Matt had Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and eventually streaming profiles. Why send people somewhere else when they could already find him online? Because none of those places belong to us. Social media is great for finding people, but you're building on somebody else's property. Algorithms change, features disappear, accounts get restricted, and you're limited by what each platform allows you to show. A website gave me one place where I could control the entire picture of Matt Penrod the artist.

Pick the Right Platform

I wasn't interested in becoming a web developer. I wanted something I could manage myself without having to know HTML or any other kind of code. My goal was to get music out into the world as quickly as possible with minimal learning curve. There are many options out there. I chose Bandzoogle because it was specifically designed for musicians and the tools they need. 

Bandzoogle has music players, electronic press kits, mailing lists, a store, contact forms and tools for promoting releases. If you decide to try Bandzoogle, you can use my referral link here:https://bandzoogle.com/?memref=r130bef. I’ll get a referral credit, so thanks if you do. 

Regardless of which platform you choose, don't just ask, can I build this? Ask, can I maintain this six months from now without having to relearn the platform each time? 

Create a Landing Page

Your Home page doesn't need to tell your entire life story. Its job is to quickly tell someone who you are, what kind of music you make and where they should go next. I want someone landing on Matt's site to immediately know they've found a singer-songwriter and keyboardist, see a strong photo (hero image) and have an obvious way to hear his music.

You can put all kinds of things on a Home page—music, upcoming shows, news, videos, mailing-list signups—but that doesn't mean you need all of them. Don't turn your homepage into the junk drawer. Give people enough to know they've found the right artist and then make it easy for them to go where they want.

Tell Them Who You Are

Next comes the bio. Remember that Bio we organized in Get Your Assets Together? Here's one of the places you'll need it. I like having enough information for someone who genuinely wants to learn about Matt without making them read his autobiography. Who is he? What does he sound like? What does he play? What makes his music his?

This is also where having good artist photos matters. The website should reinforce the same artist identity you've been building everywhere else. If someone discovers the artist on social media and then visits the website, it should feel like they arrived at the same place.

Let Them Hear the Music

This one seems obvious, but if you're a musician, people shouldn't have to work very hard to hear your music. Matt has a dedicated Music page where someone can actually listen instead of immediately being sent somewhere else. That's important to me because I don't know whether the person visiting uses Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music or something else. I want them to be able to hit play first and decide where they want to go afterward.

Bandzoogle lets you put the music directly on the site, and then you can also give people links to the streaming services where your music lives. The point is simple: if somebody comes to your website because they're curious about your music, let them hear it.

Give Industry People Their Own Shortcut

One of the most useful pages on Matt's website is the EPK—Electronic Press Kit. Think of this as the professional shortcut. This page has performance videos, photos, contact information, short bio, etc. Think of it as a quick snapshot of the artist. A venue doesn't necessarily want to wander through your entire website trying to figure out whether you're a good fit. They want the important information quickly: bio, photos, music, performance video, contact information and whatever else helps them evaluate the artist.

This was also when I started realizing that not everyone visiting Matt's website was looking for the same thing. A fan, venue owner, radio station and music supervisor are all coming for different reasons. Your website doesn't have to make all of them follow the same path. Make it easy for them to find what they came for.

Sometimes You Need a Private Room

I also created listening pages for situations where I wanted someone to hear specific music without necessarily sending them through the entire public website. This became especially useful when pitching. Instead of writing an email with five attachments and six different links, I can send someone to one place designed specifically for what I want them to hear.

This is where the website started becoming more than an online business card for me. It became a tool I could actually use when I was booking, pitching or promoting Matt.

Make the Streaming Links Obvious

If someone likes what they hear, don't make them hunt for you on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube. Give them the links. Bandzoogle has Smart Links that can send listeners to the different places a release is available, and you can also create a link-in-bio type page for social media.

Every extra step you make someone take is another opportunity for them to decide they have something better to do. Assume people are impatient.

Give Them a Way to Contact You

This is especially important if you want bookings. Have a clear Contact page and make it ridiculously easy for someone to reach you. Bandzoogle allows you to add a contact form, so a venue, event planner or industry contact can send a message directly through the website.

I want someone to be able to find Matt, hear him, decide they're interested and contact us without having to solve a puzzle. That entire path should be easy.

Build the Store Before You Have Much to Sell

We also have a Store. At first, you may not have much to put in one, and that's okay. Music, shirts, hats and other merchandise can come later. What matters is that you have somewhere to put those things as the business grows.

You don't need twenty products before you create the store. We certainly didn't. I'd rather have a simple store with a few things in it than wait until some imaginary point when we have enough merchandise to look like a major touring act.

Start Collecting Email Addresses

This is one feature I think is easy to overlook when you're first starting out. Put an email signup somewhere on the site. Social-media followers are useful, but you don't control whether Facebook or Instagram actually shows those people your next post. An email list gives you another way to stay connected with people who have specifically asked to hear from you.

Bandzoogle has mailing-list and newsletter tools built in, so you can collect subscribers and send updates about releases, shows and other news. We may not have thousands of people waiting for an email today, but that's exactly why I'd rather start collecting them now than wish we'd started three years from now.

Keep Goal in Sight

The goal isn't to build the biggest website. It's to make it ridiculously easy for someone to figure out who the artist is, hear the music and take the next step.