I Build Actor Websites — Here's What Actually Matters (And What's a Waste of Time)
I've been building websites for actors and performers for a long time. My own, my clients', and even my husband's when he pivoted from musical theatre professor to working violinist. And the thing I keep seeing is this: performers spend so much energy on platforms they don't own, while the one place they actually control sits empty, outdated, or never gets launched at all.
So today I want to cut through everything and give you what actually matters.
Why Instagram Isn't Enough Anymore
Here's the truth about Instagram, TikTok, and every other social platform you're spending time on: you don't own it. You're renting space on someone else's platform, and you have zero say in what the algorithm does, when it changes, or whether your profile even shows up when someone goes looking for you.
And here's what's changing the game right now. We have AI search. We have Google, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and dozens of other tools that are constantly crawling everything online and changing the way people find information. Go ahead and Google your own name right now. What comes up? Because what comes up is shifting constantly, and Instagram can't help you there.
A website is different. A website is a place you actually control. What it says, how it looks, how it gets crawled and indexed, how you show up when someone searches your name. It's your online home, and right now, claiming that space is one of the most strategic things you can do for your career.
This isn't just about casting directors finding you anymore. It's about having a place that says: here's the work I do, here are the stories I want to tell, here's who I want to collaborate with, and here's how to reach me. And you control every single word of it.
The 4 Things That Actually Need to Be on Your Website
1. Footage of you doing the thing you actually book, front and center.
Not a headshot. Not a tagline. Video. Demo reels, self-tapes, performance clips, commercial footage, whatever shows people exactly what you do and who you are as a performer.
The great thing about your website versus your Actors Access profile is that you're not paying every time you want to update a clip. You can swap footage in and out anytime, which means your website can grow and shift as you do. Maybe you also do comedy, or stunts, or you're a musician. You can showcase all of it without being boxed in. Your website has room for the full picture of your work in a way your casting profile doesn't.
Keep it specific and focused. You don't need a lot, but what's there needs to be intentional and current.
2. The essence of who you are in under 5 seconds, through branding, not words.
I don't mean a tagline. I mean that when someone lands on your website, before they read a single word, they should already be getting a sense of who you are from the visual choices alone. The colors, the font, the layout, the feel of it. Is it editorial? Comedic? Dark and moody? Light and playful? Whatever the vibe of the work you want to be doing, that should be coming through visually.
Here's a trick I give my clients when they're stuck on this: if you were a magazine, what magazine would you be? I'm very much an Elle magazine person, and that shows up in my website. White space, editorial photos, clean lines. Figure out your version of that and let it guide every visual decision you make.
And by the way, you don't need to limit yourself to headshots on a website. This is where you can use branded photos, lifestyle shots, images that give the vibe of the stories you want to tell. Use it.
3. Clear, intentional ways to reach you, that don't feel outdated.
A dusty contact form at the bottom of the page is not enough in 2026. People have options now, and the performers who are getting reached out to are the ones who make it easy and feel current.
That looks different for everybody. Maybe you want people to DM you on Instagram because you have a great following there. Maybe you want to give your actual email address, something like hello@yourname.com if you have Google Workspace, so it doesn't look spammy. Maybe you want an Acuity link so people can book a call directly. If you have representation, that information should be front and easy to find.
The point is to give people whatever way works best for them to connect with you, without making them dig for it.
For me personally, I have a few different options on my site because I work with coaching clients, casting directors, and collaborators, and each of those relationships starts differently. Someone might want to fill out a form first. Someone might want to email a quick question. Someone might want to book a free 15-minute consult and just talk to me first. I want all of those doors open. Think about what your version of that looks like.
4. It looks like you took yourself seriously, and it has room to grow.
You know the feeling when you land on a website and within two seconds you can tell someone built it with intention, even if they built it themselves? That's what we're going for. It doesn't mean it has to be expensive or complicated. It means it's not collecting dust. The clips aren't from 2019. The bio actually sounds like who you are right now, not who you were three years ago.
And when I say room to grow, I mean this: your website isn't a finished product, it's a living document. My first website back in 2010 was all about acting. Then I went to grad school and became a professor for a decade, and my website shifted to reflect that. Now I'm back to performing and coaching full-time, and my website reflects that chapter. My husband did the same thing when he pivoted from being a musical theatre professor to working as a violinist. He took his existing site, completely redesigned it, and it now works for exactly who he is now.
Your website should be able to grow with you, and a good one will. Whether that's adding a blog, building out a coaching page, adding a shop, or launching a YouTube channel, that infrastructure should already be there waiting.
What's a Complete Waste of Your Time
Building 15 pages before you launch anything. I see this constantly. Performers get so overwhelmed trying to create every single section of their site that they never actually launch it, and then they feel embarrassed that everyone else has a website and they don't. Stop that. Start with a clean, intentional homepage. Build out from there one page at a time, only when you actually need it.
Trying to fit your entire life story into it. We don't need everything. We need what's specific to the work you want to be doing right now and how you want to be seen. Think of it like an audition. You don't walk into a room and give a 10-minute speech about your entire career history. You show them what you do, you say it's nice to meet you, and you let the work speak. Same idea.
Never launching because it's not perfect yet. There is no perfect. Get something up, make it intentional, and then keep building. The performers who are winning online aren't the ones with the most elaborate websites. They're the ones who launched, and kept showing up.
Your One Action This Week
Three steps, in this order:
One: get clear on the purpose of your website before you touch anything else. What do you want people to do when they land there? Who is the website actually for? Get specific
Two: make sure everything currently on your site aligns with that purpose. If it doesn't, cut it.
Three: start with the homepage. Just the homepage. Get that one page clean, intentional, and launched, then build everything else out as you need it.
I use and recommend Squarespace for building performer websites because it's what I've built my own site on, it's what I guide all my clients through, and it genuinely gives you the flexibility to grow without needing a developer.
If you want to work through your website with someone in your corner, that's exactly what we do in coaching. Book a session and we'll map out what your site needs to do and build a plan to get there.
Want to go deeper on your casting materials while you're building? Grab my free Audition Book Guide, Unmistakably You, and make sure your rep book is telling the right story before you step into any room: Download the free guide here
Want to work together 1:1? Learn more about coaching here.
Ashlee Espinosa, MFA, is a working actor and career coach for performers. With over a decade as a musical theatre professor and an active career on stage and on camera, she's expanded into film, commercials, and streaming work alongside her musical theatre roots. She coaches performers on building sustainable, multi-hyphenate careers, not just the next booking. 1:1 coaching sessions available at ashleeespinosa.com/coaching.
