We’ve spent years telling listeners to follow us on social media. We should put just as much, if not more, effort into giving them reasons to visit our websites, download our apps, and subscribe to our newsletters.

There’s an ongoing global debate about the best way to use AI. I’m on record advocating for using AI to enhance humans as opposed to replacing them. But, how do we utilize AI tools for virtually every aspect of our jobs without slowly weakening our own skills? Here’s my thought on that.

While everyone is preparing to tell listeners who won, there’s an opportunity to make the station website useful well before the first results arrive. People need to know where to vote, how to check their registration, where to find a sample ballot, and which election office to contact with questions. Those details may not make exciting radio, but they give someone a very practical reason to visit your website.

We spend plenty of airtime saying, “Download our free app,” but often spend little time explaining why. If the entire pitch is that they can listen to the station, we’ve given them only one reason. What else happens after they install it?

There’s currently a groundswell of backlash around AI happening here in the US, and around the world, that’s getting too big to ignore. Every week there’s a new story about a leading AI company’s model getting out of its cage and doing something it shouldn’t. So, how should radio respond to this current AI backlash? Here’s what I think.

Websites have essentially the same measurement. We commonly call it Time on Site, while Google Analytics today breaks engagement down into measurements such as average session duration and average engagement time. The terminology is different, but the question should sound very familiar to anyone in radio: We got them here. How long can we keep them?

Your website is part of the station's product. It should immediately communicate the same brand, attitude, entertainment and local connection listeners hear on the air.  As you prepare for Fall, give your website a programming review. Start with these ten principles.

Think about how much useful local information is already sitting inside that football guide. Schedules, team information, coaches, stadium locations, photos and previews are exactly the kinds of things people search for once Friday night rolls around.

Think beyond whether you like the design of the homepage. What role do you actually want the website to play for the station? Do you want listeners coming back every morning for local news? Checking high school football scores on Friday night? Finding community events? Entering contests? Listening to the station?