How to build the perfect homepage for your band website

Your band website homepage is the most visited page on your website. It's your best chance to make a great first impression. When you make a music website, you’ll want to be sure to give it a homepage that will draw in your visitors and encourage them to explore your content.

Think of it as a snapshot of the rest of your website. You’ll want to give people a quick intro to yourself, your music, and your brand. To do that, pull snippets of content from your other pages, then make it look visually appealing. 

What should be on a website homepage? This page will tell the story of the rest of your website, and should include these elements: 

Logo 

Make sure your website visitors know they’re in the right place by adding your artist name clearly. To do this, create a band logo and add it to your homepage. 

A website logo can sit anywhere on the page. To use a logo to full advantage on your homepage, place it on the top left, or center it on your page. When your band name or logo is clicked, your homepage will load, so it’s a quick way to be sure that your visitors get back to the Home page (which acts like a template for the rest of your website content).

Header image

A great header image is your first chance to make a lasting impression. Be sure to choose a header image that visually represents your band and your style of music. Your website visitors may form an impression of your music from this image, even before listening to your songs, so make it count.

Start with eye-catching images of yourself, or your full band, to add to your homepage’s header area. It’s important to keep in mind that people will be looking at your website from a mobile device as well - you’ll want an image that has some space around the edges, rather than a close up portrait, for it to adapt nicely to mobile view.

Once you’ve added a header image, use that as the basis for the rest of your website. It should be in balance with your content. You can also pull colors from this image to determine the colour palette for the rest of your website. 

To add some motion and interest to your website, try adding a video header in place of an image, and see how it works with your design. 

Create a band website that’s mobile-friendly and easy to customize. Design a website for your music today!

Artist website homepage: Lady J

Call-to-action

When someone lands on your band website, you have just a few seconds to make an impression. Use a Call-to-Action feature on your homepage to direct your visitors’ attention to something you’d like to promote. 

To get the most out of the Call-to-Action feature, make it highly visible. Use a website font that is simple and easy to read, in a color contrasting the button. The button itself should be placed in an area that is easy to see, and should stand out against your homepage imagery. 

You can also change your Call-to-Action regularly, depending on your current focus. Highlight your latest track or album to drive listens or sales, promote an upcoming event to sell tickets, or add a mailing list signup form to expand your network. 

Artist website homepage: Moriah Woods

Navigation

Your website’s homepage should include a clear menu with simple page names. This will ensure that anyone visiting your page is quickly able to find what they need. A site visitor could be someone trying to contact you for a gig, media looking for your EPK assets, or a venue trying to find your artist bio. Your homepage should show them, quickly and easily, how to access those things.

A clear, organized menu will also help to optimize your website’s SEO. If someone searches your band name plus ‘music’ your homepage has that text on it. 

To make your website’s menu both visually appealing and easy to navigate, add simple page names, then choose a font that is simple and a high-contrast. Capital letters often work well in a menu, as well as using a black or white font to set the menu apart from your imagery. If your menu is hard to see, consider adding a block of color or a bar behind your page name text.

Short artist bio

Use your homepage as a way to introduce yourself to new fans online. With your custom website you control the narrative, so add a short musician bio and image. Imagine a blogger or venue owner is coming to your website to grab a short paragraph of text about you. 

Briefly mention your genre of music, and what it sounds like. Write out something short and to the point, with personality. You can create a layout that includes your artist bio and an image, placed cleanly on the page, then link it out to your full bio page.

Mailing list sign-up form

One of the best ways to promote your music online is through your mailing list. Take advantage of your artist website’s homepage to build that list. If you don’t have a mailing list signup form in your call-to-action, add it to the content area of your homepage.

Various types of people will be visiting your website’s homepage, and it should be a goal to convert these visitors into fans. Offer a free track or file in exchange for an email address, and maintain your mailing list by sending your fans regular, high-quality, content.

Artist website homepage: Wolf & Moon

Music samples

Working on the premise that someone is visiting your band website to learn more about your music, offer some samples on your homepage. 

To make sure your music is noticed, use a sitewide player - this posts your music on every page, making it easy for visitors to stream as they move through your website. You can also swap out your music regularly. If you have a new single that’s coming out soon, add that to your homepage with a bit of descriptive text to get your fans excited for the new release.

Video

Adding a video to your homepage is a great way to boost engagement. Because your visitors have already reached your website, you have their undivided attention. Provide a video to impress them in the hopes of creating a new fan. Video is also helpful to engage your current fans, giving them something unique and exciting to watch on your website. 

Embed a video from YouTube so that you’ve got discovery in both places, and rotate the featured video on your homepage regularly. To encourage your visitors to check out more videos, add a link or button to your Videos page, especially if you’re using video as a way to broaden your fanbase.

Artist website homepage: The True Colours

Latest news / upcoming shows

Adding fresh content to your website’s homepage is always a good idea. It not only shows that you're an active musician, but can also drum up interest in what’s going on with your music. It’s also great for strengthening your SEO, as search engines prioritize websites that are frequently updated.

Use a blog to add news to your homepage, with a clean display so that the posts don’t stretch down the page. Another way to add interest and energy to your homepage is by adding events. You don’t have to list out every show you’ve played, but add a few upcoming shows in the content area. Make sure your news and events contain clear titles, are balanced on the page in columns or sections, and are easy to read.

Social media icons

Your official artist website should offer a few additional ways for people to connect with you. Add social media icons to your homepage to make sure that your fans can find and follow you on their preferred platforms. You don’t need to be active on every social or streaming platform in existence, but do focus on a few and add those icons to your website. These social media icons will point your fans to the platforms you’re active on,helping them follow your updates.

A band website homepage is the principal gateway into the rest of your website’s content - it should reflect the time and care that you put into your music. Add the above-mentioned elements to your homepage, making sure to update them regularly, and your website visitors will be rewarded with a strong impression of who you are as an artist, and feel encouraged to look through the rest of your website. 

A strong homepage reflects that you’re working hard at building a career for your music, and goes a long way to strengthening your fanbase online.