Band Website advice (from Oldgit)

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='561032' date='Aug 5 2009, 11:42 AM']All fixed now.
[/quote]


Ha ha Yeah. So true.
That's why I don't build them any more

[paul h]

That has been an almost perfect example of my week. Except the tables bit!

[url="http://robotrobotrobot.net"]http://robotrobotrobot.net[/url] is back on Google! But it's down to page 20 for "robot t-shirt". So still a lot of work to be done. I have started to implement some of your suggestions Si. I haved added your alt tag to the header. I have also made sure I mention "t-shirt" in the h2 tags. I will be changing my image naming conventions but I am getting good results for robotrobotrobot so I will just be going for specific t-shirt descriptive names.

I have also added a little hover "tooltip". That way I can write a much bigger description of each t-shirt without changing the simple layout.

Fingers crossed for some real traffic!

[OldGit]

[quote name='TimR' post='562334' date='Aug 6 2009, 10:28 PM']Given that Basschat signatures only appear when we are logged in, and Google analytics has not picked up on any inbound links from Basschat for my site. Do the links in our sig lines get picked up by anyone other than reqistered users of Basschat?[/quote]


Interesting question.
I didn't realise the sig's are dynamic and therefore not counted in Google.
I dug about and found that the Basschat links to my band's site, [url="http://www.jellied-reels.co.uk"]http://www.jellied-reels.co.uk[/url] , () only come from threads where I've linked specifically from inside the discussion such as here:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=27936&view=findpost&p=289210"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=289210[/url]

There's no links in from my sig although we do get a steady stream of people coming to the site from Basschat. I assume that's interested BCers clicking on my sig link.

The same with my Talkbass signature and links. Only the topics where I've put an explicit link in the discussion count as inbound links.

So to get a link into your site from BC and TB that Google counts you may want to add a post containing a link to threads like that one...

Edited August 7, 2009 by OldGit

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='562586' date='Aug 7 2009, 09:42 AM']That has been an almost perfect example of my week. Except the tables bit!

[url="http://robotrobotrobot.net"]http://robotrobotrobot.net[/url] is back on Google! But it's down to page 20 for "robot t-shirt". So still a lot of work to be done. I have started to implement some of your suggestions Si. I haved added your alt tag to the header. I have also made sure I mention "t-shirt" in the h2 tags. I will be changing my image naming conventions but I am getting good results for robotrobotrobot so I will just be going for specific t-shirt descriptive names.

I have also added a little hover "tooltip". That way I can write a much bigger description of each t-shirt without changing the simple layout.

Fingers crossed for some real traffic![/quote]



As I said in my Pm, you are on a hiding to nothing with generic search terms such as t shirt and robot.

Google results Page 5 is fine if someone is looking for your specific t shirt (and knows it's out there somewhere) as they will stick with it and drill down through the results pages a lot further than a casual searcher.
The myth of "it must be on page 1" is only true for type 3 searches: people who don't know you exist but are just hoping there's an answer to their problem out there on the Web somewhere. ie "concept searching".
As long as you don't expect loads of business from these people you'll not be disappointed

robotrobotrobot already dominates page one of the google results for that word or phrase anyway (your twitter and inbound links from here and other recommenders) so you have type one searches covered : That's where they know you exist and they know you have a website and your name.

Other than that, and bring this back to how it relates to band web stuff, if you are stuck with generic search terms like t shirt, function band, Motown covers, party band etc you just have to do other marketing as well. Once the customer/ client/ mother of teh bride to be etc is searching for your actual [i]name [/i] ie band name or company name, it becomes a lot easier.

It's easy to be in the number one spot on Google results page one for your own band or company name, assuming you have one that isn't a very common word.

Even that isn't a disaster if used well:

Try a Google search for Green. (689,000,000 results). Now try one for Day (2,150,000,000 results) ... Now try Green Day - still 25,700,000 but they are probably all about the band, certainly the first 5 pages worth.
Green and Day on their own will never be easy words to market on Google but "Green Day" is a weird combination and very much easier to work with. Same goes for Simply Red, Arctic Monkeys, Yellow Jackets, Florence and the Machine, Kaiser Chiefs etc. The weird juxtaposition of normal words works.
It's no co-incidence that a word+colour band name is common. They stick in the mind and are easier to market on Google.

That's something to think about when naming your band.

[paul h]

You are 100% correct of course.

However I do feel I should be able to get in the first 5 pages for "robot-t-shirt". There a just over 3,000,000 results for that search term, and the majority of the ones that currently beat me do not actually [i]specialize[/i] in robot t-shirts.

Other than that, it's viral all the way. Twitter is proving pretty good for that already.

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='562642' date='Aug 7 2009, 10:41 AM']You are 100% correct of course.

However I do feel I should be able to get in the first 5 pages for "robot-t-shirt". There a just over 3,000,000 results for that search term, and the majority of the ones that currently beat me do not actually [i]specialize[/i] in robot t-shirts.

Other than that, it's viral all the way. Twitter is proving pretty good for that already.[/quote]

"robot-t-shirt"? with two hyphens? I'd not use that term (but I am constantly amazed at what search terms people use when we run search workshops)

But that is also a generic term - and "category" terms. That's the sort of thing you put in your About Us page but is it what your potential customer uses in a search for a tee shirt?
I'd expect your searcher to use something like "bass robot t shirt" "bassbot tee" or "guitar robot" or white guitar tee shirt" or robot playing white 62 RI P bass" or "machine man playing precision bass" "robot playin bass" and "tee-shirt", "t-shirt","teeshirt" "tee shirt" " wife beater" cropped T" "Women fit Tee" "girls T" "Girl's fit T" etc etc etc ... or whatever other term they use to describe the image on the shirt they just saw someone wearing .. Tricky eh?


To bring this concept into band marketing, it is always a good idea to try to find out what people use to search for a band like yours.
Ask 20 people "what woud you put into google to find our band, or a band like ours, [i]if you didn't know our band name[/i]"
That last bit is crucial, of course, as finding your myspace or website if they know your name should be a doddle, it's the other ones that need a bit of work.

[paul h]

Typo!

I meant robot t-shirt.

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='562930' date='Aug 7 2009, 05:19 PM']Typo!

I meant robot t-shirt.[/quote]


ha ha yeah well you have to allow for typos too

[paul h]

Lol....yup, another thing to sort out.

I am back up to page 6 for "robot t-shirt" and that's before some of the changes have been crawled. That is pretty damn good in my book.

Couldn't have done it without you and this thread Si, cheers!

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='563333' date='Aug 8 2009, 10:02 AM']Lol....yup, another thing to sort out.

I am back up to page 6 for "robot t-shirt" and that's before some of the changes have been crawled. That is pretty damn good in my book.

Couldn't have done it without you and this thread Si, cheers!

[/quote]


You are welcome, Paul.
I am sure you understand why I try to relate the points to band websites on here ..

[paul h]

Just a quick one.

[url="http://robotrobotrobot.net"]http://robotrobotrobot.net[/url] has just been selected as my web hosts "Customer site of the Week!". They are displaying my Stormtrooper design with the following text: [i]"This customer web site uses comic strip like images, which really suits the content and purpose of this web site. Nice!"[/i]

This is a good example of inbound links and hopefully a helping in hand in going viral.

I had to submit the site to the host for inclusion in the "customer sites" section...but it seems to have paid off already.

The moral? Take any opportunity to promote your band site. I might not make any sales from that link as I have no control over the demographic that see it, but it is going to help my page rank!

[OldGit]

[quote name='paul h' post='566481' date='Aug 12 2009, 08:05 AM']Just a quick one.

[url="http://robotrobotrobot.net"]http://robotrobotrobot.net[/url] has just been selected as my web hosts "Customer site of the Week!". They are displaying my Stormtrooper design with the following text: [i]"This customer web site uses comic strip like images, which really suits the content and purpose of this web site. Nice!"[/i]

This is a good example of inbound links and hopefully a helping in hand in going viral.

I had to submit the site to the host for inclusion in the "customer sites" section...but it seems to have paid off already.

The moral? Take any opportunity to promote your band site. I might not make any sales from that link as I have no control over the demographic that see it, but it is going to help my page rank![/quote]


Nice one Paul...

[paul h]

Page one of Google search results for "robot t-shirt"

Awesome!

Thanks again Si.

[teej]

[quote name='paul h' post='575265' date='Aug 20 2009, 10:56 AM']Page one of Google search results for "robot t-shirt"

Awesome!

Thanks again Si.

[/quote]
Result! Well done!

[bolov]

Hi

Thanks for such a really useful thread !

we are a function band looking to get well paid weddings / functions in our area (south west)

We are struggling for google rank after a recent re design and change of hosting.

I have tried a google addwords campaign that seems to have helped ?????? but the increase in traffic could be for other reasons.

If you could have a quick squizz I would be very grateful.

[url="http://www.limitedcompanyband.co.uk"]www.limitedcompany.co.uk[/url]

Thanks

Owen

[OldGit]

[quote name='bolov' post='587324' date='Sep 2 2009, 11:36 AM']Hi

Thanks for such a really useful thread !

we are a function band looking to get well paid weddings / functions in our area (south west)

We are struggling for google rank after a recent re design and change of hosting.

I have tried a google addwords campaign that seems to have helped ?????? but the increase in traffic could be for other reasons.

If you could have a quick squizz I would be very grateful.

[url="http://www.limitedcompanyband.co.uk"]www.limitedcompany.co.uk[/url]

Thanks

Owen[/quote]

PM'd

[Bassmonster]

Great thread, i've been tasked with sorting the bands myspace page out, stumbled accross this type of [url="http://www.myspace.com/burnthesunset"]style[/url], this appears to be some kind of custom coding as far as i can tell, now how can i get mine to look like it, or do i need to be some kind of HTML ninja

Edited September 2, 2009 by Bassmonster

[TimR]

[quote name='Bassmonster' post='587871' date='Sep 2 2009, 07:57 PM']Great thread, i've been tasked with sorting the bands myspace page out, stumbled accross this type of [url="http://www.myspace.com/burnthesunset"]style[/url], this appears to be some kind of custom coding as far as i can tell, now how can i get mine to look like it, or do i need to be some kind of HTML ninja[/quote]

google "myspace editor" you should get loads of how to guides and templates.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Bassmonster' post='587871' date='Sep 2 2009, 07:57 PM']Great thread, i've been tasked with sorting the bands myspace page out, stumbled accross this type of [url="http://www.myspace.com/burnthesunset"]style[/url], this appears to be some kind of custom coding as far as i can tell, now how can i get mine to look like it, or do i need to be some kind of HTML ninja[/quote]


Ah Myspace. Absolutely brilliant for originals bands on a budget building a following, etc ...
Sadly more or less useless for function bands as the brides' mums don't "get" Myspace and you can't tune a Myspace for their kind of search they way you can a normal site.

There are some Myspace experts on the forum. Post a new thread and see who pops up.

Most of the stuff about communicating well, using the right pictures and video, tuning your youtube for search and link back, etc, etc apply but the search stuff and layouts are a whole diffrent ball game.

Love the Burn The Sunset tour video on that link you gave specially the "Band hair tossing in sync" bit at about 3 minutes in It's not them but it's very funny..

[OldGit]

[quote name='bolov' post='587324' date='Sep 2 2009, 11:36 AM']I have tried a google addwords campaign that seems to have helped ?????? but the increase in traffic could be for other reasons.[/quote]

Just a word on Google Adwords, AKA "Pay Per Click" or PPC

PPC adverts are the paid for listings that appear on Google at the top and side of the normal listings. Normal, free listings are called "natural" search results in SEO terminology.

Google wedding band for examples - see the problem down the left side - "wedding band" means "wedding ring" in US English ....

PPC can be really brilliant for companies. I was on a geek weekend recently where one delegate had a £3 million per annum budget for Google adwords marketing but a company turn over of hundreds of millions.

However for function bands it's not the best way to spend your marketing budget.

Working out the best key phrases you should pay for to maximise the effectiveness of PPC is the same as doing that for your site so, once your site is optimised you should score well on the free stuff anyway. So why pay for it?

"Natural" search results can work much better for you if you do a few things to help out - sort your site SEO, obviously, but also take advantage of the sites that already know how to use Google well .. [url="http://www.gig-guide.co.uk/pages/wedding-bands-list.php/Avon/1/2/1/1"]Gig-Guide[/url] is a prime example. Search for "wedding band yourtown" and see who's there on page one - Gig guide .. So list with them. Also any other listings sites and agencies that come up on page one when you do that search. They will work hard to stay on page one and you can ride that wave

Also...

- get reviewed on places like [url="http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews68590.html"]Review Centre,[/url], make sure your [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szupbnMY5Xk"]Youtube[/url] video text stuff links back to your website,
- get listed on as many of the wedding listing sites as you can. Some charge just £10 per year for a listing. You could spend that in a day on PPC and still not get any interested parties.

We advertise on a few wedding band listing sites such as [url="http://www.weddingservices4u.co.uk/asp_Somerset2/SomersetWeddingCeilidhBands.asp"]Wedding Services 4U[/url] (horrible site design but, by George, it brings in the enquiries.)

They are cheap and, of course, anyone that clicks through from there is looking for a band for a wedding in our genre and geographical area (as we only advertise on wedding sites that differentiate their bands well). Thus we are very likely to get a call from there if they like what we do.

PPC can bring in hundreds of visitors, each costing you money, but maybe they are your mates clicking on your PPC link to find your band site, or the singer in your rivals clicking on it to cost you money and annoy you.

The measure of whether PPC is working is not the traffic flow you get but the number of enquiries it generates.

[OldGit]

[quote name='bolov' post='587324' date='Sep 2 2009, 11:36 AM']Hi

Thanks for such a really useful thread !

we are a function band looking to get well paid weddings / functions in our area (south west)

We are struggling for google rank after a recent re design and change of hosting.

I have tried a google addwords campaign that seems to have helped ?????? but the increase in traffic could be for other reasons.

If you could have a quick squizz I would be very grateful.

[url="http://www.limitedcompanyband.co.uk"]www.limitedcompany.co.uk[/url]

Thanks

Owen[/quote]

Owen, Do you have site stats/analytics on your current site?
If you don't then you should install Google Analytics or [url="http://www.statcounter.com/"]http://www.statcounter.com/[/url] (both free). Analytics are great for seeing what's happening with your site, how the search stuff is working, what people do on your site etc.
If you don't have them now then please add them before you make the changes so that you can track the effect of any changes

[Jesso]

Hey knowledgeable dudes!
Just wondering if you'd care to have a quick look at our site?
It's been up for a few months now, and the feedback has been generally positive. However, I'm always looking for new ways to improve, and some feedback from fellow musicians with geeky css seo experience I'm sure would be a big help... and much appreciated!
I built the site using a cms called "squarespace". So far I can't see any disadvantages with doing things this way but I could be wrong?!
The website is

www.thepanoramics.com

Cheers!

Jesse

[OldGit]

[quote name='Jesso' post='650660' date='Nov 10 2009, 02:18 PM']Hey knowledgeable dudes!
Just wondering if you'd care to have a quick look at our site?
It's been up for a few months now, and the feedback has been generally positive. However, I'm always looking for new ways to improve, and some feedback from fellow musicians with geeky css seo experience I'm sure would be a big help... and much appreciated!
I built the site using a cms called "squarespace". So far I can't see any disadvantages with doing things this way but I could be wrong?!
The website is

www.thepanoramics.com

Cheers!

Jesse[/quote]


Happy to do so Jesee, and I can see a few things to do already just looking at your home page for 30 seconds, however, 'cos I've written up a lot of the common problems I've got a set of [s]rules[/s] rough guidelines for this ..
Basically I'd like you to read right through this thread first, looking for stuff your website has and needs .. once you've done that come back and tell me your band objectives - for the site anyway - ie what kind of gigs you are after etc.. and we can take it from there..

Happy to do it then but I am sure you'll understand that I don't have time to say the same things to everyone when they are here in the thread already

PM is Ok too if you don't want it all out here

OG

[Jesso]

[quote name='OldGit' post='650671' date='Nov 10 2009, 02:27 PM']Happy to do so Jesee, and I can see a few things to do already just looking at your home page for 30 seconds, however, 'cos I've written up a lot of the common problems I've got a set of [s]rules[/s] rough guidelines for this ..
Basically I'd like you to read right through this thread first, looking for stuff your website has and needs .. once you've done that come back and tell me your band objectives - for the site anyway - ie what kind of gigs you are after etc.. and we can take it from there..

Happy to do it then but I am sure you'll understand that I don't have time to say the same things to everyone when they are here in the thread already

PM is Ok too if you don't want it all out here

OG[/quote]

Hey OG,
Thanks very much, I totally understand what your saying. I'll have a really good look through the thread today, and then send you a PM if thats cool. Much appreciated.

Jesse

[OldGit]

[quote name='Jesso' post='650692' date='Nov 10 2009, 02:48 PM']Hey OG,
Thanks very much, I totally understand what your saying. I'll have a really good look through the thread today, and then send you a PM if thats cool. Much appreciated.

Jesse[/quote]


Thanks


Video killed the radio star on two guitars, bass 'n' drums?
Nice one, nice vocal too.