Why You Need a Website for Your Band or Music
Posted on June 24th, 2009 in Music Promotion & Marketing, Website Management & Improvement.
Tags: creating a website, website improvement, website maintenance, website promotion
If you haven’t got a website to advertise your music or band I’m sure almost everyone has told you that you do need one. They probably haven’t told you why you need one exactly – just that you do.
Unfortunately I’m no different. If you want to stand any chance of getting your music heard by a wider, varied audience you DO need a website, whether you’re a band, DJ, music producer, musician, promoter otherwise. I will also tell you why…
A website isn’t just a place to store your band biography or gig photos. It’s a place where anyone in the world can potentially find information about your music, style and background and – more importantly – make an enquiry.
It’s not hard or expensive to get a basic website online. You can get free hosting and download free software that will allow you to get your website online within literally 30 minutes.
A few pages is often enough to create your initial web presence, although if you expect that to do the job of bringing in the fans, agents and bookings then think again. You will need to put some more work in if you want the website to be a success – some of which we’ll go through later on in this blog, including elements of basic search engine optimisation to make sure your website is found by the right people.
If you already have a strong following then your website may well bring in traffic from day one, but if you’re just starting out or are a small local band the chances are people generally won’t know about you and your website isn’t likely to get many visits. Either way, to get the most out of your website there’s a lot of work to do if you want to get it right.
Starting from the beginning, it’s best to get things right from day one with a clear aim. You can then progress from there over time otherwise you’ll only be redoing your website again in a few months time.
A Basic Promotional Website for Your Band’s Music
In it’s most simplest form a music website promoting a band, DJ, producer, artist or musician in any form should contain some information on the performer, some details about the music itself (and why anyone should listen) and contact details. So, 3 pages would do the trick initially.
Introduction / Home Page
First of all write information on the band or your services as a DJ, producer or musician. Write honestly, interestingly and provide clear, concise information without too much unnecessary waffle. It’s a good idea to include key facts that are likely to impress or show dedication and commitment without going into too much detail.
You need to engage with the readers to get them interested in what you do quickly. The best way to do this is to provide key facts or points in short, easy to read paragraphs.
Don’t include any unnecessary information that will result in a mile-long essay. Keep it quick, simple and interesting. You want the reader to be able to remember the key points they’ve just read about yourself and not be drowned in information that either isn’t relevant or doesn’t relate exactly to what they were expecting to read. Any extra information can be added to another page or create a page specifically for ‘more information’ or ‘about the music/members’.
The Music & Band Members
Again, this needs to be interesting. It also needs to be descriptive of your music, style, any members and even influences and aspirations. Maybe even likenesses with other well known bands or performers to give the reader an idea of your sound.
You can go into more detail here. The chances are the reader landed on your home page and is interested enough to read more. So give them more. This page is there to sell your sound itself. Make sure you do just that. Be creative in driving interest while being truthful and accurate.
The Contact Page
At the very least, this needs to be an email address or contact form. At best this could be a full contact form, phone numbers, fax, postal address, although the latter couple are not always necessary.
Make it as easy as possible for anyone to get in touch with you quickly and easily. Many people prefer to communicate by email so it’s a good idea to include your email address or a contact form with a phone number for those that would rather call.
You should now have a fairly decent website with good quality information presented in an effective fashion that is likely to begin drawing interest. We’ll go through ways you can promote the website later on in this blog.
If you have any other handy tips or suggestions on this topic then please do post a comment.
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