Do you want your band, brand, or music to be one of the first things people see when people search online? Next, learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
by Wes Walls from bandzoogle
When you want to know about something, where do you turn? Nowadays, it's search engines. Virtually everyone uses search engines every day to find information, big or small.
The internet is saturated with content, and as technology advances, generated AI searches are on the rise. But to improve traffic flow to your website, it's best to stick to the basics of SEO strategy.
As a musician, it's important for you to understand what people are searching for when it comes to your music and provide great content that answers those searches.
Let's talk about some ways to get your band website ranking in these search results. This is called SEO (search engine optimization).
1. Understand your SEO goals
Before you spend time and effort optimizing your website for search, take a moment to think about what you want to get out of it. Who do you want to reach through search engines? And what do they want? We call this the fan journey.
For example, if you're like most bands, you'll want to reach people who are specifically searching for your band name. Maybe those people heard your music somewhere (radio, TikTok, Spotify) and now want to know more about you, listen to your other songs, and see what you have to offer. maybe.
This is where getting your website ranked in search results can be very helpful.
2. Know your target keywords
Once you know your goals, you can think about which keywords you want to rank for. When it comes to choosing keywords to target, your band name is a great place to start.
It might be easier if the names were unique, but it's not always that simple. For example, if your band name is the same as another general term, you might want to try ranking it by something more specific. Let's say your band's name is “Autumn Leaves.” You might want to target keywords like “Autumn Leaves band” or “Autumn Leaves music.”
Take some time to list which keywords you want to target. Because keywords are the basis of her SEO work. If you need more help figuring it out, read our article on keyword research for musicians.
In addition to this, you need to check if your website is already ranking for your target keywords and if so, which pages are showing up in the results. Get into the habit of checking the rankings regularly. This will tell you if there is any other work to do.
3. Fill your website with great content
Content is the absolute foundation of everything in SEO. Without content, you have no chance of ranking highly for search keywords. So creating a music website with some basic content is already a great start. Generally speaking, the more great content you have, the better.
Fill your website with powerful content. It has to be great content that fans will enjoy. It's a good idea to mix different types of content, and be sure to include text where it makes sense.
For example, try to add at least a well-written musician bio. Add images and videos, and be sure to include text in the title. Add all your shows and events with as much detail as possible.
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Of course, we add music and sometimes lyrics. Always keep your target keywords in mind. Your content needs to be the ultimate resource for what people are looking for with these keywords.
There are a lot of small technical details about SEO that can consume (and probably waste) your time, but if you have a great website with lots of great content, you're already there. You should be 90% accomplished.
4. Choose a good domain name
A domain name is a web address, and just like a real-world address, it's how humans (in this case search engines) find you. In that sense, it's easy to see why it's important to have an official-looking address for your band's website.
Both humans and search engines consider your website to be the definitive source of accurate information about your band. Because a website is a space on the Internet that you completely own and control.
So, choose the best domain name for your website. Subdomains on the platform do not retain the same value when searched. Using your own .com domain is usually your best bet. You can't go wrong with something as simple as yourband.com. If that's the case, consider alternatives like yourbandmusic.com or yourbandofficial.com.
5. Optimize page tags
This SEO advice is old, but still valid. There are several tags in the HTML code of your page that are not visible on your website but are important to search engines.
First is the title tag. The text within this tag is what people see and click on when your website appears in search results. This is also what appears in your browser tab when you open the page. All you need is a short, descriptive title for your page (up to 60 characters).
Each page on your site should have a unique title tag, be human-readable, and include important keywords like your band name.
Next is the meta description tag. This is also used on search engine results pages. Again, the basic rule of thumb here is to clearly and concisely describe the content of your page in about 120 characters. Again, this must be unique for each page, human-readable, and contain your keyword.
6. Get links from other websites
Links to your website from other websites are called “backlinks” and are very important for SEO. This is because Google likes trustworthy sites, and one way to determine if your site is trustworthy is whether other trustworthy sites are linking to your site.
Note that there is no equivalent backlink, so we're focusing on “authoritative” here. Ideally, you want genuine backlinks from great content on great websites that are topically relevant to your band.
For example, an ideal backlink might be from a music review on a reputable culture blog that points to your website. That will be an A++ backlink for you.
But you don't have to wait for the perfect backlink either. Make sure all social and present platforms are linked to your website. When your band is mentioned online, be sure to see if there is a link to your website.
7. Set up your site in Google Search Console
Visit Google Search Console (found by searching on Google), sign up or create an account, and add your website. If your website is on an https URL, be sure to use it.
Next, you need to prove that you own the site. The steps are displayed in Search Console. This is usually done by adding a simple HTML tag to your website.
One of the benefits of following this simple step is that your knowledge panel will appear on the Google search engine results page.
Another important step here is adding an XML sitemap. An XML sitemap is like a computer-friendly map of your site that makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site. If you're using a website platform like Bandzoogle, this is automatically generated and easy to find. If you're using a CMS like WordPress, you may need to configure it yourself.
8. Create a Wiki entry for your band
Search engines such as Google use Wiki sites as authoritative sources of information about specific things, especially to generate knowledge panels and other rich information on search engine results pages.
There are a few specific Wiki sites you should strive to create entries about your band (Wikipedia, Wikidata.org, MusicBrainz). Add as much detailed and relevant information as possible, add links to your website and social where possible, and make sure everything is consistent across all sites.
9. Edit the knowledge panel
As a musician or band, you're a public figure, so by Google's standards, you're the kind of “being” that some people want to know about. If you're famous enough, you might have a knowledge panel on the search results page for your name. If not, the previous steps will get you there.
Knowledge panels appear very prominently when users search, so it's worth striving to make them as complete as possible. You can edit your information by authenticating with Google (using the same Google Account you used to authorize your site in Search Console) and suggesting edits.
10. Leverage social
The concept of “hub and spoke” is often used to describe the ideal online presence for musicians and bands. Especially when he talks about SEO, the website is the hub, but the spokes are also important.
Spokes are all other information about you on the internet outside of your website, such as social, YouTube, event listings, crowdfunding campaigns, or other platforms you are active on. Your reviews and other coverage are also important.
When search engines see that you are active, engaged, and prolific, they reward your “hubs” and “spokes” with more visibility. And that's what fans want to see too. When people search for you, ideally they'll find all kinds of recent updates about you that show up in search results.
By using all the tools available online and linking them all through your website, you have the best chance of creating a complete online presence that will attract fans.