Are websites still a necessity?

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Jeff Romard

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Sep 4, 2006
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I noticed the last year or so a lot of business are abandoning their website in favour of Social Media they are redirecting their URLs to Facebook or other social media platforms. Is it still a necessity for DJ's to have a website? Do client's care?
 
I think it's more important that whatever you are using is robust. If you're going to default to Social Media, make sure it isn't dormant for years with low quality content.

I also think it's better to not have a website than to have a bad one. If you're going to have a cheap, low quality site, you're better off not having one at all.

That being said... I do think having a website is important for me. 90% of my gig inquiries come directly from my site right now. I hear other DJs saying they get most of their traffic through social media, but that just hasn't been my experience. And I often get compliments about having music samples and some of the other content on my site. But I want to revamp a couple of areas of it during the slower-season this year.
 
It really depends on how you market yourself. If you are full in on social median maybe you could drop your website. But I’d keep both so went social media if & when goes south the website is still there. My regular recurring clients are directed to my website only. I definitely far from a social media expert but have just a small presents on Facebook.
 
There are some photo booth people, and SOME DJs in my area who only have their facebook page on their business card. They have been doing that for years, and are really only hobbyists and/or craigslist users who occasionally book a gig.

There are a handful of venues that don't have a website, BUT they have a Wedding Wire AND a KNOT page that they seem to get all their traffic from. I have found that interesting, but it works for those venue owners so maybe they don't care about having an actual website.

I use my website as the entry point into the online portal for my clients. ....so even the couples who booked me through another DJ company that I am sub contracted for who may not have seen my own website prior to booking me do eventually see my website.

As for my direct clients...ALL of them have seen my website at least once prior to booking me. Even the ones that are leads from the bash look at my website. It's included in the quote I send them, and a lot of the time they will say something like "It looks like your family has been doing this a lot of years, and I think it's cool all of you are DJs..." in their first email or message with me.
 
What I see is that it's not just about having a good looking website, but where to advertise your website so potential clients can see it. If a website is difficult to find then people will give up looking for it.
 
I think it's more important that whatever you are using is robust. If you're going to default to Social Media, make sure it isn't dormant for years with low quality content.

I also think it's better to not have a website than to have a bad one. If you're going to have a cheap, low quality site, you're better off not having one at all.

That being said... I do think having a website is important for me. 90% of my gig inquiries come directly from my site right now. I hear other DJs saying they get most of their traffic through social media, but that just hasn't been my experience. And I often get compliments about having music samples and some of the other content on my site. But I want to revamp a couple of areas of it during the slower-season this year.

I almost never get a social media inquiry that turns into a tour, much less a booking. I get plenty of inquiries from social media, I reply with info then I'm ghosted after that. In the past 2 years I've spent a decent amount of FB ads but the lack of conversions to tours is pitiful. The website inquiries usually are a stronger lead that at least starts a conversation.
 
I think it's more important that whatever you are using is robust. If you're going to default to Social Media, make sure it isn't dormant for years with low quality content.

I also think it's better to not have a website than to have a bad one. If you're going to have a cheap, low quality site, you're better off not having one at all.
I got to agree that is among the reasons I dropped my site. I may bring it back new and improved in the new year still floating that idea
I almost never get a social media inquiry that turns into a tour, much less a booking. I get plenty of inquiries from social media, I reply with info then I'm ghosted after that. In the past 2 years I've spent a decent amount of FB ads but the lack of conversions to tours is pitiful. The website inquiries usually are a stronger lead that at least starts a conversation.

Funny I am just the opposite. Facebook has been a blessing for me I have never paid for an ad for the DJ business, I have for other stuff, but I get a bunch of inquiries every year and if the date is open I rarely don't book it. To be fair in a many of those cases it was a referral from someone on a wedding or buy and sell grou and they contacted me through FB but still it's a valuable resource for me
 
I'm a word-of-mouth guy.
I had a website for a while...
but gave up on it.

Since the WOM has only brought you a few bookings this year, it would certainly be advantageous to build a new website, and even just utilizing Craigslist with a few of their $5.00 ads could likely bring you another event or two, or 3+ each year.

My brother moved to Harrisburg, PA. He put up a few Craigslist ads for that area, and he has received 3 bookings in the last few months in PA.
 
I say that people want to see something that can show you and what you do in some kind of way. Especially those who have never seen you ever. As it has been said, if it's a website it needs to have really good content that will catch people's attention. What I learned is it needs to catch their attention right away. If it doesn't people will move on quickly. In a few seconds it should catch people's interest to look further into the site.
 
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I say that people want to see something that can show you and what you do in some kind of way. Especially those who have never seen you ever. As it has been said, if it's a website it needs to have really good content that will catch people's attention. What I learned is it needs to catch their attention right away. If it doesn't people will move on quickly. In a few seconds it should catch people's interest to look further into the site.
Some good points Mixxy. Having blurry pictures does not look very professional .
 
I say that people want to see something that can show you and what you do in some kind of way. Especially those who have never seen you ever. As it has been said, if it's a website it needs to have really good content that will catch people's attention. What I learned is it needs to catch their attention right away. If it doesn't people will move on quickly. In a few seconds it should catch people's interest to look further into the site.
I have been referral only since the mid 90’s, thousands of shows in the books, if you do great job, present yourself professionally at all times, and ASK people to refer you it should be all you need, if your not getting multiple referral calls monthly you are doing something very wrong
 
I have been referral only since the mid 90’s, thousands of shows in the books, if you do great job, present yourself professionally at all times, and ASK people to refer you it should be all you need, if your not getting multiple referral calls monthly you are doing something very wrong
Great that works for you. You don't have anything online that shows who you are and what you do?
 
Great that works for you. You don't have anything online that shows who you are and what you do?

You don't really need to when you are mainly referral. I dropped my website and rarely update any social media
 
You don't really need to when you are mainly referral.
The place where I find I still need the content is in showing off any of the production stuff. I still don't do as good of a job with it as I'd like to. But I don't sell any lighting at all when I don't have a way to show it.

Are you offering any upsell options, or is more about securing a base rate?
 
Great that works for you. You don't have anything online that shows who you are and what you do?
I have my personal Facebook page that’s it, like i said if you are good at what you and know how to talk to clients properly, after a few years you should be busier than you want to be, if you not that busy, your either not a good DJ or don’t know how to properly talk to people
 
Even if you use social media and you plan on being in this game for the long-term you may want to keep your website at least as a landing page. Trust me stuff changes over the years and you want to have that one place that is always there. In the early 90s AOL was the thing, my websites and email was all on AOL. Now where is AOL? I want to keep my website, phone and email the same, always. But no you don’t have to have a website depending on how you run things. For something things I do want they want to know your website address and business email. Loans,Trade shows and other programs ask for website & business email.
 
Even if you use social media and you plan on being in this game for the long-term you may want to keep your website at least as a landing page. Trust me stuff changes over the years and you want to have that one place that is always there. In the early 90s AOL was the thing, my websites and email was all on AOL. Now where is AOL? I want to keep my website, phone and email the same, always. But no you don’t have to have a website depending on how you run things. For something things I do want they want to know your website address and business email. Loans,Trade shows and other programs ask for website & business email.

I'll add in another point. If you ditch the website, then decide to re-establish one down the road, you're starting over from scratch on domain authority. Personally, I'd keep the website, even if it's only a stub. How long a domain has been in use is a big consideration with search engines.
 
Even if you use social media and you plan on being in this game for the long-term you may want to keep your website at least as a landing page. Trust me stuff changes over the years and you want to have that one place that is always there. In the early 90s AOL was the thing, my websites and email was all on AOL. Now where is AOL? I want to keep my website, phone and email the same, always. But no you don’t have to have a website depending on how you run things. For something things I do want they want to know your website address and business email. Loans,Trade shows and other programs ask for website & business email.
In my case I kept my domain names and use it for my business email. It's funny you mention it for anything I do that's not client related I use a Hotmail address no one seems to care
I'll add in another point. If you ditch the website, then decide to re-establish one down the road, you're starting over from scratch on domain authority. Personally, I'd keep the website, even if it's only a stub. How long a domain has been in use is a big consideration with search engines.

What if that domain is forwarded?
 
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