subject: How To Get Your Band Or Artist Name Listed In Google Quickly And Cheaply [print this page] Here is a harsh truth: innate musical talent is no guaranty of professional success. You can be the most brilliant musician or purest singer in the world, but if people dont know about you, all that talent will remain unheard.
Establishing a career takes more than a village; it takes a worldwide online community of would-be fans. And one of the first ways to tap into that community is to get yourself or your band listed on Google.
Simplistically, search engines work by electronically browsing for key words on web pages. So the first step is to create a website. Try to secure a domain name in your name or in the name of the band. If thats already taken, try a derivative. For example, if SallyJones.com is taken, try MsSallyJones.com or MusicBySallyJones.com.
You want your web site to have a lot of content but you dont want it to be so visually overwhelming that its impossible to find anything. The main parts of the web site will be an introduction that includes key words and/or phrases such as Sally Jones, the name of the songs being presented, lyrics, the genre of Sallys music, and the city Sally lives in. Also include a biography, any upcoming appearances and social networking links. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are ideal locations for search engines to locate information.
Nothing sells a singer or band like a good quality performance video that is watermarked for security and tracking purposes. In the description, again make sure to include the name of the song and the performers name. The more time these key words are used on a page, the easier it will be for Google or any other search engine to list the site.
Be sure to include promotional giveaways, such as a free ringtones of your songs or, if you are starting out and exposure is more important than making a few dollars off downloads, offer free mp3 of your songs and make sure to identify them as free mp3s because that twill catch the attention of the Google browser.
The more you promote your site, whether through social networking, a personal blog or by joining music groups or forums and leaving daily posts, the easier it will be for search engines to locate your site and help potential fans discover your music.
