When it comes to adding content on your music or band website, a lot of musicians get it wrong. They either don’t update their website for long periods at a time, or they update it daily with non relevant information. Neither of these strategies work very well, as they don’t give the fan enough of what they really want: You!
So what should you include on your music blog or website? Well, below are some ideas…
Breaking News Related To Your Music
As fans and visitors to your website, people will generally want to know what the latest news is with you. Even small (Music related) facts can go down well, so be sure to let people know. This may be something small like you’ve changed the order of the songs on your next CD, or something bigger like you’ve got interest from a well known record label. Whatever the news is, let it be told. This will make your website appear more busy, and will encourage repeat visits.
Discussion Bait
As a musician, you ideally want fans to be interactive with your blog. While some people will naturally get involved and comment on your posts, sometimes it takes more of a push before people start getting active on your site.
A good idea is to ask people questions directly, or give them a reason to reply to your posts. For example, you may want to ask them which outfit you should wear to your next gig. In this case, you will of course need to also add pictures up with the costume choices. Another thing you could ask is which song you should release as your next single, or what they would like to hear you sing / rap about.
Competitions are also a good way of getting people to be interactive, but we’ll talk more about that later.
Studio Sessions
If you have just been to the studio, why not let people know that? You can tell them what you were recording for, and maybe even put up a clip of the song. Alternatively, if you have a video recording of the studio session, you may want to put that up instead.
If you decide to put up audio or video of the song you just recorded, be sure to make sure the clip isn’t too long. You want it long enough to excite people about it’s release, but not so long that people don’t feel the need to get it when it comes out. Around 30 – 40 seconds is usually enough, although this will depend on the length of your tune.
Up And Coming Gigs
If you have a gig that’s coming up soon, you may want to talk about it on your website in a blog post. Go further then just having up your tour dates in the sidebar, let people know where you’ll be next and why they should come down and see you.
A good idea is to set challenges for your fans. You can tell them that anyone who comes to the gig with one of your T Shirts (Or a white T Shirt with your name written on it) will get a free copy of your new CD. Or the first person who manages to sing your song back to you will get free entry to your next gig. This will give people more of a reason to go, not just because they want the prizes, but also because people like to interact and feel like they’re part of something.
How Gigs Went
Once you have actually finished the gig, why not let people know how it went? This can excite people if you make it sound enjoyable, and make them want to come to any future gigs you’re playing near them.
If you brought your own recording equipment along to the gig, you can put up videos of your live performance. On top of that, you can record back stage footage and maybe even interview other artists. While you can put some of this footage up on your website, why not hold some back and offer it as a bonus for fans that help you in some way (E.G. Facebook like your page, sign up to your mailing list, or even buy your music). You may even want to release your own DVD in future, so some of this footage can be used for that.
Competitions
While they shouldn’t be overused (This will devalue them), competitions are something you should definitely try and include in your music blog. Everyone likes to get something for nothing, so giving them this opportunity will increase participation on your site.
It’s always best to run a competition where both you and the fan benefit. So for example, you can get people to sign up to your mailing list, and three people will be chosen at random to receive a full version of your new song. Alternatively, you can get people to Tweet a message about you or Facebook like your page, and a random person will be chosen to get free tickets to your next gig.
It’s a good idea to run a monthly competition. This will get people into the routine of entering them regularly, and will help you increase you fan base at the same time.
Lyrics
Fans love to be able to sing along to their favourite songs, so why not make it easy for them? If you post up the lyrics of some of your songs, there will be a lot of people who appreciate it. These type of pages get shared around as well, so will build more backlinks to your website. This will increase your rankings in the search engines, and in turn bring in more traffic.
What Topics To Cover On Your Music Website Conclusion
If you want fans of your music to keep visiting your blog, you need to keep it interesting for them. That means adding new content at LEAST once a week, and making that content interesting. You may want to hold surveys with your fans, and ask them what they want to actually see you write about.
Music blogs can be one of your greatest forms of promotion, so make sure you add top quality content.