Thread: How important is a website?

Has having a website made a large difference in the amount and kind of gigs you get? Do people often find you thru the web first?

Thanks!

Yes , most of my gigs come from web calls Bday party's mainly.

I think a website is extremely important. When I first did mine, I mostly did it for the reason if someone calls and asks "where can I see pictures of you" or " where can I get more information about your performances" I can direct them to a couple of simple pages.
Then when I realized that my webhosting only costs $12 / month with a lot of bandwith, (pictures, music files, videos, lots of them) it became more and more imporant to me and I kept expanding it.
I've only had it up for less than a year and a half , but I had gotten so many gigs from just people searching the net, that my webhosting costs are paid for the next 200 years :)

People nowadays are looking on the net for everything - even ordering pizza.
The phone book has lost its importance and the net is everywhere.

My website is probably more focused on the classes I offer (for which it is a fantastic marketing tool), but I also get quite a few gig enquiries through it.

A good website gives you a more 'established', 'reputable' and 'successful' presence - at least, that's what I think of when I look at service providers with a good web presence vs one without. Also good for showing what you look like and laying out what you offer (to avoid stupid questions!). Finally, it's good financially because you don't keep having to pay for so much periodic advertising, such as in papers or mags. When people decide they want a bellydancer, they search for you and you're there. You don't have to chance them seeing your ad.

My website is very important. People that find me through my bussinesscard also check out my website first for additional information and recent pictures. Which doesn't mean that they actually read and absorb the information on my site: people like an answer to those questions by phone most of the time.

Webspace is relative cheap compared to the benefits of having your own website. Don't forget to mention where you are: often people find you through google and forget to check wether you're in the area.

gigs no, students? oh yes!

Originally Posted by gotraqs

Has having a website made a large difference in the amount and kind of gigs you get? Do people often find you thru the web first?

Thanks!

One important point: If you have a WebSite, pay attention to it and any emails it generates! There are plenty of multi-billion dollar corporations with a web presence that totally ignore any inquiries generated from same. A pet peeve; if a WebSite is ignored, its *worse* than not having one at all!

I agree with Zorba. I have seen websites that haven't been updated for ages. The dancer lists her schedule of performances and the last one was 6 months ago - you can tell she hasn't touched it since then.

I update my site weekly, sometimes every other day, schedule, new pictures, changes in the other dancer's schedule I dance with, class info, etc. I always list the date when it was last updated. I don't know how important that is, but I like to do it that way.

I would say that 90% of my gigs come from the web (google searches for my site, and my listings on PartyPop and Gigmasters). Maybe about 8% come from referrals, and 2% from my students.

A friend of mine is a dancer, and I often refer a lot of jobs to her if I can't do them. She does not have a website, and clients are usually reluctant to call her for a job even if I refer them, and reasure them that she is great, because they can't "see" her first.