Does a band need a website

[BigRedX]

Ideally you should have everything. A web site, a presence on ALL the social media networks, and everything as far as possible linked to everything else, so that you audience can chose which way to get their informations and if necessary interact with you.

 

None of them have to be complicated, but they should look good and be kept up to date, which generally means something to post every week on social media even if you don't have any gigs in the pipeline. Also keep on top of changes to the design and layout of your social media pages. There's nothing worse than a page that looks broken on Facebook etc. because the layout and graphic specifications have changed but the band/business haven't bothered to update the user elements on the page to take advantage of this.

[molan]

Most band websites generate a tiny amount of traffic. Simply install a basic Google analytics tracker and you’ll be able to measure the numbers. 
 

It’s kind of a decent ‘hygiene’ factor I have something but not worth spending lots of time/money on. 
 

Using a combination of social platforms can be a lot more efficient. Not just FaceBook but Twitter and Instagram plus any decent local music sites. 
 

Be sure to think about your audience - are you after punters to attend gigs, landlords to book you in pubs, bookers for social clubs or smaller venues etc etc. 

 

So many people design their marketing based on what they like themselves or think will impress their mates, family, girlfriends etc.

[DubDelay]

If your band is let’s say ‘The Dublin Blues Wedding Band’ it’s going to be worth having an SEO optimised website at that domain as you will get hits from people searching for ‘blues wedding bands’ anywhere in Ireland. 
 

[PaulWarning]

3 minutes ago, DubDelay said:

If your band is let’s say ‘The Dublin Blues Wedding Band’ it’s going to be worth having an SEO optimised website at that domain as you will get hits from people searching for ‘blues wedding bands’ anywhere in Ireland. 
 

lol, we're a punk band who does mostly local pub gigs, mostly covers with a smattering of our own songs, we do occasional festivals and gigs where we do an originals set, but not many, all our albums are on Spotify, Verbal Warning if anybody is interested

[molan]

2 hours ago, DubDelay said:

If your band is let’s say ‘The Dublin Blues Wedding Band’ it’s going to be worth having an SEO optimised website at that domain as you will get hits from people searching for ‘blues wedding bands’ anywhere in Ireland. 
 

The importance of SEO is hugely overrated these days. 
 

Ever since Google introduced personalised (and localised) search back in 2004 it’s become harder and harder to manipulate listings. 
 

Loads of little agencies flogging it as a service but rarely able to genuinely show effectiveness of results. 
 

It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow basic hygiene factors but a small site, from a small band, won’t get a lot of significant search results from ‘cold’ searchers. 

[Guest]

We only do Facebook now, but we're at the point where word of mouth generates most of our bookings so let the website go as superfluous to requirements.

[BigRedX]

I don't think any band I've been in has got a gig on the strength of its website (or any on-line presence THB). 

 

IME websites for bands of any stature are primarily for their fans. Most the "business" is done the old fashioned way with phone calls and occasionally on-line messaging.

[mrtcat]

It depends how busy you want to be. If you aren't after more than a gig a week in pubs in your local area then i wouldn't worry about a website. Phoning around or speaking to landlords face to face will yield greater results as most pub landlords don't go actively seeking new bands. Landlords can be notoriously slow or flakey when it comes to commiting to a booking and you have more chance of getting in their diary if theyve met you or spoken to you.

 

If you want loads of gigs, I'd be more inclined to use a decent agent who will add you to their website and do a lot of the leg work for you. It'll come at a price but a decent agent can make a huge difference. A website for a pub band won't make much difference at all.

Edited January 13, 2023 by mrtcat

[bassbloke]

Sign up for Linktree.  It's a neat way of hosting links to your various social and streaming media accounts.

 

If you have a domain then set up a permanent forward to your linktree.

[AaronWatson]

On 13/01/2023 at 20:20, Bassfinger said:

We only do Facebook now

Do you have a Telegram/Discord channel as well?

[nilorius]

If You think that Your band is allready quite popular in your country and other countries, too - the website is a good thing if it shows lots of pictures, gives a lot info about band, contains music to listen and videous, to watch and can be easily found through google. If not - facebook is a good way for everyone, for free.

[EssexBuccaneer]

We’ve got Facebook, twitter, insta and now tiktok - which is actually the most popular of them all. We show rehearsal clips on there (30-40secs per track) as well as clips of us as ‘people’, gear reviews, what were upto etc. In the grand scheme of things our account is small - but it’s very new, and we’re getting 250-500 views per clip without even having played a gig yet.

[PaulWarning]

I'm not convinced that our website is value for money, but the singer loves the perceived kudos of having one and he runs it (the band pays) so it's not worth the aggro of having an argument about it, I don't understand tictok but it seems to have traction, I'll have to investigate

[MetcalfeVictor]

I guess yes. Why not

[MetcalfeVictor]

On 21/05/2022 at 01:38, molan said:

Most band websites generate a tiny amount of traffic. Simply install a basic Google analytics tracker and you’ll be able to measure the numbers. 
 

It’s kind of a decent ‘hygiene’ factor I have something but not worth spending lots of time/money on. 
 

Using a combination of social platforms can be a lot more efficient. Not just FaceBook but Twitter and Instagram plus any decent local music sites. 
 

Be sure to think about your audience - are you after punters to attend gigs, landlords to book you in pubs, bookers for social clubs or smaller venues etc etc. 

 

So many people design their marketing based on what they like themselves or think will impress their mates, family, girlfriends etc.
If you need more about web design I advice this blog https://claspo.io/blog/age-verification-pop-up-why-do-you-need-it-and-how-to-add-one-to-your-website/. It can help you with understanding web design

Its why I want site for my band

[molan]

On 21/06/2023 at 17:17, PaulWarning said:

I'm not convinced that our website is value for money, but the singer loves the perceived kudos of having one and he runs it (the band pays) so it's not worth the aggro of having an argument about it, I don't understand tictok but it seems to have traction, I'll have to investigate

It shouldn’t cost much to run. Ours is £9 a month(and that actually allows me to maintain 5 sites). 

[Guest]

Depends on the level you're at. We do typically two, occasionally three, big paying gigs a month (two grand a time between the five of us) and we have no website.  Between times we do the pubs at 500 a go, but we regard that as paid rehearsal rather than gigs. 

 

Word of mouth and social media presence alone seem to keep us busy enough now were known on the local circuit, although if we raised our sights higher a website might well be beneficial.

[chriswareham]

Having your only web presence on Facebook means you're reducing your potential audience by a massive amount. An increasing number of people have never signed up for a Facebook account, have closed their account or haven't used it in years. Facebook are also keen to make their site a "walled garden", so pages are becoming less likely to be indexed by search engines such as Google or Bing. Your best bet is to cover as many bases as possible - website, Facebook (depending on the demographic you're targetting), Bandcamp, etc. As others have said, shop around for a cheap domain name registrar (a company that will let you buy a domain name such as mybandname.com) and web hosting. There are free websites that allow you to build an acceptable looking set of webpages, such as Wix. If you have the skills or a reasonably web savvy friend, then copy the web pages from the website builder's website, remove any unwanted branding ("this site built with wix.com", etc) and upload the pages to your web hosting.

[EssexBuccaneer]

I’ve started work on wix this morning, dunno what I’m doing at all, but still managed to make a professional looking home page with working links to our socials so far.

 

Our drummer is an IT dude so I’m sure he’ll improve on my efforts 😁

[ScottyHill]

A website helps to Improve Marketing and makes a band look more professional. Social media is great, but a website keeps everything in one place—gig dates, merch, bio, and contact details—without worrying about algorithm changes. It also shows up in search results and gives full control over branding. Even a simple site with basic info can make a big difference, especially for promoters or venues checking out the band.

Edited Monday at 08:06 by ScottyHill

[Woodwind]

2 hours ago, ScottyHill said:

A website makes a band look more professional and gives people one place to find everything. Social media is useful, but a site gives you full control over your content.

 

Professional is a relative term I feel.

If you're in a covers band that wants to generate bookings then I can see a *good* website helping. This isn't necessarily true for an originals act.

 

I have been a long term user of Squarespace. It's never been cheap, but the latest price increase has led to me cancelling the renewal.

The usage I get from it isn't worth the money it costs.

 

I've just put a one page site together with Carrd. As a concise introduction to my music it's fine, easier to edit on the fly than Squarespace and a tenth of the cost of Squarespace! 

https://www.thomasstonemusic.co.uk

 

Social media (mainly Instagram ) is by far and away more useful for me with the genre I occupy.

I don't even run an email list anymore, again replaced by Instagram and the messaging capabilities on bandcamp.

 

 

Edited February 26 by Woodwind

[Phil Starr]

I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if this is repeating information you have already.

 

You need some searchable web presence IMO I'm not sure any particular source is 'best'. If you are canvassing venues or handing out business cards most people will want to check you out so a website they can be directed to on your card is kind of essential. A lot of people who aren't web savvy still use Facebook and that includes an awful lot of pubs and other venues. It is still the most widely used media for pubs and covers bands. You are kind of stuck with it useless though it is. On the plus side Facebook Marketplace is a good place to pick up secondhand kit The biggest problem with Facebook is that it is swamped by people with great social media skills and good looking pages for mythical bands that rarely or never gig. Nobod visits unless they know you already. Sound and fury signifying nothing!

 

A dedicated website with a band specific domain name is really professional looking and gives you lots of control. Most function bands operate that way. Booking agents often insist on these too so if you have multiple agents this is a way to go.

 

In a few areas Lemonrock.com is a great place to be as it is a dedicated site where venues will go looking for bands, I pick up a dozen bookings a year that way. It depends upon a certain critical mass however. In the West Country is is great and around St Albans and surrounding areas it is equally good, the rest of the country you'd have to check.

 

Whatevcer you do make sure you have good quality sound and video for people to see so anybody genuinely wanting to book a band can check you out.  A set list of other indication of what your music is probably a good idea too.

 

 

[Al Krow]

If your website generates a single paid gig per annum then my guess is it will likely more than cover its running costs for a year. We've just this past week secured a 40th birthday party booking via ours. It is just one channel of getting bookings for us, but once it's been properly set up, it shouldn't take too much maintenance.

 

I know some of BCers's bands get a very significant portion of their bookings via their website, far more than my crew do.

[Gank Bass]

You don't need one however having a decent url on your business card (if on those types of circuits) does lend an air of professionalism. I'd say we get 10 gigs through Instagram for every 1 off our website but it's still worthwhile to have if you treat your band as a business! 

 

Hope this helps 👍