Singer-Songwriter Website Design: 1 Template, 3 ways

Building a singer-songwriter website should be an easy process. You’ve got your songs, your words, and lots of great images from past shows.

The tricky part is designing a website that will work perfectly for you. It will need to sum up your music, your personality, and appear professional and modern.  

But don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds. We’ve got some tips to help you find that perfect fit! In this post, we’ll look at how to completely customize 1 template in 3 totally different ways.

So let's check out a few things that are a must for singer-songwriter website design, using our Meridian template as an example that can be customized to fit your needs. 

An image that sums you up

This can’t be stressed enough - your fans, new or current, will get their first impression of you based on your main image. Often, it’s the thing they see before they click that play button to hear your music. So choose an image that speaks all about you without saying a word.

With the Meridian template, the main image spans across the top of the page, so it’s attention grabbing right off the bat. Plus, the animation that floats in over top of the image draws the eye.

Acoustic singer-songwriter Natalie Gelman does a nice job with an image that gives you a sense of her music. She has her logo set off to the right, so you see just her, authentically, and immediately. An option in this template is to include the downward point at the bottom of the main image, as Natalie does.

This gives her image interest, and makes her website look a bit more quirky and interesting. It literally invites the eye to travel down from your main image to the rest of the good stuff: your content!

Let this image set the tone for the rest of your website’s design. Highlight similar colors when choosing your text and button colors, playing off the vibe you’ve created here.

For example, the earthy, rootsy feeling that begins with a sepia toned image, trickles down into the rest of the content, from the look of your feature title fonts, to the words you use when writing your bio.

Choose a color palette

Think about the feeling your music creates. Does it conjure up earthy tones of red and yellow? Or is it more light and free-spirited, like white and blue? These colors should form a palette of sorts, and crossover into every aspect of your website, from your logo to the images that you place in a photo gallery.

If you don’t have an idea in mind, choose a main image that you love. Then notice the subtle coloring in that image - a hint of red in a shirt, the brown tree. Chances are that you picked the image because it works for you, and you can use those same colors. They’re saved in your color picker so you can use the exact same shades for your text, links, social media icons, and buttons.

Have a strong story

Your fans will be drawn to your melodic, lyrically rich songs, and your singer-songwriter website should mirror that. Design first, and then your text should evoke that same feeling. Write from your heart, and make it personal.

How to Write an Effective Musician Bio (with examples!)

The Call Me Max website is a great example of a poignant singer-songwriter who uses imagery to create a powerful look. He used black and white with some light red accents, then added grey text to round things out. All of the images are dramatic and stunning, and give the visitor a strong sense that he’s an excellent live performer.

He also made use of a diamond logo, drawing a subtle animation as the page loads, and feature titles to skillfully break up content in readable chunks.

Create a singer-songwriter website design that will help you speak to your fans. Try Bandzoogle free today!

Intuitive navigation

Make sure your menu is clear and concise so that people can find what they are looking for.  Your Homepage should include a bit of text, an image or two, a video and a song. Then add pages for your Bio, Music, Events, Photos, Videos, and a Contact page.

[How to Build the Perfect Homepage for Your Band Website]

With the Meridian theme, the current page your fan is on is highlighted and underlined in the menu. These colors can be carefully chosen to match your design, but also stand out. Think white against a darker image, or bright yellow or navy over top of a lighter image. Make sure the menu runs evenly across your page - don’t add too many items.  

Folk pop duo FarAway uses charcoal with touches of funky pink and blue to emphasize their sound, starting from their main image and working into their navigation.

Size your font accordingly, and choose a commanding font. If you’ve got a vibrant, colorful image, go for a simple font. If your main photo is more sleek and subdued, a playful font will work well for you.

FarAway does this well too by selecting a fun font that is easy to read, and using a standout color.

Make use of space

It’s tempting to jam all of your content onto the page, but think about laying it out with purpose, just like you would arrange a melody.

Make sure you break up your content with space, by using columns, stacking full-width features, and adding feature titles. You want to be sure that your page has variety in its design so it’s not a big wall of text.

A bio page is a great way to start this - add 2 columns, text on one side, and an image on the other. Then add a second block of text, and an image on the opposite side. This will make the page easy to scan and appealing to look at.

Bring it together

Once you’ve thought about these things, and started creating your design, check out How to design a great singer-songwriter website for tips on the kind of content you should add, and how to lay out your pages. These two things in combination will create the perfect website that’s engaging, honest, and intriguing to your fans and new listeners.