# Building a Website for Dummies (ex-iweb user)



## gsilbers (Aug 10, 2013)

what are the options for building a good enough (personal artist) website ?


i used iweb which was kinda ok for me. i saw sandlot which seems nice.

but what are other options w/o having to learn html/ccs coding? 

maybe buying a flash website template which you can edit? i am not good at flash or html coding so id be great if its just a open and replace template mp3 with my own/etc

id like to use html soundcloud snippet as well.

also, having to pay someone for a pro and more personal website might be great but id like to update it in the future, thus options like iweb was nice, although a bit limited. 

thx


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## mark812 (Aug 10, 2013)

Check out Virb and Squarespace. Wordpress is also a good alternative.


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## nikolas (Aug 10, 2013)

Also, if I may.

Have someone proof read your texts. Your post is very sloppy with all these small details missing, all the apostrophes missing, the abbreviations of words, etc...

Just saying...


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## jeffc (Aug 10, 2013)

+1 for Virb. An ex Iweb user as well. It's much easier and way more flexible.


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## IgnasiVelasco (Aug 10, 2013)

You can make a good looking website yourself with super basic HTML if you are good with Photoshop.

If not, you could try wix.com, I've seen some composers of VI-control using wix. I'm not a big fan of those services... but it's certainly cheaper than paying a designer.


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## rgames (Aug 10, 2013)

First, I'd say stay away from Flash if at all possible. I think HTML5 can do most of what you'd want from Flash and it's much more portable.

Second, if you have any programming experience then creating your own website is extremely easy. Even if you haven't, it's somewhat easy. There are all sorts of references on the web to get you up and running. However, HTML programmers are a dime a dozen so there are plenty of folks who can do it and at good rates.

Third, why do you need a website? I'm convinced they don't offer any help but can be a hindrance if you wind up with one that's really lame. So I'd say most composers are better off without a website. A bunch of demo tracks on something like Soundcloud is all you really need.

rgames


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## nikolas (Aug 10, 2013)

Richard: http://www.rgamesmusic.com/ :D

Really though, for those composers who do not have a website, or haven't paid at least a yearly subscription to get rid of messages like "made with wix for free| or something like that my impression is this: "Cheap!"

Sorry...


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## edhamilton (Aug 10, 2013)

Really wish iweb had been continued ........ and updated ..... but -

I hear good things about adobe muse.

there is also Pagelines.com 
Pretty simple drag and drop editing on top of wordpress.
I had an earlier version and it was really good. They just released a new product and the roadmap looks cool.


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## bdr (Aug 10, 2013)

I use Rapidweaver. Great app with helpful user base.


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## guitarman1960 (Aug 11, 2013)

As my day job is website design, the best option is to get a professional web designer to design and build a custom made site!!!!

No, but seriously, Wordpress is the best option. Buy a domain name that is short and easily typed in, try and get a .com domain, and avoid hyphens in the domain. Get yourself a cheap hosting package with a hosting company that has one click installation of Wordpress.

Then when you have installed Wordpress there are literally thousands of professional looking templates available to use, including ones that are suitable for a portfolio of music tracks.

Get your content input into your Wordpress site and get the site linked up to your domain name. Make sure to input well written and concise Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions for your pages, especially the homepage. The Meta Title is what appears in the large blue link text in Google search results pages, the Meta Description appears in the two lines of smaller text inderneath these. Make sure to get your main keywords appearing in each of these but don't repeat them.
Make sure to get plenty of well written text on your site and don't cut and paste text from other websites or Google will penalise your rankings.
Then sign up to Google Webmaster Tools, follow the instructions and Google will soon index your site. Sign up for Google analytics and you can track your website traffic.
Link up your site to as many social media sites as you can, especially facebook, linkedin, and twitter and post videos on YouTube and link them to your site. Start a blog and update it every few days and post links to your site. Post on forums such as this one and include links to your site. 
In a nutshell that's the way to do it. You can always get a professional designer to tweak or customise the look of the Wordpress site at a later date.

The benefits of doing it this way from the start, rather than using other cms platforms that host your content on their servers, is that this way the domain name, the website and it's contents and traffic are all entirely yours. If you want to change hosting companies you can, just back-up the site and upload it to a new host. Over time you will build up page rank and inbound links and generate traffic and authority, and this will be always yours no matter where you host the site.
You can totally change the look of your site just by installing a different theme, or customising the one you have. Whatever you decide to do, by starting out with your own domain and your own hosting you are building for the future.
Hope this helps! :D


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## Blake Ewing (Aug 11, 2013)

Squarespace. 

Easy templates for DIY, or get as deep as you want with custom CSS.

Also, cloud hosting so no worries about shared server bandwidth. 

Only downside might be price as compared to other options.


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## Aakaash Rao (Aug 11, 2013)

Blake Ewing @ Sun Aug 11 said:


> Squarespace.
> 
> Easy templates for DIY, or get as deep as you want with custom CSS.
> 
> ...



+1, Squarespace is a godsend for technically challenged people such as myself.


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## rgames (Aug 11, 2013)

nikolas @ Sun Aug 11 said:


> Richard: http://www.rgamesmusic.com/ :D
> 
> Really though, for those composers who do not have a website, or haven't paid at least a yearly subscription to get rid of messages like "made with wix for free| or something like that my impression is this: "Cheap!"
> 
> Sorry...


Even without the ads the canned website services often look cheap. That's why I think it's better just not to have a website.

And yes, I have a website. It's worthless. I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten contacts through it. Learn from my mistakes.

When I'm pitching for a job, I send music directly to whomever I'm pitching to (often via a link on my web server). So my website is never used.

A subscription to Soundcloud is perfectly adequate to present a demo reel and services like Yousendit are fine for file transfer.

rgames


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## jamwerks (Aug 11, 2013)

guitarman1960 @ Sun Aug 11 said:


> Hope this helps! :D


Great info, many thanks!


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## Marius Masalar (Aug 12, 2013)

I have to agree with Nikolas here...if you're not willing to invest enough in your work to present it nicely to clients, why would they take you seriously? It's about streamlined information delivery, not flashiness.

If a client is interested but strapped for time, making an important decision, are they going to prefer you sending them a handful of disparate links (SoundCloud for music, IMDB for credits, YouTube for video examples...) or one link to one site that clearly communicates your brand and gives them all the info they need in one place?

I don't think Richard's argument is wrong, it just doesn't seem particularly scalable; once you have a strong roster of clients and are working steadily, yes it's true that you only really need some tracks up on SoundCloud. You're not really needing to make an impression that way at that point. Depending on how you run your business that may be perfectly viable from the start.

For me, it wasn't and continues to not be. I invest a tremendous amount of time and thought into my website and it pays back in the form of many new leads and many kind comments from clients and potential clients who appreciate the fact that they don't have to send me pointless emails to ask basic questions — everything they need to know is on the site. No extraneous fluff, no unnecessary flashiness, no distractions.

I fully agree with Richard in the sense that a site can be detrimental to your image though. If you're using a Wix/iWeb/etc. site, then you look like crap. Either invest the money to hire a professional, or learn enough to make something good yourself. If you're going to half-ass it then don't bother. 

Wix and iWeb are the cheap "library tracks" of web design. Same as in our line of work: you get what you pay for.


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

nikolas @ Sat Aug 10 said:


> Also, if I may.
> 
> Have someone proof read your texts. Your post is very sloppy with all these small details missing, all the apostrophes missing, the abbreviations of words, etc...
> 
> Just saying...



haha for sure. :mrgreen:


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

mark812 @ Sat Aug 10 said:


> Check out Virb and Squarespace. Wordpress is also a good alternative.



virb look nice. 
thx


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

rgames @ Sat Aug 10 said:


> First, I'd say stay away from Flash if at all possible. I think HTML5 can do most of what you'd want from Flash and it's much more portable.
> 
> Second, if you have any programming experience then creating your own website is extremely easy. Even if you haven't, it's somewhat easy. There are all sorts of references on the web to get you up and running. However, HTML programmers are a dime a dozen so there are plenty of folks who can do it and at good rates.
> 
> ...



yes. seems like flash is on its way out. 

no coding for me. dont have the time. 

hmm..interesting point of not having a website. 
mostly i was going for a very simple one. a one page site with a soundcloud link to my stuff. 
so its a "just in case website". which i could update the mp3 in soundcloud whenever.


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

guitarman1960 @ Sun Aug 11 said:


> As my day job is website design, the best option is to get a professional web designer to design and build a custom made site!!!!
> 
> No, but seriously, Wordpress is the best option. Buy a domain name that is short and easily typed in, try and get a .com domain, and avoid hyphens in the domain. Get yourself a cheap hosting package with a hosting company that has one click installation of Wordpress.
> 
> ...



nice info thanks


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## snowleopard (Aug 12, 2013)

I think more important than a website is to create a socionomic presence of yourself on the web. What I mean by this is having business oriented Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. accounts. Know what those links are for when someone asks, and be ready to have them (somewhat) linked online. 

While I disagree with Richard on having a website (I think you should, and agree with what Guitarman and Mathazzar said), having one that is clean is paramount. Even if it's just your name, a one-sentence blurb that you are a composer, and links to your above-mentioned web presence. People on average are going to spend about 8 seconds on any given page. If you're initial site is all cluttered, forget it. 

I would take a look at Adobe Muse. It's fairly easy to use, the tutorial is excellent, and it offers the ability to output a single file for browser, tablet, and phone. 

I do however agree with Richard to avoid Flash. It is on it's way out. If you're going to learn anything at all regarding coding, learn HTML 5 and CSS. Udemy offers a free full online class in learning it from scratch. Yep, it's coding, but it's not impossible to get something going.


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

seems i got some homework to do! good info
thanks guys


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## snowleopard (Aug 12, 2013)

I would actually just do something like this before trying anything fancy. I whipped this up in about a half hour, while doing other things. (This is a hidden site, the links don't work, and I'm going take it down as soon as requested).


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## germancomponist (Aug 12, 2013)

snowleopard @ Mon Aug 12 said:


> I think more important than a website is to create a socionomic presence of yourself on the web. What I mean by this is having business oriented Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. accounts. Know what those links are for when someone asks, and be ready to have them (somewhat) linked online.



How much time a day do you spend there on all that places?


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## Blake Ewing (Aug 12, 2013)

snowleopard @ Mon Aug 12 said:


> I would actually just do something like this before trying anything fancy. I whipped this up in about a half hour, while doing other things. (This is a hidden site, the links don't work, and I'm going take it down as soon as requested).



*about.me* is a great site and tool for things like this, if one is only after a landing page of sorts, which links to various 3rd party sites where content might be hosted/linked.

i did this one, http://about.me/blakeewing , many moons ago before transitioning to a full website.


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## snowleopard (Aug 12, 2013)

Not much time spent on those sites, really. For example, I have it set up to where if I post something to Soundcloud, YouTube, Vimeo or Tumblr, it will automatically post to Facebook, Google+ and Tweet it as well. I do this maybe once a week. I do follow some people on Twitter and Facebook and read much of what they post (Plugin-Guru John Lehmkuhl for example) because it's valuable to my knowledge. But I definitely do not live on social media sites. 

The point is, I firmly believe in having a web presence, and socionomics. I distinctly recall in 2009 sending Erik Qualman's _Socialnomics_ video to senior brass where I was then employed. One EP found it fascinating, but the others, and those above him, dismissed it, and refuted the numbers. This company would later languish, end up in bankruptcy, and be sold.


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## musicformedia (Aug 12, 2013)

Here is a blog post I wrote specifically about how to create a composer website:

http://www.filmandgamecomposers.com/gui ... er-website


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## gsilbers (Aug 12, 2013)

snowleopard @ Mon Aug 12 said:


> I would actually just do something like this before trying anything fancy. I whipped this up in about a half hour, while doing other things. (This is a hidden site, the links don't work, and I'm going take it down as soon as requested).



wow thanks! you're hired!  :mrgreen:


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## Svencanz (Aug 15, 2013)

One word: Xara
I was about to update my website for a personal service I do (astrology) and looked at one of those "10 best product" articles. Decided the top-listed looked decent.
And then I Googled "product name" + "problem," as you do...
Found much more problems than expected.
Plus one guy who said he had tried to do something for two hours in "product name" and was now really frustrated.
"If I had done it in Xara it would have taken 15 minutes, and been fun," he said.
So I Googled Xara and bought the premium version (for US $100) after one hour - this includes one year's hosting.
I am COMPLETELY blown away by this product. You can choose from a large range of nice-looking templates that you download. Then drag-and-drop your own photos, change colours or colour schemes, add your own text. 
Or design from scratch yourself.
There is NO html-coding option in this product - meaning it is actually user friendly.
Interestingly enough, Xara wasn't even listed among the "10 best" in that article, so there is clearly a web-site development product conspiracy out there.....


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## dinerdog (Sep 10, 2013)

Learning to make a simple site with Wordpress. The Squarespace sites do look gorgeous, though I'd like to "finally" learn and take control of that aspect. Anyway, trying to customize the "2013" theme and was wondering if anyone knew that name of a good music template? Also a good audio player (with a playlist) to insert (besides SoundCloud.

I've looked at tons of options and a good "basic" music site template (NOT geared to a live touring band) seems kind of hard to find.

Any info appreciated (all these tutorials are giving me a headache).


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## mark812 (Sep 10, 2013)

Wordpress is probably the most popular and most flexible option. 

Pick a premium theme *here* or *here*, buy a cheap hosting and you're set. Wordpress is extremely easy to use.


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## dinerdog (Sep 10, 2013)

Thanks mark812, I hadn't seen those sites. Looks there should be something there. : >


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## mark812 (Sep 10, 2013)

dinerdog @ Tue Sep 10 said:


> Thanks mark812, I hadn't seen those sites. Looks there should be something there. : >



No problem. :wink: 

Solid music theme: http://demo.brutaldesign.com/musicpro-reloaded/

You can customize any theme to your taste, there are also free music player plugins available if you don't want to use embedded Soundcloud. That's why Wordpress is great - you can do about anything you want since there are so many plugins and possible customizations. Most of the templates are responsive, meaning that they'll scale to any device like tablets or smartphones.

I'd concentrate on portfolio themes when browsing since they already contain great looking portfolio page, news, contact page...everything you need to showcase your work.


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## Jdiggity1 (Sep 11, 2013)

This template is quite good for allowing the user to browse through your pages without interrupting music that is being played: http://alohathemes.com/shop/continuous-music-themes/continuous-player/ (http://alohathemes.com/shop/continuous- ... us-player/)

As a plug-in, i use reverbnation or soundcloud generally. You can customize these widgets, and are largely supported by most templates.

As mentioned before, finding a Portfolio themed template that you like is a good way to go. You can then use plug-ins such as 'visual composer' http://codecanyon.net/item/visual-compo ... ess/242431
to customize the layout of the template. There are plug-ins to do almost anything, so don't get stuck thinking that the Template has to be perfect from the get-go.


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