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Web Presence 101 - Part I: Initiating a Web Site
By: Tyler Champley
Setting up a self promotion web site for your band is the cheapest and easiest way of getting your act to the masses today. The advantages of having your own web site are endless. Your site provides an easy way for your fans to keep in touch with your activities, for labels and show promoters to contact you, and to provide samples of your music to a limitless audience.
There are many ways to get your web site off the ground. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages though. Let's take a look at these:
Hire a Web Design Company – This approach can be the most costly. Expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $5000 to have a professional company set up your artist or band's web site. Although you pay a lot for this approach, this can be advantageous because they will give you a very professional site and finish it on a strict timeline. This by far is the best approach if you have the money.
Hire a Friend – Most artists or bands take this approach to building a web site. This can be very beneficial to a band because the cost is usually anywhere from free to less than $500. There are many disadvantages to this approach though. Often times your friend doesn't have as much web knowledge as he/she let's on to. This can lead to a poorly designed and equipped site. In my experience, this is the best way to have the eternal "Under Construction" banner on your site as your friend frequently procrastinates to get your site up. This can often lead to bad blood down the road between you and your friend, which is why I would avoid this route.
Do It Yourself – This way can be very time consuming for yourself, but it can also be the most rewarding if you are willing to put in the effort. If you know how to code and do web graphics already, you have a solid leg up. You can design the site as you think best represents the band and you can do it on your schedule. If you are not an avid web designer, you can pick up a WYSIWYG editor to aid you in your web building. The biggest problem in designing your own site is the same reason critiquing your own music can be a bad idea; everyone has a bias for their own work. If you are designing and building your own web site, it would be an excellent idea to let outside parties not affiliated with your band give you honest and blunt feedback on your site.
Helpful Resources
WYSIWYG Editors
DIY Editors
DIY Books
Web Sites
- World Wide Web Consortium
This is the site for the web governing body. This is a great site to visit often to see what's coming down the web stream and to stay current with web specs and standards.
- CNET
This is a very diverse and helpful web site. You can compare prices here on web products and read reviews of these products as well. You can also find free downloads at their download center.
Continue - Part II: Building a Successful Web Site
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