Designing Beautiful Artist’s Websites – 12 Tips to Showcase Your Art
Here’s the scoop on what you need to know when designing a website to showcase your art, impress galleries and win over collectors. Learn how to avoid the mistakes most emerging artists make when creating their on-line portfolio
The following are important questions you need to consider:
1. Who needs an artists website?
Not everyone! If you are currently exhibiting in multiple high-end galleries and making a handsome income, a website may not be for you. In fact, it might actually work against you – some galleries may not like the perceived threat of you showing your work independently on the internet. Better to make use of your gallery’s websites.
On the other hand, any artist who can classify themselves as either “emerging” or “mid-career” will probably benefit from having their own website to promote their work. At this stage of your career it is important to be able to have a place where anyone in the world can easily access and view your work. It is also important that your work looks as wonderful as you know it is!
2. Who are you trying to impress?
Are you trying to engage a Soho gallery to sell your $20,000 paintings or sell $5 prints to children in Korea? “Art” encompasses a huge variety of media, audiences, and budgets, and you need to be very clear about who you are targeting with your site. That Soho gallery might not be impressed when they see your online-store selling prints and art cards – but on the other hand, you could make a very handsome living if you really knew how to market those art cards. If you want to have multiple marketing strategies, you might even need to think about more than one website.
3. How should your website fit in with your overall art marketing strategy?
This is possibly the most important question you need to consider in developing a website presence. A website is not an end in itself: it is really only effective when it is part of a larger overall marketing strategy for your art. This would include old-style hard-copy portfolios, in-person gallery visits and presentations, regular (physical) showings of your work, and developing relationships with the art world. An effectively planned website can greatly compliment and simplify your other marketing efforts.
For the rest of the story go here:
- Is there a real market for art on the internet?
- What do galleries and art dealers look for in an artist’s website?
- How will collectors and arts professionals find my website?
6 Steps to Make Your Artist Website Sell
SUMMARY
This article shows you how to use your website to build a solid foundation and system for art sales that will leave you more freedom to actually be an artist!
Here are the topics we’ll explore in this article:
Showcase Your Work Professionally
A poorly presented website will scare off collectors and dealers faster than you can click your mouse. We give you the scoop on what arts professionals look for when they visit your website.
Tell Dealers, Galleries and Collectors about your website
A beautiful website without visitors is like building the Guggenheim in the middle of the Australian Outback! Learn how to get the word out and bring the visitors who matter to your new online gallery.
Make it Easy to Buy
You have visitors to your website who appreciate your art, but without the right systems in place you won't make any sales. Learn how to make it easy for visitors to buy your work!
Measure Your Results
You’ll feel really good when your website makes its first sale. But will there be another? And when? Learn how to enjoy consistent success by bringing real customers to your website every day.
Keep Your Website Current
You know where your best customers come from, and how they find you. But will they keep coming back and buying more art? By keeping your website current with your latest work you can be sure to get regular visits.
Put a System in place to constantly improve results
Do you really want to be a struggling artist? Or would you prefer to sell your art and consistently improve your results? Learn how creating a system can help you sell and win back your valuable creative time.
How to Plan and Stage a Successful Open Studio
Open Studios are a popular way to show your latest work to collectors, arts professionals, and the public. They can also be a successful and consistent way to sell your work. In This article you’ll learn about:
- How to plan & promote your Open Studio Event
- How to Curate and Hang the Artwork
- The importance of getting help from your friends
- Catering The Event
- Taking Care of Sales
- Important Steps After The Event
How to Attract Galleries to Your Website
Summary
For many artists, the primary purpose of their website is to attract the attention of art galleries and dealers. A well designed website showcasing quality art will get the attention of arts professionals when they see it. But how do they find you in the first place?
This article gives the scoop on some great basic techniques that work!Use an Email Management System To Simplify Your Art Marketing.
Summary
In the world of marketing it’s a recognized fact that repetition of your message is crucial to achieving good results. Email marketing is a powerful and inexpensive method to realize the power of repetition to promote your website (and therefore your art) to buyers and galleries. Juggling hundreds or thousands of email addresses in a regular email system is not fun however and will literally consume all your valuable time. The solution is to use an Email Management System to automate the repetitive tasks of sending email.
