There are several ways that people use to discover music online. But the most common thing we all do is turn to search engines and type in names of artists, albums, or song titles. The search engine you use, Google, Bing, etc., then display the content you desire and website URLs for further information.
Millions of people search about music on search engines every day. As a musician, some of these people could be your fans already or potential fans. You need to focus on important elements, like SEO optimization, for example, to make your content visible.
Many new musical artists do not know how to use the internet to increase their fanbase. Well, this article explores different SEO practices that can help you increase your music’s online discoverability.
Here are some tips that will help you carve out your own space on search engines.
1. Define Your SEO Goals
The first step towards good SEO is defining your end goals. It would be best to be sure that the time and effort you dedicate to website SEO bears fruit in the end. SEO goals differ depending on what level of the marketing funnel you are looking at as a musician.
At the top of the funnel, aim at boosting awareness with informational keywords and valuable content. In the middle, think about how to establish authority in search results and point users toward purchasing with CTAs. At the bottom, focus on direct advertisement while targeting transactional keywords to drive purchases.
2. Create A Blog
Having a blog is another essential digital marketing step you can take as a musician. Most websites come with blogging features, but then, most musicians don’t utilize them. It helps to invest time and money in developing your blog as a musician.
Ensure you constantly update your blog with fresh and unique content. The content needs to provide your target audience with solutions to FAQs. Answer questions such as, where your audience can find your videos, how people can use your music, etc. Aim at relevancy and accuracy every time you create content for your blog.
Also, you can consider setting up your blog on a content management system such as WordPress. A blog does free music marketing for you as long as you maintain it correctly. The more content your blog has, the higher your SEO rankings. This will increase your chances of attracting a wider audience.
3. Choose A Great Domain Name
The domain name you choose can have a significant impact on your SEO. For the uninitiated, a domain name is your address on the web, like a physical address in the real world. The problem with the internet today is that people with malicious intent can create websites with domain names relating to you.
To avoid this, ensure that you have an official domain name for your site. A professional-looking domain name such as ‘yourbandname.com’ can make people trust your site. They’ll feel free to click on the site as they expect to obtain accurate information from it.
Search engines too regard websites with official-looking addresses highly. They will recommend your website on the first page whenever a user searches for music by theme, year, style, genre, etc., and adds your name to the search text.
4. Leverage Link Building
Another way of improving your website’s rankings is by sourcing for backlinks. This may not be the easiest way to climb up SERPs, but you can consider it one of the most powerful techniques. You can use backlinks to create reputation points with search engines that will result in good rankings.
There are different ways to generate backlinks on your website and attract search engines. The most popular method is through guest posting on music websites. It can also be through soliciting mentions from influencers to increase your audience.
Backlinks play a vital role for musicians looking to reach more people online. Digital marketing agencies can also help you solicit mentions and references. The sourced links provide free music marketing for as long as they’re on your website.
These links will also make you discoverable to people and organizations that will support and amplify your music for free. As a musician, this is one of the ways to launch a low-cost promotion campaign for your music. It adds more value than just relying on your limited network.
5. Conduct Keyword Research
Keyword research is a vital step for business owners looking to rank highly on SERPs. As a musician, the first set of keywords that should come into your mind is your band name. We mentioned earlier that most visitors would enter your name into search engines, so you need to take advantage of it.
You should be careful if your name relates to commonly used terms. You’ll rank better off if you optimize your content with more specific keywords. The keywords you choose help lay the foundation for your SEO. It is vital to invest much of your valuable time in keyword research.
Keyword research without correct usage won’t help you cut it. You need to use the keywords in the proper context and avoid awful practices like stuffing. Besides, you should regularly search the web and see how you rank for specific keywords and make changes if need be.
6. Create New and Unique Content
Content is king when it comes to SEO and lead generation. Ranking for anything without great content is impossible. Poorly crafted or irrelevant content impacts how you appeal to your audience. It also makes it difficult to compete with other musicians for the online music fan base.
There are different types of content that people would like to find when they search for a musician. It would help if you had a personal profile similar to those on music marketing agency websites. Your music content since you started your career to the present and future projects should also feature.
Musicians who don’t know how SEO works spend a lot of money on technical SEO aspects. But then, a website and top-notch content are enough to get you started. The other elements of SEO will only improve on the foundation that your website content has already built.
7. Set up your site in Google Search Console
The Google Search Console is another essential tool that can boost your SEO rankings. It is an online tool that allows you to sign up and add your website to it. Google Search Console helps you improve your website’s performance on the search engine.
It provides you with user analytics so that you know what your ideal audience wants to hear. If users’ questions revolve around how to download your music, ensure your content matches their needs. This tool also allows you to add sitemaps that can improve your local SEO.
Besides, you could be busy and fail to note any issues affecting your site. Google Search Console checks your website for you and alerts you on issues that you need to fix. All these explain why setting up your site on this platform can be helpful.
8. Optimize with Meta Tags
Meta tags are vital for every musician looking to establish an online presence. They describe a page’s content and can determine whether people click on your site or not. Meta tags are the keywords, page titles, and descriptions used in web pages.
Your site’s title is one of the critical things to consider. It would be best if you optimized it with your name so that search engines and people know that they’re at the right place. Generic names in the page title field can affect your website’s visibility whenever people search your name.
Meta descriptions get stored in HTML code format. Although they may not be visible to you, they play a vital role in SEO rankings. You need to ensure that your website’s meta description contains your name and other vital details about you.
9. Set Up Analytics and Tracking
Source: Pixabay
It is also vital to have analytics and tracking set up for your website. You need to know if the SEO efforts you put in place are helping you climb the search engine pages or not. Online tools like Google Analytics can help you to know so much about your music website and audience.
You can know who is interested in your music and target your campaign in the right direction. It is also easy to know how much traffic your website gets when using analytics tools. Tracking your SEO efforts helps you to make changes to your strategy when necessary. It also helps you increase your SEO rankings in the end.
Casting the Net Wider
You don’t need to know rocket science to sell your music online. These simple SEO practices implemented correctly can do your music career a world of good. If you ensure good digital marketing, search engines will reward you with more visibility, which will boost your career.
Good SEO practices need top-notch content to succeed. You need to post content that your audience wants to see regularly. For instance, you should talk about how to download free music, free music apps they can use, etc. Good SEO helps you cast your net wider and attract new listeners online.