Your band is rocking up a storm in local venues, and you want to make an attempt at going big. Sure, you're on social networks and music-centric sites such as SoundCloud and Bandcamp, but if you're neglecting your actual band website, you're neglecting key marketing opportunities that only a personal site offers. While some bands rely on MySpace, which hosts more than 14 million extensive musician profiles, a personal website gives you far more control over your image, SEO, traffic, and merchandising. Band websites are as unique as the bands they represent, but some elements are tried and true for a reason.
Blogs, forums and comments on news posts give you a way to interact with your fans outside of social networks. One reason to promote conversations on your own website as opposed to one of your social network profiles is to reduce the amount of on-site distractions your fans have. Run contests to get the word out about your band and its site so you begin to develop a following. Fans are more likely to get emotionally attached and involved with your band if you show you truly care about your fan base. Direct interaction with fans demonstrates your commitment.
Video content is a major marketing vehicle for many brands. Even if you don't create music videos, creating a basic video with your song and lyrics gives a visual-centric audience a way to experience your music through a streaming service. When you upload your videos to a service such as YouTube, you get around needing to host your videos on your own server. If you wanted to run a content delivery server on your own, a MyHosting.com Linux VPS or alternative dedicated server is necessary.
On many websites, the contact page is an oversight that gets a standard template. Hypebot recommends taking a good amount of time on your band contact page, because you want booking agents, event promoters and other gig opportunity creators to come your way. Include your booking information on this page, as well as all necessary agent contacts and a press kit.
Let your fans get to know you by displaying full biographies for all of your band members, as well as any significant behind-the-scenes people involved with the band. These bios can be listed on a separate page, included in your media kits or posted as short bios on your front page.
You want your fans to be able to support you, so include prominent links to any MP3 and album downloads you offer. Put calls to action in your news, mailing lists and other fan contact methods so they are aware of where to buy your music — and offer them ways to purchase directly through your site. Some fans prefer to purchase directly from the artists to cut down on overhead from third-party vendors, so make it easy for fans to do so.