I’ll get straight to the point — if your web site isn’t user-friendly, it will never succeed. That’s why website usability needs to be a top priority for your radio station. And for the user, usability starts, and often ends, on the home page. There are many aspects to designing a great home page, but this is a good place to start. Consider it Home Page 101.
Today, users simply won’t tolerate a poor user experience. If they’re unhappy with a website, they’ll just navigate to a search engine and find another site to meet their needs. Or they’ll give up on your station out of frustration. It’s really that simple.
And once they go, they’re truly gone. Research shows that 88% of online users are unlikely to return to a site after a bad experience.
In fact, many radio listeners have told me in focus group sessions that they see no reason to ever go to their favorite station’s website. In my study of 18-34 year old listener habits, documented in depth here, a respondent actually started laughing when I asked about the station’s website. Once she stopped giggling, she said,
They never have anything on the site. I haven’t even gone there for months. Do they have any idea how lame it is?
Ouch. That hurts.
On the flip side, if your website is user-friendly, the audience will keep coming back. Following website usability best practices will increase engagement, sharing and encourage return visits for new content.
