flash | Michael Brandvold Marketing

Official Billy Idol Website BillyIdol.net

Billy Idol's website as viewed on a iPhone

I want to SCREAM every time I see stuff like this…

DESIGN A BANNER FOR BILLYIDOL.NET

Ever thought that you could design a better website? That you have a great visual idea for a piece of web artwork? Well, now’s your chance to show us what you can do. The ‘BANNER’ of Billy Idol’s website is the rectangular piece of art at the top of every page – the one that reads ‘Official – Online – On Tour 2010′ – and it measures exactly 1000 pixels x 300 pixels. Obviously this is something that needs updating!! And who better to do that than YOU GUYS!!!… So we want you to design a new website header/banner for the rest of 2012. Anyone with a computer and an artwork program can join in although a FLASH banner (moving images like the text in the current banner – a .swf file) is preferred.

I was first applauding Billy Idol for involving his fans in a contest to create a new website header banner. But then two things jumped out at me…

1. The current banner says 2010. You haven’t updated your website header in two years? I guess your website is just not that important to you if you are fine leaving the message “On Tour 2010″ in the header when its 2012.

2. It’s 2012, why are you requesting a Flash banner? I took a chance thinking that the website detects the platform browsing and delivers a different version of the site so I went to BillyIdol.net on my iPhone. No change. Well not exactly true, the site did change in that the header, Billy’s name, his brand, what identifies the site is gone since it is Flash and as we should all know by now… Apple mobile devices (iPhone and iPad) do not support Flash. (FYI, in the second quarter of 2012 Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones and 11.8 million iPads.) The header is missing on every page of the site. And it has been like this since 2010, since we know they have not changed the header since then. Have you ever taken a moment to see how much traffic is coming to your site on Apple mobile devices? Look now, you might be surprised. Now remember, all of those visits see a incomplete website, see no name, see no brand. Is that the impression you want to make?

That makes me want to SCREAM! It’s not rocket science to correct this problem. Replace the Flash header with a jpg or gif file. Done, that’s it. Hey Billy, your website is built using WordPress, just drop in a plugin and your site becomes mobile ready. Need help, let me know.

Your lesson from this… go look at your website right now on a iPhone or iPad and see how it looks, see how it works. Then fix it if it is needed.

And, Flash is dead, over, history. Do not spend the time or money to create Flash elements on your site.

You really can’t repeat some of these tips enough. Want to make some money, don’t make fans dig for how to buy something. Strategically place buy links throughout your entire website. Keep your site updated, repeat that… keep your site updated! If your site was last updated August 2010 (let alone in 2003) I am gone. This also applies to your Twitter and Facebook page. You don’t have any news, I say BS! Get creative and create your own news. Stop playing your video or audio the moment I land on your website. And finally, enough with Flash. I had a client that had 16% of their traffic coming from Apple mobile devices and they had a Flash buy button…. you read that right, a Flash buy button! I told them it needed to be changed ASAP as 16% of their traffic had no way to make a purchase. They didn’t think it was a priority and that was reflected in the poor sales. Apple is not going to change their ways and adopt Flash support on their mobile devices. Don’t give up that traffic just because you wanted a cool animation.

Your website should be a place where visitors can easily listen to your music, buy your album, and check up on news and concert dates. Your site usability will influence whether a website visit ends in an album sale or the loss of a potential fan. Is your musician website user-friendly?

1. Put the Important Stuff on Your Homepage

Decide what you want your fans to do first. Should they sign up to your email list? Listen to your music? Read your blog? Buy your album? Make sure that your highest priority actions are represented on your homepage. Also, make sure that your homepage is not cluttered with too many options.

2. Make it Easy to Buy Your Music and Merch

Give your fans purchase options. Not everybody wants to use PayPal. Not everybody wants to use iTunes. Give your visitors 2 or 3 common purchase options so they can buy your music the way they are most comfortable doing.

3. Make it Easy to Read

No fancy fonts. No tiny text. No dark colored text on a dark background or light text on a light background.

Be mindful of grammar and spelling.

Try to avoid large blocks of text. Readers tend to skim website content. Short paragraphs separated by a space will be easier for most readers.

4. Use Simple Navigation

You’re a musician not a department store. You don’t need 100 links in your navigation bar. Keep things simple and focus on your goals. Use simple wording that people understand. Use “Store” not “Tunes Shop” and “Contact” rather than “”Hollar at Us.”

5. Keep it Updated

A website with out-of-date content can be confusing. If the last time you updated your concert calendar was 2003, some people will assume you are no longer playing music. If your last blog post was over 2 years ago, people will be hesitant to enter their credit card info on your site–because who knows if there’s anyone on the other end to ship out the CD.

6. No Auto-play

Let your fans hit the play button. Music that automatically plays can be startling and annoying. Often people are already listening to music on their computer (there’s almost nothing worse than two songs playing at once). Give auto-play a rest and let your website visitors control the remote.

7. No Flash Animation

Flash animations are not supported by all computers and mobile devices and they can function poorly on slow internet connections. Animations can take a while to load and many folks would rather point their browser elsewhere then wait 20 seconds for a band website to load. Don’t risk losing sales just because you have a programmer buddy that knows how to make your logo spin around and catch fire. Keep it simple.

via 7 Tips for Building a More User-Friendly Music Website | DIY Musician.