How to build an effective website with downloads
You can design a web site so consumers can find it quickly, navigate it easily, find the product they’re looking for, sample it quickly, buy it securely and recommend the whole experience to someone else with ease and incentive. As a trader assume that all consumers have a zero second patience threshold when online….we’re all consumers so ask yourselves what you like about other sites and why - and more importantly what you don’t like about other sites and why.
You can find good developers by looking at web sites you like and searching for the “powered by” link which is normally at the bottom of the page or in the about section. The go to their web site.
Good developers will have a large portfolio of like-minded clients available to see on their site. This is also good news for you because good developers also file and reuse their web site templates to customers who don’t want to spend too much money and don’t mind a site that’s redesigned from an existing template.
If you don’t have much money (eg: £300-£500) you might be able to persuade a good developer to reconfigure the font and colour scheme of an existing template and then send them a well written site map with all your content so its easy for them to upload it and get it made.
A good site map means a 3-4 page documents that literally has headings like HOME PAGE, REVIEWS, SHOP, ABOUT and then the exact text that you want under each section (developers don’t write, they develop, so don’t expect them to). The more detail a developer has from you the less time he needs to develop and the less changes he needs to make – and time and changes = £££)
Myspace – Myspace.com is great for self-promotion, and building a musician network. It’s quick, easy, effective, vast, interlinked and multi-purpose and works well along side your own website. As of 2011, MySpace has seen its place in the social networking market reduced in importance, but it remains a useful (and free) tool for musicians.
Key elements to consider when building a web site are:
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The right name. Choose a clear and succinct url (www.jazzservices.org.uk). Keep it as simple as possible and avoid misspelling a name just so you can have it sound like the name when you say it. Search engines like to find names and if they can’t find your name because you misspelled it then it simply won’t find it with the result that less people will find you.
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Clear navigation.
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Registration. Give your visitors an incentive to give you their name and email address. This could be through a backstage area membership with a free track, a video, an exclusive remix, a podcast interview, a competition, a signed CD and poster, numbered limited edition album artwork prints, etc etc.
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Quick loading samples. Keep audio and video samples Kbps light, easy to find, quick to load and fast to reselect. Test this when it’s up and running off numerous PCs and Macs via friends and at Internet cafes before you start spreading the word.
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A streaming audio player. Your home page (and other pages) can contain an embedded audio player that streams your tracks while the consumer browses. This offers you a good self-marketing platform without threatening your download sales. The stream cannot be downloaded and the streamed content can be clipped versions of each song as opposed to full versions. In addition you can title each track and embed a link behind each title that clicks through to the track available for sale as a download.
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Reviews and live dates. When you get them put them into the site and link them to the venue site or the review site (magazine, fanzine, paper or TV/Radio show). If you do, email the reviewer or listing agent and ask them if they’ll do the same and link back to you from their site. Not all will but every one that does is another free signpost out there towards your site. Always look to maximize the amount of external links on other sites to your site. Do this forever, all the time.
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The download shop. You can either do this on your own or for around £200 set up or do it for free with other sites that will do it for you and them just link to them. Here’s how to do both:
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Doing-it-yourself – Go to someone like www.emusu.com and pay them to set you up on their download store system that looks like your site, feels like your site and never breaks down but is actually their system fulfilling your download sales.
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Using an aggregator – Another way is to go to a site like www.uploader.com or IODA Alliance who will take your content and ensure that it’s repurposed across all their digital retail clients from iTunes to hundreds of other independent music retail outlets. This may include a set up fee and, as with all the others, a percentage of each sale.
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Free tools – Just as good in many ways are the web sites like www.tunetribe.com and www.bandwagon.com (and others out there) who will create an artist profile page for you on their web site that includes your tracks for download. You can then link your web site to the page through their branded store buttons that you can place on your store page next to the audio sample icon. They click on it and your profile page immediately opens up in a new window one click away to purchase.
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