Spring is the season of renewal—and there’s no reason your radio station website can’t benefit from a little “spring cleaning.” Just as you might tidy up your home and yard, it’s the perfect time to refresh older posts that still have value and prune content with a weedwhacker that’s no longer relevant. This helps keep your website performing its best, both for your listeners and for search engines.
1. Why Refresh Your Content?
Search Engines Favor Freshness: Google’s algorithm values new or regularly updated content. If you have evergreen posts—like interviews or community interest stories—that are still relevant but could use a modern twist, a refresh can give them new life. Simply adding a few lines or just changing the publish date won’t cut it; try to enhance the substance of each piece with new information that reflects current trends.
Attracting Return Traffic: Refreshing older content encourages existing readers to revisit your site while appealing to new visitors searching for updated information. A renewed focus on your site helps ensure you’re delivering timely, relevant posts that resonate with your audience.
Strengthening Your Station’s Brand: Up-to-date articles show your listeners—and potential advertisers—that your station remains cutting-edge, relevant, and active in the community. This perceived credibility can translate into higher engagement, more listener loyalty, and an overall better user experience.
2. Identifying Which Content to Refresh
Conduct a Content Audit: Pull analytics for older posts and pages. Find the hidden gems that still draw traffic or rank well for specific keywords. Once identified, consider how you can give them new life—whether by updating text, adding multimedia, or revising titles.
Enhance Seasonal or Evergreen Content: Ever run an article like “Summer Concerts Not to Miss in [City]” or “How to Stream [Station Name] on Any Device”? Revisit those topics, ensuring all info and advice remain accurate. Perhaps a venue has changed its name or location. You might add a fresh spin or expand the guide with new stats, photos, or links.
3. Tips for Refreshing Your Older Posts
– Rewrite Headlines & Introductions: Add current trends or keywords that will resonate with today’s listeners. If you have fresh data, personal stories, or on-air highlights to include, weave them into the opening lines.
– Embed Updated Audio/Video: Include new clips from recent shows or interviews. For instance, if you did an event recap last year, embed a 30-second on-air highlight or a video snippet to bring it back to life.
– Optimize for SEO: Review meta descriptions, tags, and internal links. If you refer to another post on your site, update the anchor text to reflect current best practices and direct readers to relevant new articles.
4. Spring Cleaning 101: Prune Your Underperforming Content
While refreshing worthy articles is great, not every piece of content deserves a second chance. Some older posts (like old news, obsolete events, or DJ blog posts from years past) might clutter up your site.
– Boost Your Site’s Overall Quality: By removing stale or irrelevant posts, you improve the average quality of your content. This can raise your credibility in the eyes of both audiences and search engines.
– Better User Experience: Visitors get frustrated sifting through pages with outdated event details or broken links. A good sweep of that clutter helps them find what they need faster.
– Improve SEO Efficiency: Google rewards websites that maintain high-value content. Removing or merging low-performing pages puts a spotlight on the posts that truly serve your station and community.
For those who might be unwilling to part with their old content, the key takeaway here is that more content is not better. One of my clients became upset when he discovered he could not export years of old content on his previous website provider. It was a hard sell convincing him it was actually a blessing. However, his new site had much better SEO because all of the content was recent and relevant.
5. How to Decide Which Posts to Prune
– Review Traffic & Engagement: Posts with zero or minimal views might be prime candidates for deletion unless they can be consolidated into a more relevant, updated piece.
– Check for Outdated Info: If a post references sponsors that are no longer affiliated with your station or community events that have long passed see if it’s worth updating. If it’s truly useless, it’s time to take it down.
– Look for Duplicate or Overlapping Topics: If you have multiple short posts about the same topic, combine them into a single, in-depth article. This “merging” approach gives your content more weight and cleans up your archive.
6. Best Practices When Pruning Content
– Redirect Appropriately: If you remove a page with any inbound links (from external sites), set up a 301 redirect to a newer, related page. This preserves some of your SEO value and keeps users from hitting a dead end. Missing pages (i.e. 404 errors) can damage your SEO.
– Document Your Changes: Keep a simple spreadsheet noting what was updated or removed. This helps track your progress and measure the impact on site performance over time.
– Do it Regularly: While spring is an excellent motivator for cleaning, consider scheduling content audits at least semi-annually. It’s easier to handle smaller, routine check-ups than one massive overhaul every few years.
Pro Tip: If you import national or music news RSS feeds, it’s best to set end dates for them so they automatically delete. For example, keep them only for 6 months to a year. Don’t worry about 404 “missing page” errors. Rest assured that nobody will be searching for a specific national news story on your website that was posted a long time ago. That additional content is just bogging down your more current news.
7. Refresh, Prune, and Re-Promote
After you’ve completed your spring cleaning—refreshed older articles, pruned obsolete posts, and reorganized your site—don’t forget to re-promote your newly polished content. Share it on social media, highlight it in your station newsletter, or mention it on-air. This drives traffic and showcases that you’re constantly updating and improving your station’s online presence.
Spring Into Action
Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home—it’s a powerful strategy to keep your radio station website fresh, relevant, and engaging. By systematically refreshing valuable older posts and pruning outdated content, you’ll provide a better user experience, strengthen your SEO, and maintain a professional image that resonates with listeners, advertisers, and the local community.
Give your digital platform the same attention you’d give your station’s on-air offerings. A vibrant, well-maintained website tells the world your radio station is thriving year-round. Ready to take the next step? Get in touch, and let’s spring into action together to elevate your station’s online presence.
We want to help your radio station grow and succeed online. That journey starts with an amazing website that keeps visitors coming back often. Reach out to us to start your path to online success, or schedule an appointment to see our tools in action.