Someone has to say it…most comedian websites suck. They do. And it needs to change now. It’s time to jump into Web 2.0 and head into the 2010 web (as Robert Scoble calls it). It’s not a hard change to make, but you first need to recognize what the problem is before you can accept that your site is needs an overhaul.

I’m no website guru, but I do enough reading and web surfing to know that comedians in general need a complete overhaul of their web presence. Here are a few signs that you are waaay behind and not taking advantage of the internet like you should be.

1. Your site has a splash page of any type before you actually get to the website. (Pablo Francisco)
2. Your site has to “load” because it has so much flash. (Charlie Murphy and Ralphie May)
3. Your site is built with way too much flash. (Adam Ferrara)
4. Your site navigation is so “not” intuitive that you have to have a link that says “Click Here to Switch to Standard Navigation”. (Bert Kreischer)
5. Your site is just a brochure and there is no reason for people to keep coming back because you are offering them no content. (Jimmy Dore)
6. You can’t see your site on the iPhone.

I’m not knocking the comedians btw. Just giving you examples of problems.

These are actually just a few of the things to look for when determining if you need to make a change. But let’s not concentrate on the negative. Let’s concentrate on the positive.

Your website should look like Chris Hardwick’s a.k.a. Nerdist. It’s simple. Easy to read. Loads quickly. Offers updated content so people will comeback and interact (i.e. comment). It is REALLY easy to maintain, change, and control. And wouldn’t you know it…ties in all of his social networks. But not just with a logo. The content he provides on the site makes those social networks relevant and effective. By effective…I mean driving traffic to his site. Not just keeping his fans on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace. What good is that? You want to be able to own your relationships on your social networks and be able to move those people onto your site and create repeat, loyal users/followers. On your site. That’s called marketing.

Chris uses Word Press. He uses a theme called Thesis (I use the same theme…it’s very easy to make updates and change things around). Created a few logos and some links…and boom…he has more interactivity on his site than most comedians could dream about. And it didn’t cost him thousands of dollars…I guarantee it. Word Press is free. Thesis is $87 (and there are free themes out there like Thematic that may work just as well). You can get cheap hosting. So maybe you need a graphic artist/CSS/HTML guy to do a few tweaks for you…no big deal. Now you have yourself a website that is relevant.

Some other comedian sites that you can look at that make sense: Paul Ogata (easy to read, simply, loads fast), Joe Rogan (great content, relevant info, community, loads fast), Brody Stevens (needs some tweaking…but he provides content), Christina Pazsitzky (low tech, good content…gets the job done perfectly).

The point is…most of the sites for comedians that I am seeing look like consumer products websites. How often do you visit “Oreo.com”. Never. And if you do…you never visit again…because there is no reason to. Most ad agencies put all this flash in so they can justify their cost. They can say, “Whhooo…look how nice and pretty it is.” Your guy is probably doing the same thing.

Check out the sites that have risen to prominence in the last 3 – 5 years. Gawker Media sites, Federated Media sites, Buzz Media sites. Your site should be the same…and it’s not hard to do. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Remember…you are in the content business. Don’t forget it.