The Musician’s Guide to Affordable Effective Websites is a recent post on Ariel Publicity that that struck a chord. While there was nothing that was necessarily wrong with it, the air around it does not quite sit well. Sure, if you do not have thousands of dollars of accessible funds for the purposes of advancing your music career, you will look for the cost-effective solutions to doing so. That is smart. That said, you should invest as much as you can to get the best result.
It is not going to be constructive to facilitate an argument discuss the importance of using artists premium products for business purposes. Instead it is best to just add to the advice that has been presented by Ariel Publicity. You have been given 7 reasons why you should have your own music website, so it only makes sense that line of education should be continued.
If you do not have even an indie label budget to afford the development of a professional website, then you should figure out exactly what you truly need in a website. When it comes to web design, simpler is usually better. The less distraction you attach to the web experience, the likelier you will be able to achieve a certain reaction from site visitors. Without further ado, here are a set of questions you should answer before you begin to explore any affordable, effective music website option.
Who do I expect to visit my site?
When you build it, your friends, family and acquaintances will come. Knowing that, it makes sense to make it easy to help them spread the word about your website. Consider using a service like LaunchRock to build your e-mail subscriber list. When you launch your actual website, equip the site with Facebook and Twitter share buttons for key pages. The goal should be to drive new visitors to your site and your existing network is your best resource to get affordable, effective help.
Upon first visit, what do I want a new visitor to do?
If you have a hard time answering the previous question, try:
What is most important for a new visitor to do? Listen to music? Sign-up for your informational newsletter? Buy your new single?
When you ask these questions, you will have a good basis for what you need from your website. When it comes to building a new brand, it is always best to use the KISS method when dispensing communication. Before you go and create the same standard music website that everyone seems to make that do not drive action, take some time to ask the above questions. You will be glad you did.
Do you know what you need in a website? I can help you with an affordable, effective music website. Contact me!