Looking to promote your music, build your following, and engage your fanbase? You’ll want to design a band website that has all of the features you need to succeed online.
Your website acts as a one-stop shop for press, venues, and industry professionals that need your bio or want to book your band. The goal is to balance adding all the content your target audience wants to see, while creating a look and feel that complements your brand as a musician.
Whether you need to build a band website from scratch, or give your existing site a fresh update, check out the list below to be sure your home online has everything you need.
Band website DOs:
1. Do have a website
A dedicated band website conveys that you are a serious musician. It also makes it easy to share music, promote upcoming shows, connect with fans, and sell your merch, all from one place!
2. Do use professional photos
It’s worth the time and effort to invest in professional images of your band. You will use them all over your website, from your homepage to your Bio, Photos, and EPK pages.
3. Do create consistent branding
Your band website is the perfect place to use imagery to create a memorable narrative around your music. Carry this branding through to fans across your social and streaming platforms to craft a consistent, recognizable persona.
4. Do tell your story
Create content for your band website by focusing on your story as an artist. Add your band bio, consider a news feature, describe your songs and videos, and offer text for music reviewers to copy and paste as needed.
5. Do use a clear call to action
Define what it is you would like your fans to do; this could be to listen to a new release, watch a video, become a fan subscriber, or join your email list. Then use a ‘Call-to-action‘ feature to highlight this goal.
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6. Do make use of white space
Add breathing room — or white space — around your text, images, events, and merch items to make your website easy to read, improving your visitors’ experience.
7. Do build your email list
Add an email sign-up form on your homepage, use an email sign-up call to action in your header area, or create a landing page focussed on email address collection to prioritize building your email list as a part of your website marketing efforts.
8. Do offer ways for fans to support you
As an artist you’ll want to be sure to monetize your website. Offer options for all levels of fan support — from a tip jar, to merch items, to offering your music at a pay-what-you-want price.
9. Do optimize your website for Google
Optimize your band website so that your pages, songs, social profiles, and events are listed when someone Googles your band or artist name. These 10 SEO tips for musicians will help get your details posted in search results..
10. Do include an EPK
An EPK, or Electronic Press Kit, is a page that includes a succinct summary of a band’s story for music industry professionals to draw from. See The 8 things that should be in every band’s digital press kit to be sure your EPK contains everything you need.
11. Do keep mobile design in mind
Choose a mobile-ready template that automatically adapts to the screen size of any device. Provide a seamless shopping cart for e-commerce and use concise content, so your site visitors aren’t endlessly scrolling to find what they need.
Band website DON’Ts
12. Don’t use an Intro page
Intro pages for short-term promotion are becoming outdated — instead, opt for a Landing page for your website to maximize your music marketing efforts.
13. Don’t make your website hard to navigate
Create a menu that’s easy for first-time visitors to navigate — and use simple page names such as ‘Home,’ ‘Music,’ and ‘Press Kit,’ for your site’s SEO. Use eight or fewer pages in your menu.
14. Don’t set music to auto-start
Offer choice and control with your music on your website, instead of frustrating visitors who may wonder how to turn off an unexpected song.
15. Don’t use too many colors
Draw inspiration from your central image and branding to choose a main color, a secondary color, and an accent color.
16. Don’t choose an over-complicated font
Making sure your content font is simple, clean, and easy to read is priority number one. Fancy fonts have their place, but save them for your artist name and larger titles.
17. Don’t clutter your pages
Keep your pages focused by only adding relevant, concise content and then arrange it to flow well. Meandering pages that scroll too long will cause a loss of interest — especially for mobile users.
18. Don’t add too many videos
With too many videos, you run the risk of slowing down your website’s load time, which can deter visitors. Make videos an effective medium on your website by rotating out your best ones.
19. Don’t use a random ‘Donate’ button
You’ll have a better chance of engaging fans and generating passive income by using something descriptive, and offering value — like a ‘Tip Jar’ feature with a note about where the funds will go.
20. Don’t forget to add contact info
You need clear contact details on how to get in touch with you or your team, either on a dedicated Contact page, or in the footer of your website.
21. Don’t forget to update your content regularly
Be sure to add ‘update website’ to your promotion checklist. It’s really the best way to make the most of the direct-to-fan tools available to you, engaging your fanbase and promoting your music online.
A well-designed band website will give your fans the best possible impression of your music. We hope these tips help you to make the most of yours!
