In today’s guide on radio website widgets, you’ll learn:

  • The role widgets play
  • Widgets every radio station website needs
  • Where to find free & paid widgets
  • How to add widgets to your website
  • And more!

Join me if you need a cool website that will foster more user engagement and satisfaction:

Contents

Chapter 1: Radio website widget basics

Chapter 2: How to get started with radio website widgets

Chapter 3: How to add widgets to your website

Conclusion

CHAPTER 1 - Radio Website Widget Basics

Are you a web designer tasked with creating a killer radio website for your client?

Or a non-tech website owner?

Let’s start by defining website widgets and why they are important.

What is a website widget?

It’s a small web component that’s part of the visible web page. You’ll find it on sidebars. For instance, our Recent Posts widget is to your right (on a desktop or laptop — scroll down the page for mobile devices).

For a more techie definition:

“It’s a standalone application or web page embedded onto a third-party website.”

It’s independent of the page where it’s embedded. Adding or removing widgets doesn’t affect the rest of the page.

Why are radio website widgets important?

Radio widgets are those you find on radio websites. They are rather unique. For instance:

  • Radio stream player widget – It allows web visitors to play and pause your online stream.
  • Current song/on-air widget
  • Recent played tracks widget
  • And so on…

Still, radio websites may share widgets with other sites. Chat rooms widgets, for instance, are common on radio and gaming websites.

Why are radio website widget important?

  • Offers accessibility and convenience: For instance, on our site, each blog page has a social media widget. This simple sidebar makes it easy for you to share our stuff. And since it’s on every page, you need not waste your time looking for it.
  • Expanded functionality: I’ll also give another example here. Web visitors visit your site to perform different functions. Reading your posts. Tuning in via the radio player widget. Adding more widgets expands your site’s functionality. For instance, you can embed an RSS feeds widget, weather widget, calendar widget, image galley widget, etc.

Some moderation is required: Don’t just bloat your site with widgets your web visitors won’t use.

CHAPTER 2 - How to Get Started with Radio Website Widgets

In this chapter, we dive headfirst into the must-have widgets for your radio website.

Some users have security concerns when adding widgets. Yeah, no widget is 100% safe.

Beware of widgets from untrustworthy sites. If you use WordPress for instance, try using widgets in their library. Same case for Joomla, Wix, or any other CMS.

Widgets vs. Plugins

Is there any difference between plugins and widgets? Plug-ins are software added to websites to increase their functionality. For instance, a live chat plugin.

Widgets are types of plugins visible on the website’s front-end. So users can directly interact with widgets.

Most websites have analytic plugins. They collect, organize, and display user data on the site’s back-end accessed only by admins.

The must-have radio station widgets

#1. Facebook widget

Facebook’s social plugins allow you to embed on your website Facebook comments, posts, videos, like buttons, and share buttons.

Most radio stations have at least one social media account. And it’s likely a Facebook page or group, right? We do too, and here is our Facebook page widget plugin.

Click on the Like button. Test if it works!

Why is it important?

Radio stations need more followers or group members. But your site’s visitors may not necessarily look you up on Facebook.

And if you ask them to, it’s a hassle right. Embedding this widget means they can like, comment, or share your posts right from your website. How cool is that?

Where can I get it?

Visit the Facebook for developers page.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/group-plugin

#2. Twitter widget

If you’re not active on Facebook, then you’re likely on Twitter. Adding Twitter’s content and functionality is also simple.

The Twitter for Websites suite includes embedded tweets, timelines, tweet buttons, and follow buttons.

Why is it important?

The chance to expand your follower base and generate shares for your content. Visitors can also view your latest tweet and scroll through your timeline easily.

Where can I get it?

Get the instructions from Twitter’s Help Center.

https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/embed-twitter-feed

#3. Last played songs

It’s a super useful widget for listing played tracks in descending order newest to oldest. Place this widget below your radio stream player or next to the Listen Live button.

Why is it important?

Think of it as showcasing the type of songs you play. If the web visitor likes your selection, they might tune in.

It’s a great chance to show listeners what they missed. They might keep on listening waiting for the repeat.

Where can I get it?

Your radio hosting provider should provide this widget as it pulls the info from your Shoutcast or Icecast server.

If not, our radio management console has an expansive widget section. Create a free radio player account; start using our last played songs widget.

(Image of our management console)

#4. Weather Widget

The people need the weather updates now, and if not now, this very instant. Radiopresentersgive on-air weather announcements.

Similarly, on your homepage, you can present weather updates & forecasts visually. Use a free weather widget like the one here: It’ll sit comfortably at the sidebar.

WeatherWidget.io

Why is it important?

Weather is news. For instance:

If the weather forecasts indicate heavy downpours tomorrow, I’ll carry an umbrella and post-pone my afternoon beach trip

Where can I get it?

You have many options at your disposal.

#5. Event Calendar Widget

The event calendar widget may list upcoming events with each listing bearing the event’s title, date, and starting time & ending time. Some calendar widgets have a mini-grid calendar and events listed below it.

Events countdown widgets are also in this category and count down the days, hours, or minutes to a particular event.

Why is it important?

For your radio website, this widget offers an easy way to promote concerts, interviews, etc. You’ll get more attendees this way.

Where can I get it?

Did you know you can even add a Google Calendar to your website?

If your site runs on WordPress, check out this page:

#6. On-air Now/Now Playing Widget

The On Air radio widget tells the viewer what show is currently on air. For instance, in the image below you can see a screenshot of BBC Radio 3 On Air widget. It contains the following elements:

  • The host’s picture
  • Listen live and pop out player button
  • Show’s duration (9:00-11:00)
  • Its name and description
  • And the Now Playing section

Source: BBC Radio 3: https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3

Why is it important?

It presents enough information to the web visitor. They can then decided if they want to tune in.

Where can I get it?

Well, the ready-made options are few, so you might need to custom build your widget:

If you have a WordPress site, check out the Jock on air now plugin.

CloudRadio also offers the Now Playing widget that will display the current song on your ON Air Widget.

#7. Radio Player Widget

The radio player widget allows listeners to start & pause your webstream. It should be well placed on your website for maximum visibility.

Quite a few radio websites display a prominent listen button that opens the radio player as a popup.

Why is it important?

You instantly convert web visitors into listeners.

Where can I get it?

Sure, you’ll find radio stream widget generators online, but since your here —ditch the hassle and try CloudRadio’s radio player widget.

It supports automatic album art, which it generates from the song’s metadata. Customize it as you wish and embedded it in 3 ways (pop up included).

#9. Clock Widget

You can indulge your listeners with a nice analog or digital clock.

Why is it important?

Time being an infinite resource means we have to spend it wisely. And clocks help us measure and tell how much time has elapsed.

Where can I get it?

#10. Donation Widget

Strapped for cash? Most non-profit radio stations are and contributions from their loyal fans can keep them going.

But first, you need a simple way to collect contributions, and on websites, you just embed a donation widget that allows listeners to send you contributions.

Why is it important?

To raise money for day to day costs like hosting. It’s also critical if you’re running a fundraiser for some charitable cause.

Where can I get it?

Both free and paid options are at your disposal. If you have a PayPal account, you can create your PayPal donation button and people can pay you from their credit cards or PayPal account balances.

Looking for a more tailored solution then try Donorbox. It’s free if you collect less than $1000 per month.

Mightcause also provides donation widgets.

#11. Chat Room Widget

Instant messaging chat rooms have been around since the 1990s. People still use them to date. They offer virtual spaces where web users can join rooms and discuss the topic on hand.

Though they don’t cause a buzz like they used to, chat rooms still linger on online dating sites, gaming & streaming sites, live trading websites, and even on radio station sites.

If you’ve been craving a chat room for your website, the hardest bit will be copying and pasting a few lines of code!

Why is it important?

Fostering interactions with your fans, building a sense of community, etc.

Where can I get it?

  • Chatwee. The widget has a free plan with some limits such as 5 simultaneous users, 1 chat room, no moderators, etc.
  • Minit The free plan supports up to 100 simultaneous users.
  • WordPress Chat Room

CHAPTER 3 - How to add widgets to your website

Okay:

You don’t need any advanced programming skills to add widgets to your site.

Most of the people behind most websites are non-techies.

Besides, it’s just copying and pasting pieces of code.

Visual editors allow you to drag and drop widgets on the page.

Where do I get more widgets?

The first place to check out is your CMS help section. It might have a library listing all the supported add-ons. For instance, WordPress boasts of over 55,136 plugins.

Option two is to visit new radio websites; discover which other plugins your peers are using.

You can also try the old fashioned way of searching for plugins on Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.

Though, ensure you use plugins from trusted sources. Yeah, no plugin is 100% safe. That’s why I recommend sourcing widgets from WordPress, Wix App Market, Joomla, etc.

How to add widgets to your site

Widgets are mostly several lines of code that you copy and paste on your website. The question you might have is where?

Well with the rest of your site’s code, but you need back-end access. On WordPress, you just install plugins and add them from your visual editor.

Here are tutorials you can use:

In summary:

Radio website widgets are great for adding more functionality. They encourage more user engagement, and all these are fine reasons to add them to your site.

“Don’t have a bare-bone site. Add some widgets!”

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