Week 3 of Ariel’s challenge was deceptive. The challenge is all about optimizing your website and as I read through the chapter I was thinking to myself – I’ve already done this… Next chapter – But hold on a minute there, let’s really read the book and go over what is being said step by step without the ego getting in the way. I’m glad I did.
First of all, I do my own web design, so there is no one to blame but myself if anything is amiss. I just recently redesigned my site to bring it up to snuff with what is happening in the online world: interaction. The key components are conversations, relationships and engagement. I had a static html site that had music and picture and a bio PLUS I had a blog. Both of those entities were not serving their master (me) as they should have so I combined them into one site using WordPress and an amazingly customizable theme called Suffusion by Sayontan Sinha. Now my blog and html pages are in the same place and each drives the other. When people read my blog they check out my music and when they come to check out my music they read my blog. The other great thing about this set-up is that the site is not static – the content changes as I post new blog material. This attracts the search engine bots (SEO hoo ha) which in turn increases my web presence.
So as I stepped into Week 3 I didn’t think there was anything new to learn, but it was good to go back over the site and see if improvements could be made.
Step 1 – Add your pitch to your homepage
Well right off the bat I had something to do! I redid my header with the pitch and loaded it back up. Now it has “Hard-edged country – with a heart” smack dab in the middle! I also updated my Twitter page and Facebook fanpage with the pitch I worked on in week 2. I also added a music widget to my front page that stays with each page click as well as having a music/discography page. The problem with these is that they are Flash based and don’t show up on iPhones. Something to be tackled.
Step 2 – Site loads in less than 3.5 seconds
Yep – Thanks WordPress!
Step 3 – No Flash Intros
Been there, done that. I spent a lot of time with previous sites, learning Flash programming and in essence becoming an animator – not what I want to do. Flash does not allow Google to search your site, it loads slowly and doesn’t show up on iPhones.
Step 4 – Have a consistent look and feel throughout the Net
The cool thing about WordPress is that it takes care of CSS issues for you. Therefore your site looks consistent from page to page. I’m still working on the consistency from entity to entity. My Twitter page is not exactly like my website, but it has the same vibe. Facebook is what it is and it can’t be changed, but the content is consistent.
Step 5 – Give Away an Exclusive, FREE mp3/video
What’s in it for me? (wiifm?) I try to look at my site from a fan’s perspective. what do I get for signing up to this guy’s list? After I sign up is there anything else to get for free? I have satisfied those questions with a capture box that gives 2 FREE unreleased songs for signing up and then I give away other freebies via my newsletter (week 5).
One thing that I am still grappling with is the ease of signing up. Right now I require a first and last name, email, city and zip. I want that info so I can target my emails, but is that asking too much of people? I personally wouldn’t mind giving it, but perhaps I should make it optional. What do you think?
Step 6 – Make it clear, set them at ease
The process of signing up for my list is clear. I use Constant Contact for my list management and after they sign up in the capture box it takes them to a splash page that asks for the required info and also to confirm their email address. Then they get a welcome letter with the link to the free tracks. It’s hard to tell what is too much for some people. How many clicks is too many before they abandon the process?
All the fans on my list know that they can unsubscribe at any time. Constant Contact is great about making that clear. It’s disturbing that I still see musicians (that I personally know) still using the old email paradigm: fill up the To space and hit send. I then see my email along with 75 other email addresses in the note about the next gig. In this day and age that’s just bad form.
Conclusion
It was helpful to go over this checklist while looking at my site. Since I design my sites I always ask fans, my wife, fellow musicians and anyone who will assist me to take a look at the site and give me feedback – like having a song critiqued – you need different eyes to look at the site.
Please let me know what you think! Leave a comment with your advice, critique or <praise>. Oh and please sign up for my newsletter at thee top of the page – you get 2 FREE tracks!
As I said in my previous post, this is going to be a multi-part blog-o-rama on this topic of week 4. Today I spent about 4 hours scouring the web for blogs that do reviews and podcasts that play my genre of music. I then put the findings into a database spreadsheet that was suggested by Chris Bracco on his Tight Mix Blog.
