You’ve just formed your band, maybe you’ve played a few shows, got a few songs on their way, but how do you promote it and get your name and sound out there? It’s time to get your own band website together, so that any fans, promoters, labels, etc. can get to know you. But what do you include?
Here are a few things to include when building your band website:
An ‘about me’ section
How would you describe yourselves in a few paragraphs? How would you tell the story of how you as an artist or your band came to be? This is a time to sell yourself in the light that you want, to showcase your achievements and let people get to know you a bit more. Not only is this a treat for fans of your music, but it gives journalists a chance to learn more about you. Throw in some testimonials from websites and publications that have covered you also, it’s your about area, include what others have said about you too.
Social Links
Make sure you have every one of your online profiles linked to your site, this is your online portfolio and should contain everything you. This can help your clickthrough rates and get more people following you on social media profiles, which can be handy when looking to get bookings.
Press Shots
Have a gallery or media section featuring a good few pictures of you, some posed press ones to be used by those in PR, marketing, journalism or venues, as well as some pictures showing you playing on stage.
Live Dates
Make it easy for those who want to see you be able to! Keep this part of your website as up to date as possible, and make it as accessible and understandable as possible. Include links to tickets where possible.
Merchandise (or links)
If you have merchandise, make sure to feature it- this is the place to push it as much as you can.
Embedded songs and videos
If your music is on Spotify and Soundcloud, it’s incredibly easy to add these to your website. It’s simply a matter of copying an embed code to where you’d like it. If you have videos you’ve produced, or videos of your live performances, include these too. Imagine if someone has just stumbled across your website with no idea of who you are- you want them to be hearing your music and watching your content as soon as possible.
Contact form/e-mail
You want people to get in touch with you, whether it’s a website or blog, or someone from a PR. From the perspective of a music journalist, it’s incredible when you can find an e-mail easily, so you should make it nice and simple, that benefits everybody.
And whilst this can help you produce a sophisticated website, you shouldn’t stop here:
The Music Site Artist Profile
Create yourself a free account on The Music Site to access more fans and gain some free exposure. It’s super easy to include everything important and it won’t take you long to build, all you need to do is put in a little bit of time and you’ll have this music profile built and working for you.
More on band website & EPK promotion:
Is Your Band Website Ready For Music Press?
How To Promote Yourself as a Musician – The Right Way
What is an EPK and What Should it Contain?
