Anybody use WordPress to make a band website?

I want to create a website for my band. We have to this point been using Myspace (though haven't gone to it in years I think) and more recently Facebook. This has been fine for the purposes of getting the word out to our friends, but it would be nice to have a honest to goodness website with a real address when trying to land some better gigs I think. Somewhere I heard about using WordPress, tried it out last night, and without much trouble or any software installation (did it via their web interface) I was able to assemble this in probably a half hour.

http://solomonsgoldband.wordpress.com/

Now I really want it to live at a nice custom web address. Two options I've identified are:

1. Leave it there on the WordPress site for them to host, purchase/register a domain name from a registry service, then pay an additional fee to "map" the domain name to the WordPress location.

2. Purchase web hosting from somewhere, make sure the host meets WordPress requirements as detailed on the WordPress site, install WordPress onto the web host, install WordPress on my computer (I think), etc. And then also purchase/register the domain name...maybe still have to purchase the "mapping" also.

Option 1 seems way simpler to me, but Option 2 presumably gives more flexibility...I'm just guessing on that though. What do you all think? Anybody use WordPress and gone through this?

As you can probably tell from the website, we are a bar band, play about a dozen or so gigs a year, and are not going to pour money into professional web development...just for a point of reference.

Oh...I realize the layout, etc. of the little website I put together last night is pretty weak. It is more or less just there for a proof of concept. So just imagine that in the end it will look totally awesome! It's mostly the registering, hosting, and mapping stuff that I'm seeking advice on.

Thanks!!!

My band site in on WordPress (www.rocket57.net) but I got a small local web company to build and host it. I bought the relevant domain names direct from 123-reg and the web company told me what I needed to do to get everything set up. I guess this is in effect your option 2, but it's just that the web company managed it for me. If I were doing it on my own I'd go for whatever is easiest, which I guess is option 1.

Y'all's website looks great! Yeah I think Option 1 is the easier for me, but I'm not 100% sure it would "work". It seems so easy it makes me think I am overlooking some detail.

I have used Wordpress as a hosting provider and also as a CMS (content management system) on a LAMP server through Hostgator. One major difference I noticed is that when you host through wordpress you are unable to alter the .php template; this is probably necessary for some reason (i.e. if you modify the .php you are basically either breaking or enhancing Wordpress, depending on how you look at it.) You can still customize the .css though, for a fee. In fact, that's the whole idea behind WP - same .php template, different .css themes.

Basically the main difference if you get your own hosting and install wordpress you have many many many more ways of customizing your site, however, there might be sufficient customizable options available on a wordpress-hosted site for your needs (various themes and widgets/plugins, etc.)

Also I kind of like being able to pay for things a-la-carte like getting more storage space, etc. but I'm not sure it's a good way to save money in the long run. Just my 2c.

What you have up and running already looks pretty good!

Also I'm sure you're aware of other options like tumblr:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tumblr-vs-wordpress-bands-38682.html

I think that's another thing to consider; search engine optimization, as well as which platform is more popular with musicians.

Actually I was not even aware of Tumblr...I'm so out of the loop!

Hey thanks for the help everybody. I wound up figuring out how to register a domain, get it mapped, etc. I did it all through WordPress. It's certainly not the greatest band website and might even be the worst. But now at least when we're asked if we actually have a website we don't have to hang our heads in shame. And it only cost $18 for the year...so if it sucks bad it's not a huge loss!!

It's here: www.sollysgold.com (http://www.sollysgold.com)

Actually I was not even aware of Tumblr...I'm so out of the loop!

Me too! For a long time I was wary of being "that band on myspace when everyone else is now on Facebook," but there's only so much you can do to keep up with the social media scene before it changes again in 2-3 years. At least with your own domain name you don't have to worry about it being dated so much as long as you can customize your site a bit and update it easily. But that's kind of independent of the hosting issue.

Hey you guys play "Dead Flowers" too! My band does that one and I never liked it much until we started playing it, and now it's one of my favorite Stones songs!

I'll have to check out one of your shows; I live in Frederick county.

Cool! We might be getting up to Frederick this summer. One the guys in the band owns a medical practice up there, has ties to the local business community, etc. and is trying to wrangle a gig or two out of some of the bars. Now with the new website and all I don't see they will be able to resist...LOL!

We do - works out great:

www.thechurchkeys.com

Our drummer did it all - he's kind of a WordPress wizard, at least to me.

We're like y'all - mostly local, between 1 and 2 shows on avg. per month.

Cool website...cool band name too! Yeah I think if I devote some time to it I will be able to sort out the technical aspects of WordPress to make it passable. There seems to be a several useful plug-and-play things you can add in plus a variety of "themes" to choose from. Looks like most anybody could create something informative for their band with WordPress, but you probably have to have a real eye for graphic design (which I don't) to make something impressive, entertaining, etc.

Tumblr just takes all of the headache out of making a band site.
I'd rather spend less time on the site- Ive tried lots of things and it's just easy...

Cool. After my year is up with Wordpress if I don't like it for some reason I'll take a closer look at Tumbler. Is it free too? It looked like it probably was, but I wasn't 100% sure.

Cool. After my year is up with Wordpress if I don't like it for some reason I'll take a closer look at Tumbler. Is it free too? It looked like it probably was, but I wasn't 100% sure.

Yes, free. You can also buy a custom url web address separately and direct your Tumblr site to it. So you can get the Tumblr site to be www.whateveryourbandnameis.com (you get the idea?)

Hey, what about flavors.me? I use that, it's a great free/cheap way to build a website and embed content from all of your other free services like YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Yes, free. You can also buy a custom url web address separately and direct your Tumblr site to it. So you can get the Tumblr site to be www.whateveryourbandnameis.com (you get the idea?)

Yeah, that makes sense. Sounds similar to the Wordpress sham...the site was free, but the custom domain was $15 plus $3 to "map". That's for one year...seemed fairly reasonable, although I didn't really shop around or anything.

And it only cost $18 for the year...so if it sucks bad it's not a huge loss!!

It's here: www.sollysgold.com (http://www.sollysgold.com)

I've been looking around on Wordpress and I can't find anything that is $18 a year. The best I've seen is $6.95 a month. Where did you find that price?

I've been looking around on Wordpress and I can't find anything that is $18 a year. The best I've seen is $6.95 a month. Where did you find that price?

Check this page out on the Wordpress site.

http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/register-domain/

That's what I did. First I signed up and created the free site...I made all the different pages (Schedule, Video, etc.) and put up pictures and so forth. When I was satisfied that it would meet the band's needs, then I upgraded to the $18 a year option with the custom web address. It was really easy. I just used the default template, so it is admittedly not visually stunning or anything. There were a ton of other designs to choose from, but I was not motivated to sort through and select one. If it weren't for my wife's good taste I would paint every room in the house white probably.

There is an optional thing you can do after you get your address that has to do with "optimizing" it for Google's search engine. Basically you get this little code from Google and then give that to Wordpress so that your custom web address pops up at the top of Google's search results. It was pretty easy to do, but I can share more details, links, etc. if you/anyone is interested.

I use a program called Web Page Maker ($49) which is WYSIWYG. I tried learning how to make style sheets and code with html, but got impatient so bought this program. Very easy to use.

I use namecheap for domain name registration and hosting. It costs me something like $39 a year for the hosting plus $10 domain regsitration.

www.damndirtyapesband.com

I use wordpress to power my music site. It's at http://www.MatthewCorey.wordpress.com.

That Flavors.me thing looks really cool and easy!

Hey, what about flavors.me? I use that, it's a great free/cheap way to build a website and embed content from all of your other free services like YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Hey thank you for putting me on to this... Started playing around with Flavors.me, and it is awesome. Very easy and I was able to put together a decent looking site for free in a matter of minutes. I like how simple they make it to link to all of your online content. I will surely be upgrading to the 20/year service to take advantage of all of the features.

Here's what i got so far: http://www.Flavors.me/MatthewCorey

I do like wordpress but it can be tedious. This one is much better imo, so I am basically going to switch.

Thanks again!

I'm just setting up a WordPress site for our new band. I got our domain name from GoDaddy and we're hosted on Host Gator (about $8 per month). I've been playing around with the page for a few days, and after we get some more photos, and video samples, we'll be in business. It's my first attempt at a web page, and I've had fun with it.

http://Equinox-Shows.com/

I've built several Joomla sites.. similar to WP. Might take a looksee.

I'm using Tumblr, but Wordpress seems pretty easy too. Tumblr edged it out, so I went with it. Check it out! (http://jonathangaileymusic.tumblr.com) I'll get rid of the tumblr part if this thing takes off.

Not sure if you know this, but you can purchase some pretty sophisticated themes from $35 to $50 for Wordpress...

linky (http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/entertainment)
'nuther Linky (http://www.elegantthemes.com/)

Not sure if you know this, but you can purchase some pretty sophisticated themes from $35 to $50 for Wordpress...

I was aware of the possibility, but haven't had a chance to see what all the implementation entails. Generally speaking though, if for a one time cost of $50 I can have something that looks nicer than my simple attempt using their default template, then that's probably well worth it. Shucks if it got us even one gig it would be worth it.

I'm just setting up a WordPress site for our new band. I got our domain name from GoDaddy and we're hosted on Host Gator (about $8 per month). I've been playing around with the page for a few days, and after we get some more photos, and video samples, we'll be in business. It's my first attempt at a web page, and I've had fun with it.

http://Equinox-Shows.com/

Yeah, that looks good man. That's basically what I eventually want to get to with ours. Something that looks nice and has just the facts, ie. who, what, where, when, etc.

My site is based on the WordPress enggine, but with a custom theme-what I REALLY like about it is, I can make changes anytime on it (say a gig gets added). No need to hassle the webmaster to change a page that changes at least monthly!!!

Here's the site:

www.francrobert.com

I also use GoDaddy for the domain, but use BlueHost for my hosting (runs about $5/month, and worth every penny!)

Franc Robert

Groove Hammer uses Squarespace and it works quite well.
Our site was designed by a former band member, and now I maintain it.
Squarespace has a few quirks but all in all the learning curve is relatively flat, and the price is good. The BIG issue is that it ONLY has support via email.

Check it out at www.groovehammer.ca

Nice looking sites you all have.