SEO Cheat Sheet: Artist Profile / EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
- Headline – Provide a short three to five words of who you are. “Latin Country Singer from Nashville” This headline is repeated in the HTML <title> tag; which means its heavily used by search engines.
- Music Categories – Although choosing two music categories is optional, it really helps to pick two. For one, search engines will find you in multiple places, but so will viewers. Also, choose at least one of the main categories that appear as part of the top menu buttons: Rock, Country, Hip Hop, etc.
- Location – Many people search Google, Bing, and others by also including a city name. By filling out the location field, you get indexed by search engines for anyone’s search within specific regions. The search engines are smart enough to expand searches geographically even by just supplying a local city or town name.
- Bio – A good bio is important for both viewers and search engines. Keep in mind to include words that people may use to search for you. For example, it’s always beneficial to include your stage or band name. “I am Frankie Two Shoes.” This way whenever someone searches for you on Google, or even the StreetJelly search box, your profile will get returned.
- Links – You want your presence across the internet in as many places as possible. Not only does it help viewers find your YouTube account, or Reverb, or whatever, it also gives weight to search engines to crawl your other pages out there on the net.
- Stories – Similar to the advice for Bio (above), be sure the fill out your fun stories with specific venue names, bands, famous stars, and so on.
Artist profiles/EPK (electronic press kits) on StreetJelly are important for two main reasons. One, they allow the internet search engines to find the artist. The cheat sheet above covers that. It’s generally known as SEO: Search Engine Optimization. The other reason to make a great profile is to inform viewers about the artist, their style, show a picture, links to social media, etc.
All social media profiles, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, and the like, are all about telling the world who you are! But with StreetJelly, there is an added incentive to make a real connection with the artist. Ultimately, we hope to entertain viewers through music in exchange for gratification, fan exposure, and of course, tips. On StreetJelly, however, we did not create profile pages like all the rest. In fact, we put in fields where the artist can link back to YouTube, ReverbNation, etc. so they can expose their fans to their other online profiles. But we did specifically add questions to the StreetJelly profile to invoke a more personal response about being a musician. We as humans make connections with others through experiences. Telling a short story about oneself is more effective than listing out prior job titles from a boring resume. Successful profiles are fun, interesting, and a bit personal. Viewers will see the artist as a close friend rather than some anonymous organ grinder.
Which artist profiles on StreetJelly do you think are great? Add them below in the comment section.