Art, Artists and the Web: Part 3--What to Put on an Artist?s Website

What to put your the website if you are an artist.

1) The art work

Try and think like a gallery hanging a show. Would a gallery put 20 paintings of an artist's art work on one wall? No, because the visitor would be completely confused and not be able to focus on any one painting. The same rule applies to artist's websites. If you cram 20 pictures on one page the Web visitor will move on. Feature a few paintings on each page.

The opposite is also true. Do not put only a few pictures on your artist website. There is nothing more frustrating than finding an artist that you like on the Web and not being able to see a representational body of work.

2) Background color

Background color on a website is just as important as it is in a gallery. White, light gray, cream are all safe colors. Black can be very dramatic way to highlight paintings, however, black makes text almost unreadable. If you use a color, which can be done effectively, make sure that the color works with all your art work and reflects who you are as an artist.

3) Design

Keep it clean, classy and simple. Make sure to visit "Websites That Suck." www. websitesthatsuck.com.

Make sure your artist's website loads quickly; visitors on the Web will not wait, they will leave.

Stay away from all the newest flashy innovations that web designers often like. They usually irritate the visitor and take longer to load.

4) Search engines only read text.

Search engines do not explain how outstanding your art work may be. They only read text. It is very important to have text on your website. The more relevant text the better.

5) Text on a website is different than text in a book or magazine.

All the lessons that apply to "regular" writing do not apply on the Web.

When you are writing text for your website, think bullet points and outline. You want sentences to be short and choppy; phrases work well. Paragraphs should be short. Make your text chatty and do not be afraid to start your sentences with words like "And" or "Because". Writing for the Web is the opposite of what you learned in high school and college.

6) Splash pages are now out.

It used to be that on your Home Page you could put a gorgeous picture of your art work and then move on from that to the rest of your website. This is called a "splash page". Search engines no longer like splash pages. It is now recommended that on your home page you have text explaining what the entire website is about and links to all the major pages.

7) Connect with the visitor.

Just having fabulous pictures of your art work is not enough. A Web visitor will usually visit one or two pages and most likely seldom or never return. It is very important to give the Web visitor a reason to stay on your website as well as to come back. The usual artist's statement is not going to accomplish that.

Tell or show your Web visitor something about you. It could be a picture of your studio, people love to visit studios; information about what inspires you; your technique, if you have an unusual one; a particularly interesting interview with you. Use your imagination

Give away free information. Visitors on the Web love that. There is probably something obvious to you that is big news to your average Web visitor. Share that information with them.

8) Let the visitor know how to contact you.

Make sure the visitor on the Web can contact you as well as your gallery, if a gallery represents you. If the visitor can only contact the gallery, it feels as if the gallery is holding the artist hostage. The Web visitor will move on.

If a gallery is concerned about an artist having an email address of his or her own, there is an easy solution. The person who sends the email gets an automatic reply saying their message has been received. The same email message can be forwarded to both the artist and the gallery, and together they can decide how the email could be answered.

9) Make your website easy to navigate. Make sure that it is easy for a visitor to find his or her way around your website. If a Web visitor finds it the least bit frustrating, they will leave.

© Mary Baker 2005

Mary Baker is a contemporary realist painter, whose studio is in Newburyport, Massachusetts. This New England city, north of Boston, has been the inspiration for the artist's realistic oil paintings. Mary Baker is a professional artist and has shown in New York art galleries.

You can visit Mary at her website, Mary Baker Art, at http://www.marybakerart.com, see her beautiful paintings and read her articles on a variety of subjects including, Art, Artists and Vocation, Creativity, Tips on Breaking the Creative Block , Why Buy Original Art and the four part series on Art, Artists and the Web.

A list of articles can be found on her Site Map and Mary's paintings can be seen on every page of Mary Baker Art.

---

Having a Portfolio on the Internet Can Help you Infiltate the Workforce

If you're an up and coming graphic/web designer just out... Read More

Effective Webdesign

D.zigns dzignerwebs The Basics Before starting on... Read More

Make Your Web Site User-Friendly!

Making a web site is easy. Making a good web... Read More

4 Steps to Selling More With Your Web Site

Most web sites are more like stage sets than real... Read More

35% Revenue Increase? from Your Website!

2 Golden Rules for an Engaging Website35% of visitors fail... Read More

Website Sales: 10 Reasons Why People Dont Buy From You

You've put up a website to promote a product or... Read More

HTML Editors 101 - Smaller Is Better

SiteSpinnerSiteSpinner is a user-friendly web site development tool that includes... Read More

Email Addresses in Web Pages

You want to give your site's visitors a way to... Read More

What Your Customers Say About YOUR Site! Part 1

The following is a list of patterns that many visitors... Read More

New Years Resolutions: Is Improving Your Website One of Them?

With the New Year upon us yet again, it's time... Read More

Web Sites ? Should I Learn or not?

A common dilemma most small and medium businesses face when... Read More

Website Value - Whats Your Business Website Worth?

If you were asked to put a value on your... Read More

The 2 Most Common Web Site Mistakes

When we review the sites of potential clients, there are... Read More

Web Development Processes and Technical Environments

The process of Web application development is critical to the... Read More

User Interface Design: Key to Achieve Best Web Development

From early days of www, the Internet sites that are... Read More

The Most Important Aspect of Writing Web Copy

There is an ongoing debate about web copy. Some say... Read More

The Number One Reason Most Websites Fail

Failure, just like success, is measured differently by each and... Read More

Five Question-Five Minute Web Makeover Quiz

If you haven't made the sales and built your clients... Read More

Maximizing ROI via Web Site Traffic Analysis

We are clearly well past the innocent "golden age" of... Read More

How To Evaluate Your Web Sites Performance

Setting up a website is the very first step of... Read More

10 Things You Should Be Monitoring On Your Website

Every business needs to know how it is doing. That's... Read More

For Newer Sites, Web Marketing Depends On Titles & Links!

We all start out the same. Some have budgets, some... Read More

My Yahoo Search - Beyond Bookmarks

Yahoo has long offered email, an online calendar, notes, bookmarks,... Read More

Having a Domain Name And Web Site Gives Your Business The Key To The Door

Just like all things in life, the ways to run... Read More

How to Make Your Own Website For Free

If you like the Internet and surfing through the billions... Read More

Free Webmaster Tools - 7 Things Every Webmaster Needs in Their Toolbox

Webmaster tools are vital to becoming both efficient and effective... Read More

Why Should Your Business Go O.N.L.I.N.E.

Optimize your time. How much time each day must you... Read More

The Top Ten Benefits of Having a Web Site

Do you need a web site? Are you considering getting... Read More

Creating Compelling Content , Write It and They Will Come

In a previous ezinearticles.com article,"I Need real visitors, Not Search... Read More

How to Get Your Website In Front of Thousands of Customers At No Cost To You!

Dan Kennedy once said that if you can't make money... Read More

Abandonment - Why Visitors Don?t Turn Into Customers

Every good Internet business understands the value of conversions versus... Read More

Free Isnt Always Good - 5 Reasons Why You Need Your Own Website

Often time I've browsed sites and seen the same thing... Read More

Web Accessibility: The Basics

What is web accessibility & why is it important?Web accessibility... Read More