In 2006, I extensively studied record labels and very famous artists to see what works and doesn’t work in their websites. I subscribed to most fan clubs and stayed registered to each one for at least a few months as I saw how they worked and what worked. As it’s the record labels that operate these websites, I learnt about the strategies that they are using right now in today’s world to create success. Here are seven things I found that will make or break your music website…

* Provide easy navigation for your end user. Make sure that the user can click easily to navigate onto other pages. Most websites are not easily readable. Choose easy navigation over stylish fonts. Allow your website to drive usage from one page to the next, while your telling the reader what to do. Don’t make them guess.

* Copy is extremely important. Your website’s copy is really important. Copy is the text throughout the website that continuously entices your reader to sign up to the mailing list. Record labels are only starting to place a big emphasis on mailing lists as the world is moving fast to an all-internet age. You must use copy to get people’s email addresses as this is more important than making the sale right away.

* Release features early and often. Start with a core set of features and always know your end goals. Small increments show visible progress. If you stay personable and honest and set expectations, fans will be a lot more receptive when things break.

* Make sure you are blogging. Most musicians are not. Every musician needs one thing on the internet and that is for people to visit their websites. Websites are static. Blogs are always changing. Start a free blog at Wordpress.com and post short comments regularly. Regular comments keep your blog refreshed all the time and this allows big search engines like Google to raise the ranking, thus getting your blog and ultimately website more traffic. You may want to consider Podcasting instead or as an addition. My friend David Jackson runs the Musicians Cooler Podcasts, check it out and start your own!

* Headlines. Your website must now incorporate a catchy headline that’ll draw the reader to your site. A reader generally has just less than 3 seconds to decide whether to stay at your website or not. When you use a headline, you dramatically increase the 3 seconds barrier as reader eyes are drawn to the headline. When it’s catchy, people will stay. You’ve past the first hurdle. Create a powerful headline.

* Testing, testing, testing. Always test your stats. If you have a headline, test it every few weeks by changing it and seeing which one produced the better result, then make a note of it. Change it again and see which produced the better result. A perfect headline can get you an increase of up to 400% in your sales. It’s worth testing.

* Have passion. If your website doesn’t show your passion through it’s sound, feeling and words, then your user won’t stay. Passion is of paramount importance. If you believe it, do it. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Do it against the odds and with little startup money. If I can do it, so can you.

Start implementing them in your websites and increase your results!

Popularity: 22% [?]