It seems that most radio stations manage their websites in a programming silo, segregated and sometimes alienated from sales.

Lately, I’ve been spot checking some of my station client’s websites, and I’ve yet to find one that did NOT have a mistake. Have you clicked on every banner, Icon or link on your website? You should do so regularly.

I clicked on a banner for a pizza chain on a station’s website today, and it mistakenly linked to a location in another state more than 1000 miles away.

If the sponsor is tracking results, and you can bet they are, that station won’t be getting a renewal of that pizza banner ad.

I Googled one station’s site but the link took me to their sister station’s site in a different market. It was obviously managed corporately, and no one ever Googled it.

Some of the common errors I find on station websites are;

• No phone numbers, or they are hard to find
• No way to access sales, only programming contacts are published
• Contests or special offers that expired last month still posted
• Links that don’t work
• Concert announcements for concert dates that have long since passed.
• No mention of sales, advertising or radio advertising anywhere
• Sponsored promotions are hidden or take a back seat to programming promotions…it’s not fair to the advertiser who paid for it.

These are just a few of the many common errors, and as I said, I’ve yet to find a problem free station website.

It’s probably time to get a part time student or non-staffer to safety check your website every week, if not every day.

I understand why programming manages your websites rather than sales. But it’s time the two worked together to everyone’s benefit; listeners, staff, and sponsors.

And whoever manages your website should be aware of the difference between audio communications and written communications.

Live audio programmers have to be careful not to do anything to cause audience tune out.

Programmers of written content have no such limitations. A feature that’s of no interest to part of your audio audience can cause them to tune out.

Irrelevant written information can simply be ignored while the reader skips to the next feature….we have eye lids, but we don’t have ear lids.

You wouldn’t publish ‘news’ about a sponsor’s store opening in your on air newscast, but you can certainly have a page full of various sponsor news on your website, because disinterested parties can simply ignore that page without ignoring your entire site.

As I travel across the continent, virtually and in reality, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that programming, your webmaster, and sales, need to work more closely together.