Things To Remember When Building An Art Website
Images are your most important asset - When creating a website for your artworks, the most important aspect of the site IS THE ARTWORKS! Since images are so important, I've written an entire article about them - read more about images. Remember to always:
- Take clear, focused pictures
- Have good lighting for your pictures - natural lighting is best
- Take pictures from multiple angles
- Make a link to High Res images
Information about your artworks - while images are your biggest asset as far as customers are concerned, search engines prefer content. If you have read any information about building websites, chances are you have come across the phrase "Content is King". The same is true for a site that is mostly dependent on images - a site about artworks. The images can get your potential buyers to be interested in your work, but without sufficient information that interest may never grow into a sale. Likewise, if search engines ignore your website due to a lack of content, your potential buyers may never even find you!
Helpful information about your artworks includes things like:
- size, medium, and price (see next section)
- any special techniques or materials that you use
- your inspiration to create the artwork
- any other information that you feel would be useful to viewers of that specific work of art
Include the price! - Through my own quest to build an art website, I have subscribed to a few SEO newsletters (and I would suggest the same to anyone who wants to build a website). I have discovered that many potential buyers who may be interested in products (artworks) are turned off by the idea of filling out a form to find a price. That said, well known artists that already have an established client base may not be hindered by this, but many artists (especially emerging artists) will probably gain more interest from potential buyers by including all information about their work on their website - including the price.
Marketing yourself, not just your art - Many artists (including myself) have a hard time with this concept. A website needs to be professional yet personal. Ask yourself "why should potential buyers be interested in my artwork?" Having an interesting concept or technique for your art is a great start, but if people cannot connect with the artist they usually will not care enough to buy artwork from that artist. Also, if you have another online presence (facebook, etsy, etc.) let your viewers know - put links on your website so they can follow you on other sites.
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