If you were to take an informal survey of musicians and bands, most would probably say that they didn’t have a website to promote their music yet (or at least not one that they were satisfied with). And if you were to then ask them why, most would probably say that they couldn’t afford to do anything else.

Speaking as someone who specializes in websites for musicians, let me shatter that misconception. Having a professional looking website to promote your music does not need to break your budget. Nor does it require that you spend the next few months reading a stack of programming books from Barnes & Noble.

All it takes is a little research, a willingness to roll up your sleeves, and a few pointers from articles like this one to get you started. Armed with this knowledge, every band can have a professional looking website to promote their music for a fraction of the cost you might expect.

Who Should Build Your Website?

Many people think that the only way to create a professional looking website is to pay a web designer an arm and a leg to create one from scratch. Although this is certainly an option, there are other more cost-effective ways to create your website.

The best option is one you may not have thought of before: build it yourself! There are many resources available nowadays to help you create your own website, some of which are available for free. Let’s look at a few of them below.

1. Single Page Profiles. There are many websites out there which allow you to post a one-page profile about you and your music, with MySpace and PureVolume being some of the more popular options. It’s relatively easy to get started with some basic tools like sound samples, photos, and guestbook comments. The best part is that it is all available for free, provided you don’t mind having banner ads displayed across your webpage.
2. Program It Yourself. For those who are comfortable with some technical details, there is software available to create a full website even if you don’t know HTML programming. If you have a Windows computer that came with Microsoft Office, for example, you may already have Microsoft FrontPage installed. This program includes wizards and pre-built templates that you can use to get started. Be aware, however, that FrontPage may generate web pages that don’t work well in browsers other than Internet Explorer.
3. Do-It-Yourself Services. For those who are not interested in tinkering around with software, there are companies who provide Do-It-Yourself wizards to create your own website. These systems give you a full website out of the box that you can then personalize and customize to fit your needs. NoteWay offers one such service, and many more are available through search engines.

How Much Should It Cost?

Regardless of which method you use to create your website, there are also some ongoing expenses that you need to plan for. Some of these expenses are monthly while others are annual.

The monthly expenses usually involve website hosting where a company hosts your website, provides email accounts, and keeps the server updated against any security threats. How much you pay will vary greatly from one vendor to another, and depends on how much space is needed for your website (you’ll pay more for a website with lots of sound samples because more file space is needed). Some of the Do-It-Yourself services listed above may also include hosting as part of their package. Make sure you shop around to find the deal that best fits your situation.

The annual expense involves reserving a domain name for your website. There are several companies like GoDaddy and Network Solutions where you can reserve your own unique domain name (such as www.DansMusic.com). You must also renew your domain name each year to prevent anyone else from using it.

Time To Get Started

The options I have mentioned above are the first step in helping to get you started. The next step just takes a small investment of your time. The time you spend in researching your options and creating your website yourself will be time well spent in the long run. You’ll find that having a professional looking website to promote your music is well within your reach and definitely within your budget.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 12:48 pm by Jamie Long.

Questions or comments about this article? Are there other topics you would like us to discuss in the future? Please contact us with your suggestions.

Author biography: Jamie Long is Vice President of Sales and Operations at NoteWay Media. At NoteWay, Jamie works directly with customers to stay on top of what they need for their websites.