Should you have an artist website?
We answer your questions about whether it’s worth having a music artist website in this day and age and how to get one.
An artist website can be a fantastic hub for fans to find out all about your music, concerts, purchase records, merch, and more. But with social media and streaming platforms becoming the hubs for listeners, are they still relevant?
It’s an answer that depends on a bunch of variables, which we will cover to help you to work out whether an artist website is something you should strive for.
Are artist websites still relevant?
The music industry has transformed dramatically in the last 20 years and continues to evolve constantly. Music streaming services have changed how we listen to music and in themselves have become the platforms listeners head to most often.
An artist page on a streaming service acts in many ways how an artist website might. On Spotify for example, your artist page features an About section, Concert listings with links to tickets, and a Merch page where fans can buy branded items.
In many ways, it’s the perfect hub for artists. Especially as you’re able to upload your music to Spotify for free through RouteNote and gain free access to their Spotify for Artists platform.
However, streaming service artist pages don’t show up very easily in Google search results. Therefore, whilst they’re a good artist hub they don’t offer you much SEO for when fans search you online.
But you don’t necessarily need a website to take control of your Google results. Social media websites have some of the best SEO and offer a platform that you can access for free, taking full control over your image.
Sites like Facebook allow you to post updates to your fans and share links to new music or upcoming concerts. You can create your own artist page for free, control your images, descriptions, and post freely to a global audience.
If your social media pages gain a good enough following, they will be prioritised in Google results sending more fans straight to your feed. This can be a great solution to taking control of the results when your artist name is searched without having to go through the time and money of creating a website.
When is it worth getting an artist website?
Just because there are great alternatives to a website doesn’t mean that there’s not still a case for getting one. You just need to consider what you’ll need to do to get one to decide whether it is right for you.
Firstly, you want to consider the cost it will take you to launch an artist website. If you want a good website that looks professional and really offers fans a worthwhile destination you’ll want to consider paying to host your site properly. This will allow you to create your own custom domain, meaning you choose your own website name, for example: www.yournamehere.com.
Secondly, if you’re serious about having an artist website then you will want to consider getting a professional to design your site. Unless you’re secretly a nifty coder (in which case, ideal!) then creating a well optimised website that has the aesthetic you’re after and all of the sections you need – such as concert links, videos, a store for merch and records, etc. – will be hard.
Nonetheless, it can still make a great landing spot for your fans. It will also boost your artist ecosystem online, which will only help your results from Google.
Website creation options
There are free hosting websites like Wix and you can design your website yourself on these sites. Wix and similar services can offer an easy solution if you simply want a landing page. For free your site will feature ads, won’t have a custom domain, and you will need to design it yourself so it’ll help if you’re handy with code.
That said, there are platforms that offer website hosting with built-in formatting options so that you can create a website visually without worrying too much about the code. Sites like Squarespace can be a great option for this
Ultimately, there are plenty of options for creating a website out there and you can take it as far or as easy as you’re willing to. You need to consider how worth any investment into a website is. Considering what we discussed earlier in the article, it is not necessary to have a website in this day and age..
How to make a good artist website
Here, we’ll look at what you should be looking to add to your website to make it worth your effort and a great place for your fans to find.
Firstly, decide what the purpose of your website is. Are you hoping to sell merchandise from it, or are you using it as a landing page to tease your new record? Decide on why you are creating a website before starting to plan and produce it as this decision will inform the entire design of it.
For example, if you are teasing a new record then you might want to keep the design of the website super simple: Just one landing page with the album artwork and a release date, or make it even teasier and just say ‘Coming Soon’. We’ve got some more advice on teasing a release here.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a solid artist website that fans can come to find out more about you then look to create a more traditional experience. Offer tabs to explore whatever people are searching for, including your upcoming concerts and links to tickets, a store page where they can buy your merchandise and physical copies of your music, and a section for music videos is also a great way to increase engagement.
Imbue your personality and brand into it by using your own imagery and text style that you might use for your brand elsewhere. This is where it can pay off having a professional to work on your site, imbuing your aesthetic into the site design with a clear and powerful effect.
In conclusion, make it personal and it will stand out but remember to always keep in mind quality.
Conclusion
It is not necessary to have an artist website as there are enough existing platforms that you can be present upon as an artist. Even so, it can add a lot to your presence online and if it suits a purpose that you have as an artist it will bolster your presence online and perhaps boost sales, streams, and views.