I've recently decided to venture into the realm of band webmaster. I was of the opinion that just a myspace page was not sufficient...so I started a web page. But now it seems kind of empty. So of course you need upcoming shows, pictures, videos, but what else do you put on your band's website to make it interesting?
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What do you put on your band's website?
- Thread starter JET-1977
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
Just give it one good splash page that clearly, with no BS or unnecessary "cleverness" or "cuteness", describes what your band is all about. Then a page of recordings/videos. If that's not interesting enough, then the band is not interesting enough. 
First and foremost, I think you need a "News" section, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Information about significant occurrences within the band that may interest fans/people who want to hire you. What you all had for lunch is irrelevant, writing half a song is irrelevant, getting ready to record a new album, however, is pretty important to let fans know, likewise, lineup changes or whatever can go in here.
A "Band History/Members" section is important I think, but keep it concise. I like to read a brief band history and then have a list of current members, what they play and perhaps a photo of each member alongside. A seperate section noting previous members and what they played is also important.
One of the key things you're missing from a commercial perspective is a "Shop" section, to sell any of your merchandise. They can't buy it if you aren't selling it.
If you're reasonably well established, with a few CDs under your belt, a "Releases" section is nice, so people can look through your band's current CD and previous releases. It works pretty well if you include a few samples in this section.
The layout is just as important as the content. Everything should be clear, not too cluttered and all features should be easy enough for anyone to use.
A "Band History/Members" section is important I think, but keep it concise. I like to read a brief band history and then have a list of current members, what they play and perhaps a photo of each member alongside. A seperate section noting previous members and what they played is also important.
One of the key things you're missing from a commercial perspective is a "Shop" section, to sell any of your merchandise. They can't buy it if you aren't selling it.
If you're reasonably well established, with a few CDs under your belt, a "Releases" section is nice, so people can look through your band's current CD and previous releases. It works pretty well if you include a few samples in this section.
The layout is just as important as the content. Everything should be clear, not too cluttered and all features should be easy enough for anyone to use.
I have to completely agree with dj150888 those are necessities.
If you have some fans that will periodically visit your site, then I would try to make something that lets you communicate with the fans, if you can chat with your fans then you'll always have long-time fans.
If you have some fans that will periodically visit your site, then I would try to make something that lets you communicate with the fans, if you can chat with your fans then you'll always have long-time fans.
We have the schedule and setlist, photos, and bios. We also have a guestbook. I am the webmaster/designer and I plan on incorporating more of a Facebook-like posting system for news, but Ive been too busy to revamp it. You can check it out by clicking the link below:
I always thought that a gear page was cool and I've been bugging our guitar player/webmaster to finish up ours ( I wanna show off my bass collection and we'll get hits/interest when folks search for a rick 4005 or 4003s8 or 66 eb2 ect)...we also have a contact page/bio/upcoming shows/video/audio/set list/ stage setup.... and we're starting to get gigs just by sending club owners to our website
Here's the link if you wanna check it out....Link Removed
Here's the link if you wanna check it out....Link Removed
I designed my band's website to be a hybrid blog kind of site. The pain page has a news crawl with blog updates, a list of upcoming shows and a rotation of recent photos in addition to links to the other portions of the page. Some of the sections aren't finished, but the most important ones are:
Link Removed
I know I know I need to remove that October show, I'll get to it soon.
Link Removed
I know I know I need to remove that October show, I'll get to it soon.
I did a website for a band I was with. I had a 'weeklies' link that I updated every week. It was just articles about who we were listening to, cool things to do in the area, other bands that we played with, trivia questions, etc. Basically, I wanted to update the content every week so that people would have a reason to come back. I also made sure that the next week's shows were on the home page for everyone to see.
Due to the popularity of blog-oriented web solutions (such as Joomla, WordPress, etc.) I tend to appreciate a band's webpage as the main hub that can direct you anywhere interesting. I recently restructured our web site to work in such a way. It's a single page with widgets (our own news and upcoming dates feeds, Facebook, YouTube, music player, photo slider, bios, our boutique and contact section all in one page. It can direct you to anything you want to do/know about us.
www.bittermambo.com
www.bittermambo.com
Nice! Bandzoogles site says try it for free but how much is it after the "free" period is up?
I'm making my band's website and I'm still thinking about what has to be on it, what hasn't to be on it... not that easy.
Here's what I've done until now:
Link Removed
(don't pay attention to the texts under "band" and "music"; those have to be changed, re-written)
Here's what I've done until now:
Link Removed
(don't pay attention to the texts under "band" and "music"; those have to be changed, re-written)
Howdy.
Some may differ opinions..
NO Autoload Sound
I would NOT automatically load sound. There is the likelihood that someone may quick check a schedule on a Friday afternoon (from the office).
CONTACT INFO
Every page should have a the footer "111-111-1111 | [email protected] | Home"
TEST IT
I'm amazed at how many don't work on a Mac or phone... simplify.
SPEED
I did my last band's site. It was all void of activeX,Java etc.. made the pages VERY fast to load. Remember many folks use a work computer that may block "smart pages"
Good URL
Start with a good name and a good web URL. Link Removed type names are horrid.... your fan base would get lost when www.redband.com points them to some other band.
Pix and Graphics
Because your pal has a digicam and Illustrator -- doesn't make them a candidate for your image. Pop the money and get good art. Make your page printable on a Black/White laser printer... folks forget some colors don't print
Self-Censorship
Go through every time you open it up.. trash can things that suck. Having no audio clip is stronger than your lead singer doing an accapella dry start to a tune.
Some may differ opinions..
NO Autoload Sound
I would NOT automatically load sound. There is the likelihood that someone may quick check a schedule on a Friday afternoon (from the office).
CONTACT INFO
Every page should have a the footer "111-111-1111 | [email protected] | Home"
TEST IT
I'm amazed at how many don't work on a Mac or phone... simplify.
SPEED
I did my last band's site. It was all void of activeX,Java etc.. made the pages VERY fast to load. Remember many folks use a work computer that may block "smart pages"
Good URL
Start with a good name and a good web URL. Link Removed type names are horrid.... your fan base would get lost when www.redband.com points them to some other band.
Pix and Graphics
Because your pal has a digicam and Illustrator -- doesn't make them a candidate for your image. Pop the money and get good art. Make your page printable on a Black/White laser printer... folks forget some colors don't print
Self-Censorship
Go through every time you open it up.. trash can things that suck. Having no audio clip is stronger than your lead singer doing an accapella dry start to a tune.
Their rates are posted on their website. Our band is just starting up so we got the least expensive option - $9.99/month.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
