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How Important is it to Have a Website?

#21
My band has a web site, and while I can't say it has directly led to any gigs we are currently recruiting for a new keyboard player and a couple of potential candidates checked out our site to make sure we were legit. We have a bead on a new key player who said he was "impressed" by our web site.

We have a FB page too, and mostly use it just to announce gigs and share video. Personally, I hate FB. It is a cancer on society.
 
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#22
You don't need one now that Facebook has, more or less, replaced the social aspects of the internet for a lot of people. That Facebook is the spawn of Satan is irrelevant; it gets people out to my shows. If I were doing this with a website and email, it would take much more time and I'd get a lot less people showing up.

At this point I think a website is largely wasted money.
 
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#23
My main act has had a free website on Weebly.com for many years, I personally don't use social media (unless Vimeo counts) and as the band does 75% private events I really don't need to concern myself with Facebook & its ilk..
I'm pretty much the exception to the rule & yes, I don't carry a smart phone.. I'm my own operating system!
 
#26
it's not a bad thing, but the folks I know who book stuff don't seem interested. they're very interested in seeing your instagram, though.

4-6 years ago it was absolutely critical. Nowadays, it's still important for sure, but a dedicated website is definitely going to become less important as the next few years roll by.

a super high quality social media presence - even with low follower numbers - is the new website.
 
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#27
I think it says something about your level of commitment and professionalism.
Most things happen on social media, but I still think it has some value.

A few years back, but my band had really basic website. We used to have a dude who came to a LOT of our gigs. He was not on social media, and he once told me that he checked our website regularly to see where we were playing.
 
#28
As someone who used to build websites for a living, I'm going to say it's worth almost nothing these days unless you are dedicated to keeping it updated and you have a strong commitment to adding new material there. Almost everyone who cares about your band will want to find you on Facebook. They'll search for you there, they'll message you there, they'll look for your events there. Facebook is easier to update. I get that a lot of people hate Facebook but it's a fact of business life these days that if you want people to find you, you have GOT to have a Facebook presence.

I say this also as someone whose band has both, and neither get updated. I get more contacts through my personal music page than through the band page. I don't even have a functional personal website anymore, though I still maintain the domain and have some original music archived there.
 
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#30
higain617 said:
I heard through the grapevine that promoters didn’t book a past band due to lack of Facebook presence. I didn’t hear anything about a lack of website.
Click to expand...
I think this is common. Facebook allows follows, and promoters can see that you have a potential audience if you have followers. Websites generally don't convey a sense of community. They are more like static advertisements.
 
#31
Consider potential fans. How do they find details about an unknown band? They do a Google search. Every band should have a website in the Internet age. It should feature the following:
  • Information about the band and members
  • Current upcoming appearance schedule
  • Audio and video samples, photos
  • An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) including biography, reviews/endorsements, news stories, stage plot
  • A contact form for further information or booking inquiries
  • Optional E-Commerce implementation for merchandise
Your upcoming schedule can be generated from a Facebook frame.
 
#32
The Mogpipe said:
Just curious as to the opinions amongst my talkbass brethren how important is it to have a website? Now in the digital age it seems to me it's kinda important. Especially if you have product to sell!
I'm still getting this project off the ground, practices are few because families and scheduling and such. Then my violin player developed tendonitis that we're finally getting past.
But in the slow times I've been getting a website together. You know, get SOMETHING done. It will be nice to have it all together for when we do get out. To refer people to.
Don't have nothing suitable recorded yet, or anything to sell as of yet, but I thought it best to get one started.
And I'm no web developer or anything either lol, this is all new to me pretty much. Using Bandzoogle, it's not to hard. The address is
Jacqueserics.com if anyone wants to give it a look and tell me how I'm doing!
Click to expand...
You'll hear lots of opinions, but I think having a website is less important than having Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp and Twitter accounts. But having one will certainly not hurt.
 
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#33
I used to design websites and I think yours is very nice. I think having a website is necessary, plus all the social media, don't pick one over another, they all help. I went to a concert last night by a group I never heard of, so the first thing I did was look for a web site, found it a learned all about them.

Here's my bit of feedback, I always told my clients who used generic email services like Gmail, to use their web site email service, much more professional looking; [email protected].
 
#35
We tried one along with our Facebook page for a few years. We would get a couple hundred "engagements and seen bys" a week on social media, whereas the website saw a couple dozen a year. After three years we dumped it and stuck with social media. We are just weekend warriors, but we do play a lot. Possibly a touring band or original band might get a better response, but it was worthless for use. Results may vary
 
#36
Now that I've had a site for a while I think it's pretty important to have one and I wish that I'd done it earlier. I have been fishing online lately for $ gigs on the side outside my regular band, and I found that I don't have to go on for 2-3 paragraphs about what I've done and what my qualifications are. I can just give a quick intro and then let them click my site link to see more. I also have links to my Nordstrand artist page and my band's FB page set up on my site, so it's kind of a one stop shop to get to know me.
 
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#37
IMO, a website for a band these days is as important as releasing new music. Its par for the course now. People can easily access your music that way. The harder you make for people to access your music, the harder it will be for you to get your band out there.
 
#38
We've been on facebook four years, and this year it seems El Zuck noticed us. Apparently, once you get past a certain number of event postings (and probably other stuff--this is all my BL's territory), they start making parts of your fb site non-functional unless you pay. Should we pay or put up our own?
 
#39
I’m pushing 30 so I think I have a slightly different perspective. My last band had a website. No one, I mean no one checked it out. After a few years we pulled it down. The only person that noticed was close to 60. Our audience was average 20-35.
So I think it depends on who your audience is. Most promoters I’ve dealt with prefer Facebook because they can see how many people have been invited and said they are coming versed how many people show up.
I like having a one page website. Pic of the band or latest music video playing and at the bottom you have links to show and info. The link take you to your social media page.
 

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