mikeycrikey Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Agree with most of the above comments. Really liked the simplicity of the black and white theme. Bold vivid colour seem to be very old hat these days. Some of the colour photos are not up to the same standard as the black and whites, so I would definitely remove them until you have more good quality images to upload. Video can be a great tool for your web site but the same rule applies. If the quality of the image what your presenting isn't up to scratch then hang on till you and the band have got something your really happy to put out there. Harks back to the old adage of you get one chance to make a first good impression. Stick at it though, I liked what you have done so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 [quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1446383017' post='2898901'] We are a bunch of amateur, weekend warriors who really only need a website for people to find out where our next gig is, or to contact us if they want to book us [/quote] we have been running as a covers band now for just over three years and we havent yet had a single enquiry for a private booking via our website or facebook group - all our private booking without exception have come from people seeing us at our gigs and enquiring in person [quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1446383017' post='2898901'] I doubt that we'll ever be selling anything from it or anything like that. [/quote] exactly - only top end function bands chasing big corporate gigs need venture into the super slick website area - its probably one of the very few areas where bands will get potentially hired or considered on the basis of their online presentation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) Opened up 2 pages for a very fleeting look...and the thing that screamed out ...was pub pub. Pub bands are fine... but you are then caught between the purpose and the cost of the website. I don't think pub bands can really justify a good website in terms of cost... and to get a worthwhile site you'll need GOOD content which is not that easy or cheap to come by. If anyone is looking at your band for a party..and therefore pay better money, they aren't going to do it from that website, IMO... Unknown contacts who search and find this site will pass on it almost straight away, IMO....but the catch 22 is can you justify to spend £1k or so to do the job? The question about what the purpose is in the post above...is most relevant. The effort isn't so bad... but depends what you want to achieve.and how cost effective it is. Edited November 1, 2015 by JTUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1446388509' post='2898963'] Opened up 2 pages for a very fleeting look...and the thing that screamed out ...was pub pub. Pub bands are fine... but you are then caught between the purpose and the cost of the website. I don't think pub bands can really justify a good website in terms of cost... and to get a worthwhile site you'll need GOOD content which is not that easy or cheap to come by. If anyone is looking at your band for a party..and therefore pay better money, they aren't going to do it from that website, IMO... Unknown contacts who search and find this site will pass on it almost straight away, IMO....but the catch 22 is can you justify to spend £1k or so to do the job? The question about what the purpose is in the post above...is most relevant. The effort isn't so bad... but depends what you want to achieve.and how cost effective it is. [/quote] It hasn't cost anything, domain name and hosting is free, as is Wix.... We couldn't justify spending anything at all really, as we don't expect many people will look at it. It's main function will be to let people who see us at gigs, know when and where we are next playing I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Understand... If it hasn't cost anything then ok.. For me, this is what Facebook excels at..for the moment. I have a new band that does parties but since it is all word of mouth, I'm not going to admin a website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1446302729' post='2898473'] Auto play media is never ok as far as I'm concerned. Guaranteed to put me off a website, regardless of its purpose. [/quote] Agreed, I'm absolutely against it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Because of the way that Wix does its websites, the whole site runs inside a frame. That is a problem for search engines. If you're not bothered about people being able to search for you then that's OK. Wix's optimisation for phones doesn't work very well. I suspect something about the way that the background is displayed so there's a very long background image which makes the page seem very long and narrow, although the menuing does change for a phone so it's obviously doing something right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Oh, and the general appearance is pretty good. I think you've got a sound basis to work from. I'd be inclined to merge the About page into the Home page and then perhaps have a separate Songs or Repertoire page and another page for the band personnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I hate to be a party pooper here, but if it's unlikely you will get any booking through the site, if searches won't find you and it will only provide a job for you to keep it up, why not stick with FarceBook and Lemonrock? Is it just possible that a poorly maintained Web site could even cost you more than it earns you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 If you're talking to the manager of a busy pub then being able to say (and show) that you have your own website is definitely a step up from "we're on Facebook". You may never get any business direct from that website (Facebook and Lemonrock will probably generate more) but it certainly helps with the spiel. So long as it's free, then it's probably time well spent. As to live photos that include a dartboard, again it helps if the manager you're pitching to can see what you look like in a pub like HIS. Even better is to include the sign for the Gents toilet seeing as that's where you'll be playing. In similar vein, IME any trip to a studio to record demo songs is a waste of money. That's not how you sound live in a pub, and the guy you're pitching to will know that. For much less than the price of a bunch of mastered studio recordings, you can buy a Zoom H2 and get some genuine live recordings at real gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1446362068' post='2898735'] Your list of gigs: 02/04/2016: Burton Music Festival, Burton Upon Trent, Staffs. 06/11/2015: Local Band Festival, Thringstone, Leics. 28/08/2015: The Lady Jane, Whitwick, Leics. 20/06/2015: Groby Street Fair, Groby, Leics. Reading this it's easy to read the first and think of that as being your next gig. Surely the one you want to promote is the one on the 6th November? I think you need to separate your past gig from the up and coming. As a visitor wanting to see you do your stuff, I'm not interested in your memory lane stuff. You need to aviod confusing me by keeping them together on the same tightly compact list. Regrettably this does mean the site needs to be updated regularly. But then hopefully you will regularly have gigs to add to the list. [/quote] Agreed. I saw the gig up in Groby and was interested as Groby is a short distance from me. Then I note the gig is in the past! The colour photos look out of place. The black and white theme fits your bad, and the blurry colour images don't suit. Shouldn't Doctor K's Gastric band have an apostrophe? Some sound bites of your band playing would work well. If you don't have any, please PM me as I know people who would like to practice their recording chops on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebasshead Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Autoplay is a pain in the butt when sneak-browsing at work... We can't have our sound muted because our phone system runs through the corporate intranet / Lync so having some random Autoplay music suddenly blare out is a dead giveaway lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 If you're using it as a shop front, I would condense the site down to one page. This can contain all the relevant info, contact details and links to the various social media sites. Links to your music demonstrating what you sound like is a must for me. Like the black & white theme, and would stick to a couple of sharp, snazzy pictures of the band. One sharp, stylish page is better than several very 'average' pages imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 It's probably been said already but If I'm a potential punter I just want to know where you are playing so put your gigs on the front page. If I'm a potential booker I want to know you are a proper band and know how to play. Video with a decent soundtrack is pretty much essential or a decent recording of the band as a minimum. I prefer a mixture of live and studio recordings but if the video is of you live then just studio recordings will show the band off better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Yep - one nicely responsive page is all you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1446400488' post='2899104'] Shouldn't Doctor K's Gastric band have an apostrophe? [/quote] Yes, of course it should.... I can't believe that one got past me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 [quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1446490726' post='2899812'] Yes, of course it should.... I can't believe that one got past me! [/quote] Actually, there is an apostrophe in there, but it's not really visible because of the font used.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) Punctuation ? I'd be inclined to get a .co.uk domain. I pay £8 a year for mine. It looks like you're abroad or something. I quite like the black and white photos, they probably suit the music ? i don't like the bit at the bottom that tells everyone that your website was created free with Wix. Edited November 3, 2015 by ambient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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