From art
students to internationally-acclaimed artists, the key to being successful in
this art world is to set yourself up with an artist website. An artist
website is like a studio visit: it’s an opportunity for people to see all of
your artwork and learn about you as an artist. The main difference between
an artist website and a studio visit is, of course, that your website
is always open and anyone from anywhere in the world can come in.
Build Your Artist Site: Don’t Do It Yourself
Most
people think that you need to be very tech-savvy to start a website. This
is not true. Not only are there plenty of services that help you
create your own personal website, but some are even especially designed
for artists. These sites offer visual-intensive templates that are
built to make your art look great.
Domain Names: If you are just starting
out, there is nothing wrong with getting set up with a free site on a hosted
website, but once you’re really making a name for yourself, you’ll want to buy
a domain name. There is a huge difference between artistname.wordpress.com and
artistname.com, and having a short, easy-to-remember URL is going to be a big
marketing advantage down the
line.
Test
Browsers & Devices: Before your website is made public, test how it
looks on different browsers. Just because it looks okay on your desktop in
Safari doesn’t mean it’ll look great on a cellphone with Chrome. The best way
to make sure it’s looking good on all devices is to use a “responsive” site
(most themes will tell you whether or not they’re responsive). Still, don’t
assume it’s working: check for yourself before publishing your site.
What Your Artist Website Needs
Before
you get too wrapped up in designing your page, make sure you have included the
basics. Every artist website needs these core elements, or else they may
instantly turn away potential buyers:
1. Your
Name Really,
you should be including your name in your website’s URL, if possible. Your name
is your brand: it’s how people find you. It should be visible at all times, no
matter what page the visitor is on. Creating a logo and placing it in the
website’s header will help accomplish this. Keep your name/logo legible and
bold, but the font/design should match your artwork so visitors can
remember your name and associate it with your work.
2. High
Quality Images If
you’re proud of your art, then show it. Do not post small, blurry, dark, or
low-res images to your website. Remember, you should be viewing your artist
site as a surrogate “open studio.” If you had somebody visiting your studio,
would you show them a tiny, blurry Polaroid of your artwork, or would you show
them the real thing? While you can’t perfectly represent your works in digital
form (unless you are a digital artist, of course), you’d be surprised what
a half-decent camera can do these days with the right tools.
3.
Artwork Details This
doesn’t mean close-up shots of your artwork (though those can also be
important). This is referring to the titles, medium, dimensions, price, and
year of the piece. This information helps the visitor get a sense of almost
everything they’ll need to know if they are thinking of purchasing the artwork.
It also makes your website more searchable through Google or other search
engines.
4. Is
this available for sale? You don’t need to only post images of available artwork, but you should
make it very clear which pieces are available and which aren’t.
6. Artist
Statement Your
artist statement speaks for you when you aren’t there to carry the
conversation. The statement should always be written in the first person: it is
different from a biography.
7.
Contact Information You
can’t sell anything if you can’t be reached. Be sure to make your contact
information easily accessible on your website.
How To Organize Your Artist Website
Don’t
shove all this information in one page. A good artist website is like a gallery
or museum. The artwork can’t be stacked up, over-populating the walls. You need
to give each item, whether it’s an artwork or text, space to breathe. The best
way to do this is to organize your artist website with pages.
Here’s a
little secret about building websites: every page should have only one purpose. By
putting too many pieces of information (or art) on one page, you will lose your
visitor’s interest.
Not only
is this the clearest, most user-friendly way to organize your website, it also
helps with something called SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO keeps your
page at the top of the search results whenever anyone uses Google, Yahoo, Bing,
or any other search engine. When your webpages are clearly focused and
differentiated, the search engine “crawlers” know exactly what the point of
your site is, and will boost it in the search results.
So what
pages do you need?
1. Home /
Landing Page –
This is the “face” of your website. The homepage should have 3 main
elements: a title, visual, and map.
- The title should tell the visitor what your website is. “Art by [Your Name]” or “[Your Name] Artist” is a pretty fool-proof way to start. Don’t get too complicated or clever here, you want the title to be something that can be easily translated to any language.
- The visual can be a single artwork, a collage, or a slideshow. Avoid the urge to shove all of your artwork onto this page: that’s what your artwork pages are for. The visual will quickly give the visitor a sense of who you are and what you’re about. If you have three distinct styles of artwork, you can put one example of each. However, if your artwork is fairly uniform in style, do not include more than one image.
- The map isn’t an actual map, but more an easy-to-understand navigation menu. It should clearly specify the different pages that are available on your website. Do not hide this menu, but make it bold and prominent on your page. Keep it on the top, or on the left-hand side of the page, where it will be visible immediately.
2.
Artwork Albums –
Just like your overall website, your artwork should be broken up into smaller
sections. There should never be more than 20-30 images in any one
album/page or users will get bored and start skipping over images. There are
many ways to sort your artwork: you can do it by medium, style, year, series,
theme. You can even break down your pages into both: you may have an abstract
album that is sorted by mood. Or maybe you’ll have a landscape album sorted by
season. Just don’t get too compartmentalized: each album should have a minimum
of 10 images.
Remember,
you want to keep it clear which artwork is available for purchase and which is
not. You can either indicate this directly within the albums, or create one
special album for available/sold artwork. However, you do not want to do this
if there are more than 25-35 artworks that fall into either category.
3. “About
me” –
You can include your biography, statement, and CV in this page, but add visual
elements to help “break it up.” This can either be by delineating each section
with a different color background, or by using images or icons to separate the
text blocks. Include your headshot. Show a picture of you working in the
studio. Do you have the first ever crayon drawing you did as a child? Visual
elements don’t just make a webpage easier to look at – it also adds personality
and a humanizing element to your artist website.
4.
Contact Page –
Some artists simply include this in the footer or header of their site, which
is a perfectly acceptable method. However, having a page dedicated to
sales/contact remind the site viewer that you’re available. You can even
include a contact form if you do not want to give away your personal e-mail
address, but be sure to check your messages regularly. You don’t want to miss
out on that next big sale!
Keep These Off Your Site
Music
– Do not
have music autoplay on your website. If your viewer wants to listen to music,
they’ll already be doing so. Music is distracting and annoying, and most people
will immediately exit your site if they’re forced to listen to music against
their will.
Ads
– It’s a
pitfall of some ‘free’ site hosts. Before you commit to a host, be sure to
check if they will be placing ads on your website. Ads can hugely distract from
your artwork and they never look professional.
Other
Artist’s Work –
Even if it’s an artwork that has inspired you in the past, it will confuse
visitors if they see artwork that isn’t yours. It will make them question
whether the other art is yours, and your authenticity will be
compromised.
Maintain Your Site
Update
regularly. At
the very least, you should update your website with new art once a year.
However, if your schedule allows, the more updates the better: it shows your
visitors that you are active. Even more, it shows that you are still alive.
When your artist website’s most recent post is three years old, it will raise
certain questions in your visitors’ mind:
Info: www.agora-gallery.com
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