November 28, 2009

It's easy for bands to simply rely on MySpace and Facebook for their online presence. But a well-designed Web site offers almost limitless opportunities for fan interaction, communication and monetization that social networks can't. Laura O'Connell, creative director at Web design firm Gupta Media—which has created Web sites and online content for Pink, Fall Out Boy and the Bonnaroo Music Festival—offers her advice on how to put together the right mix of style and substance to get the most out of your site.

1. Fans Want Meaning, Not Marketing

When creating a Web site you may have a certain goal in mind (selling CDs or showcasing a new video), but you have to keep the artist and their persona in the forefront. Whether it's through specialized font treatments, poignant imagery or bare-bones acoustic videos, the site should embody the artist and their style. Diehard fans will get the CD or watch the video eventually. Your Web site is a chance to make a connection in a meaningful way with potential new fans, so don't scare them off with an obvious sales pitch.

2. Showcase Your Content

You've accomplished the hard task of getting someone to your site. Don't lose them by burying your content under a confusing interface. If there is something you want your audience to know or see, put it out in the open. The top end of a Web page is the "money area" and that's where your best content should be. Having to click on a rocket that flies past the screen or even to a different page for a song sample is not good. There are a lot of sites out there with fantastic content that never go viral because the right people never see it.

3. Have An Incentive

If you want people to blog, tweet and otherwise talk about your site, they need to feel that it's worth sharing. Offer users something that's free or exclusive, but don't make them jump through hoops to get it. Asking for their e-mail is fine, but not the e-mails of five friends. There has to be a balance between what you give versus what you're asking for in return. The purpose of the incentive is to start the conversation, not end it. Getting a free song or seeing the first cut of a video gets people talking, and more importantly, sharing.

4. Stay Relevant

Most people use and experience the digital world as something that is timely, useful and personable. They are checking on what's happening within their community on their local news site, what's happening within their industry and interests on blogs and media sites and what's happening with their friends on Twitter and Facebook. Keep this in mind when you are creating your site. There's no point in revisiting a site that is static, so stay relevant for your audience by posting new content and information at least once a week, if not daily for more emerging acts. Let them know what's going on, and more importantly show them that they can come back for new and useful information.

Additionally, give them the tools to update the site themselves. Embrace user-generated content. Make Twitter available on your site so your fans can Twitter for you. If a user missed a concert, let them see how fans from their area enjoyed it by letting fans upload photos to your site. Engage them by using the formats they use.

5. Make The Most Of Free Assets

Unless you're a wizard at search engine optimization, the odds are fans searching the Internet for information about you are landing on MySpace, Facebook or Wikipedia first. Make sure that these sites mimic what you are trying to do with your site. That means maintaining a consistent tone in your online presence in both design and message. When you post content to one, make sure it's available on all, or at least make it known on all that new content is available. The idea is to have all these online outlets working together rather than independently. Fans will learn about artists in the most random of ways, so the more you can control that experience and make it consistent, the faster people will understand what you're trying to convey. —Interview by Antony Bruno

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