Many artists replace their website with a Linktree (or a similar tool like Beacons, bio.link or Later’s link-in-bio). It’s understandable: free, updated in two minutes, solves the “one link with everything” problem. But there are things a Linktree can never do for you.
What Linktree is and what it’s for
Linktree is a link aggregation page. When Instagram only lets you put one link in your bio, Linktree solves it by listing all of them: Spotify, YouTube, website, tickets, contact. Simple, effective, free in the basic version.
It works well for:
- Centralising links from your Instagram or TikTok bio
- Quickly sharing all your channels
- Artists just starting out who don’t want to invest in a website yet
The problem isn’t Linktree itself — it’s using it as a replacement for a website.
Why your own website is different
Your website belongs to you; Linktree doesn’t. If Linktree shuts down, raises prices or changes its terms, there’s nothing you can do. If your domain and website disappear, it’s because you chose not to pay for hosting. The difference between owning infrastructure and renting it from someone else.
Remember MySpace. For years it was the near-essential platform for musicians: a personal page, a music player, a fan network. Many bands built their entire digital presence there. Today it no longer exists. All that work, all those followers, all that digital history: gone. Artists who had their own website survived the shift; those who only had MySpace started from zero.
Google indexes websites, not Linktrees. A Linktree won’t help you appear on Google when someone searches for you. A website with original content (bio, press kit, press releases, articles) will. SEO is one of the main reasons to have your own website.
Your website tells them who you are; Linktree lists where you are. Festival programmers, cultural journalists and artistic agents need to see content, not links. Who are you? What’s your style? What photos do you have? Your own website is the only space where you fully control that story.
Your website has real analytics. Do you know how many people visited your press kit page? From which countries? Which photo they spent the most time on? With your own website and tools like GoatCounter or Google Analytics, you have data. With Linktree (free plan), you get basic click counts.
Your website is your living press kit. A programmer who discovers you at 11pm on a Sunday won’t call until Monday. But if your website has a bio, high-resolution photos, videos and a contact form, they’ve already decided to get in touch. Linktree doesn’t have a press kit.
When to use each
| Situation | Own website | Linktree |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram bio | — | ✓ |
| Festival dossier | ✓ | — |
| Press release | ✓ | — |
| Contact for journalists | ✓ | — |
| Appearing on Google | ✓ | — |
| Quick link during a livestream | — | ✓ |
| Press kit for venues | ✓ | — |
| Selling tickets from bio | — | ✓ |
The honest answer
Use both. Linktree for social media links; your own website for everything that’s genuinely professional. The website is your base — where you always return. Linktree is the entry point for followers who want to know where the next concert is.
If you have to choose just one: the website. Always the website.
Want a website that works for you?
At Ressona we build websites for artists that function as showcase, press kit and calendar — synced with your social channels and optimised for search engines. Get in touch.