Incorporating ongoing audits ensures your website aligns with what people hear on the radio right now, not what they heard last year.
6. Leveraging Multimedia More Effectively: Your station likely produces a lot of audio content—interviews, morning show bits, live performances. Regular audits help you see where that audio can be repurposed or enhanced with video. Keeping an eye on your archives can spark new ideas, like launching a weekly “Best Of” clip or featuring community voices.

Best Practices for Ongoing Audits

– Set an Audit Schedule: Decide which parts of your website or app to review weekly (e.g., front page sliders, critical audio streams, important links) and which sections can be checked monthly or quarterly (e.g., DJ bios, show schedules, “Advertise With Us” page).

– Perform Quick Checks Often: A weekly “spot check” can involve quickly testing your streaming player, confirming images and links are loading, and ensuring any scheduled content is posted correctly. This shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes.

– Use a Content Calendar: Integrate your audit tasks into a shared calendar or project management tool. For instance, dedicate one week each month to review SEO tags on recent articles, another to evaluate user engagement metrics, and so on.

– Utilize Analytics Tools: Regularly consult website analytics to see if there’s a sudden drop in page views or unusually high bounce rates. These insights can reveal hidden issues like broken pages, slow load times, or streaming errors.  Some of these tools can be assigned to check your site automatically each month, returning a report of issues for you.

– Check for Accessibility and Mobile Responsiveness: With so many mobile listeners, ensure your pages display correctly on different screen sizes. Use accessibility checklists or plugins to confirm that images have alt text, color contrast is sufficient, and your site is keyboard-friendly.

– Keep Advertiser Sections Updated: Your “Advertise With Us” page should highlight new ad packages or sponsorships as soon as they become available. Regularly adding success stories or testimonials helps this page stay dynamic and relevant to potential sponsors.

– Encourage Listener Feedback: Set up a simple feedback form or encourage social media comments to alert you to issues you might miss. Listeners are often the first to spot broken links or stale information if given a quick, easy way to report it.

Turning Routine Audits into Tangible Benefits

When you catch issues early and keep your site evolving alongside your on-air content, your brand feels more reliable and up-to-date. Listeners who find fresh content on the site are more likely to stick around and interact, boosting engagement and loyalty. Advertisers are also more inclined to invest in a platform that’s clearly cared for and regularly refreshed.

A content audit isn’t just about finding problems—it’s about identifying opportunities. Every time you discover something broken, ask how you can enhance that feature or process so it doesn’t happen again.