If you ask most managers what the most important page on their website is, they’ll usually say the homepage. And that makes sense. It’s the digital front door. It’s where everything starts.
But after working with radio station websites for years, I’ve noticed something interesting. The pages that often generate the most traffic—and sometimes the most revenue opportunities—aren’t the homepage at all.
They’re the pages that simply help people.
It’s a common tale within analytics. A station launches a website, thinking the big drivers will be contests, show pages, or music news. Then, a few months later, the numbers tell something different. The pages getting the most visits are things like obituaries, community calendars, job listings, or local sports coverage.
Obituaries are one of the best examples. In many communities, they become one of the most visited sections of the entire site. It surprises me every time how many people check them every day. Families share them on social media. Before long, that section quietly becomes one of the most consistently trafficked areas on the website.
It’s not flashy content. But it’s incredibly valuable to the community.
That’s really the pattern you start to see. The pages that perform the best are usually the ones that serve a practical purpose. They give people a reason to come back again and again, even when they’re not actively listening to the radio.
Community calendars work the same way. Someone planning their weekend might check that page regularly just to see what’s happening around town. A local job board can become a routine stop for people looking for work. In smaller markets, especially, local sports coverage can pull in families, students, and alumni who are searching for schedules, scores, and photos.
Then there are the evergreen pages that quietly become essential during certain times of the year. Storm resource pages are a perfect example. In areas prone to severe weather, stations that maintain a page with shelter locations, emergency numbers, and local safety information often see traffic spike dramatically when storms move through. In those moments, the station’s website becomes more than a place to listen – it becomes a community resource.
What’s fascinating is how these kinds of pages also open doors for digital revenue in ways many stations overlook. When content naturally serves a community need, it creates obvious sponsorship opportunities. A local hospital sponsoring the health resources page. A bank supporting the job listings. A funeral home or flower shop associated with the obituary section. These partnerships feel natural because they align with the content people are already visiting.
Of course, some stations read ideas like this and immediately think, “That sounds great, but we don’t have the staff to keep up with all that content.” And that’s a fair concern. A lot of stations never develop a real website content strategy, so the site ends up filled mostly with promotions and occasional updates.
The good news is that many of these pages don’t require constant attention once they’re set up. An obituary section may only require posting a few items each week. A community calendar can grow gradually as local organizations submit events. A storm resource page might only need to be reviewed a few times a year to keep information current.
The key is simply deciding that your website should serve the same community your radio station serves.
Your homepage absolutely matters. But some of the most valuable parts of a radio station’s website are the sections that quietly serve the community every day.
When a website becomes a place people rely on for local information, something important happens. The station stops being just something people listen to. It becomes somewhere they go.
Pic generated by Leonardo.AI
Jim Sherwood is a radio veteran turned digital strategist dedicated to helping radio stations thrive online through engaging websites and mobile apps. As the founder of Skyrocket Radio and host of the Better Radio Websites podcast, he shares best practices to help stations grow audiences and revenue in the digital space. With decades of experience in radio and a passion for connecting content with listeners, Jim ensures that every station—no matter its size—can make a lasting impact online.