8 Tips for an Effective Musician’s Website
by Jonathan Jaeger
1) No Auto-start
Don’t have your music start automatically! There are so many reasons why this annoys the average visitor, even if the visitor wants to hear your music. Hypebot outlines a few of the reasons in this article.
2) Share Buttons
Integrate social sharing buttons such as those for Facebook, Twitter, and AddThis (which contains sharing capability for tons of social websites all in one button).
3) Social Profiles
Some listeners just want to come to your site, but others might prefer to visit you on the music site of their choice. Make sure your social links are prominently displayed for others to follow you elsewhere and where they spend more of their time.
4) Mailing List
Email is king! Provide easy access for someone to join your mailing list straight from your homepage. Fans are much more likely to see your messages if they come through email, rather than a fleeting tweet or Facebook post. Make sure you provide relevant content because you want to create an email relationship with your fans where they click-through to your message every time.
5) Call-to-action
What is the most important thing for you to communicate to your fans? Where they can buy your album? Where you’re touring next? Where they can find you elsewhere online? Whatever it is that you feel is most important for you to build and maintain a fanbase or make money, make sure that that is the most prominent thing displayed on your website.
6) Video
Don’t underestimate the power of a video. Many companies use introduction videos to explain how their site works. About two out of every three new visitors that come to a site watch those introductory videos. You can explain yourself as an artist in your video or put a promo.
7) Mobile Access
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. This might not mean making a dedicated app for you as an artist, because that can be pricey, but make sure that visitors can still use the basic functionality of the site within their mobile phone (play music, sign-up or buy things, etc.).
8) Personality
Good design is good design, but since this is a website that represents you as an artist, don’t forget to inject your own personality into the design. This might be tough if you’re not the one designing the site or doing the coding, but make sure that whomever is in charge of that has your frame of reference as an artist in mind. If you’re using a pre-built template, consider paying a small fee for a more personalized design or one that is more unique. Either way, know your personality before you go into the design process.
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