View Your Website As a Sister Station

Let’s be real. Most radio stations treat their websites like an afterthought — just a place to slap the stream, maybe post a contest or two, and call it a day. It’s like one of those blinking roadside signs that you forget about until you get a complaint that someone switched up the letters to an obscene message.

I really got a good look at this afterthought mindset when I caught up with a former sales colleague who’s still hustling at a well-known (large) radio group. I asked her how often they pitch and sell their station websites as part of their packages. Her answer? “We don’t. Honestly, nobody ever brings it up.” I was surprised, yet not entirely surprised.

I gave her a quick rundown of how many stations — including yours, maybe — are sitting on goldmines without even realizing it. You could almost see the spark in her eyes the moment it clicked. That light bulb moment is what I want you to have, too.

What if, instead of an afterthought, your website was considered as another full-fledged station in your cluster? Seriously — with its own format, audience strategy, schedule, and monetization plan.

It’s a mindset shift that can completely transform your online presence—from something passive and ignored to something actively generating audience engagement and revenue.

The Mindset Shift: From Afterthought to Asset

Think about how much effort goes into programming your on-air product.

• You define and target your audience.
• You plan your content to be timely and relevant.
• You have clocks, promos, talent, and monetization strategies that are constantly fine-tuned.
• You have sellable opportunities baked into every hour and day part.

Now… compare that to how you run your website.

For most stations, there’s no clock. No daily content strategy. No ownership. No revenue generation.  Just the occasional contest post and maybe a staff photo from 2017. That’s not a station — it’s a digital brochure.

But if you start thinking of your website like a sister station in your group, everything changes.

Questions Smart Stations Are Starting to Ask

When you shift your thinking, new questions start popping up:

• What’s our website’s format? (Hyper-local news? Community events? Sports?)
• Who’s the PD? (Who’s overseeing content flow, promotions, and updates?)
• How do we measure “ratings”? (Unique visitors, page views, session length…)
• Where’s the revenue? (Sponsored articles, banner ads, pre-rolls, podcast embeds — the list is long so be sure to have a Digital Inventory List.)

Once you know the answers, suddenly the website isn’t an additional cost or time-suck — it’s a revenue channel. One that sells right alongside your on-air signals.

Download our Digital Inventory List Starter Spreadsheet.

Integrate It Into the Daily Flow

When your team sees the website as a sibling station, it becomes second nature to promote it.

You’ll start hearing things like:

“Want to see the full fireworks schedule? We’ve got it online with maps, parking info, and weather at OurStation.com.”

Or:

“Watch the full video of this morning’s on-air prank. It’s online now.”

That’s the kind of cross-promotion that turns casual visitors into daily users. And daily users are what advertisers want.

Program It Like a Sister Station — Build a Clock

Here’s where the real fun begins: building a clock for your website, just like you do for your FM or AM signal.  This will change for every station, but here are some things to post and when.

• Morning: Quick-hit local headlines, weather, recaps from the morning show
• Midday: Entertainment updates, contest info, lunchtime features
• Afternoon: Community event guides, sports updates, DJ blogs
• Evening: Engaging videos, social content, local feel-good stories

Each time slot can be programmed with the same intent as on-air, and when you promote specific aspects of your website, it brings people back multiple times per day. You’re not just getting traffic… you’re building loyalty. And with that comes impressions, ad revenue, and brand power.

Here’s the Bottom Line

Your station website shouldn’t be a side project or a static placeholder. It should be a living, breathing extension of your brand — one that’s programmed, sold, and promoted with the same energy as your air signal.

Because your audience? They’re already online. And your advertisers are trying to meet them there. When you start treating your website like a true sister station — with its own voice, strategy, and revenue goals — you stop missing opportunities and start owning digital in your market.