Never before has having a website been so important for musicians, bands, indie artists of any genre or any small business of any type. If you’re a professional musician, or even hope to become professional at some point, it has practically become a necessity to have a great looking, well laid out, easy to navigate website. It provides your fans a place to keep up to date on what is happening with your career, informed about upcoming gigs, view photos and videos of your performances and more. It also provides a place for booking agents, promoters, venues, or any potential client to check you out before hiring you for a gig. Nowadays, it is very important to have all your information centralized in one location for easy access by anyone you wish to know more about you.

That being said, it is vitally important that your website catches the eye, is easy to navigate, and is not overly cluttered. A cluttered website makes it difficult for visitors to find what they may be looking for. As well, if you are looking at highlighting something specific on one of your pages, it may be missed entirely by the visitor if there are too many distractions on it. Typically, a web page on your site should be to the point, relevant and informative. Say what you have to say and show what you have to show. A lot of information is OK as long it is specific to the theme of your page and is easy to read or browse through.

Another important element of your website is the use of good quality photography and video. Many times, musician or band websites use low quality photos that cannot be used for promotional purposes, such as for newspaper articles, blogs, etc. If you plan on using photos on your website, use the best quality available or at least have a downloadable version available via a link on your site. That way, if someone is looking at including one of your photos, with your permission, of course, in an article about you, they have easy access to it. With regards to videos, may performers post videos of their shows on YouTube or Facebook. That is OK and again, they must be of good quality and not fuzzy and with poor sound quality. It is important though, to include a video player within your website for your visitors to have quick access to it. Remember, you want your information easy to find and view. Nothing frustrates a visitor more than trying to locate info about you on a website that looks like a maze.

A lot of bands and musicians have social network profiles which they use to correspond with their fan base and nowadays, that has become increasingly important. However, it must be noted that for a performer or group to be taken seriously in the ever expanding online music industry, a dedicated website shows the world you are serious, legitimate, and have something to offer. And having the right kind of website that reflects who or what you are is vital.

That is why you are here…you need an elegant, quality, easy to navigate website that is affordable and easy to keep up-to-date…and we can help you with that.

If you have a small business, whether established or new, the importance of a website cannot be stessed enough. Most potential customers will first search the internet looking for what they need and if your business has no website, how will they find you. Certainly, there is the possibility your business may turn up on a directory that may include your contact information but that is not enough these days. Web searchers want more. Many people judge a business simply based on whether or not they have a website. They think that because a business doesn’t have a website, they must not be very good or successful. Some of the time, that may be true, but sometimes , that is not the case. In fact, what happens often is a successful business feels they don’t need a website because they have enough clientele as it is and find a website may be a waste of money. The flaw in that logic is that some of these “successful” businesses are turning away many future customers and the opportunity to grow their business and become even more successful. These customers will then go to a competitor who has a wonderful, informative website and will likely become a new client of theirs. As a small business, can you afford to turn away any potential customers in today’s competitive marketplace? Of course not.

There are several options out there for small businesses in search of a website. The simplest and cheapest being a “splash page”. This is basically a one page website that is an overview of your business and includes photos, a write-up about your company, contact information, testimonials, highlights and more. It is laid out to be easy to browse through and provides the visitor with a good sense about who you are and what you do, and even, what you’ve done.

The next step up from a splash page is a multi-page site that allows you to display more information about your company. It includes much of the same information that you’d find on a splash page, only more and in a very organized manner.

It depends at what stage you are at with your business whether you decide only a splash page or a full website.

As with any website, the use of good quality photos and easy to read text is important. You may want to get professional photographs taken of your business premises and your products to include on your site. And up-to-date contact information is critical. Nothing frustrates a visitor more than calling a number shown on your website and getting a wrong or out-of-service number, or sending an email that gets rejected.

And speaking of emails, another element that adds validity to your business is a professional looking email address. Some people will not do business with someone who uses a free email service like Hotmail or Gmail. This can sometimes be taken as unprofessional and illegitimate. Having your own email with your company or website name attached makes a big difference on how you are perceived as a business. For example, if you have a carpentry business, you will likely look more professional if your email address is bill@supercarpentry.com than if it is supercarpentry@hotmail.com.

These are important things to consider. Before you think you do not need a website, think about whether you can afford not to have one. Think about the many people who work every week day and the only time they have to research your business is in the evenings or on weekends. Are you available to speak clients all the time on those evenings and weekends? Having a website that is available 24/7 every day of the year allows your potential customers to learn as much as they can about you on their own time and then plan a visit or phone call to you once they’ve decided you are the company they would like to do business with.