I didn’t start out online as an artist, way back when I just coded and designed websites (yes for fun, I’m odd, lets move on).  While I’ve always been an artist, my normal work doesn’t translate well into the digital medium.  Granted, that just means that I was too cheap to buy a scanner and Photoshop at the time.

Either way, I’ve learned a lot during that time that may be relatively helpful for those who are planning to start (or presently run) a website for selling and showcasing your artwork. 

Artist’s websites don’t have to worry about a lot of the same things that other websites do, but some people take this to other extremes and don’t bother with it at all.

Say you have the most incredible painted doilies ever, you decide to sell these amazing things online.  Naturally, you set up your own amazing website and wait for the cash to flow in.  You are sure to include all the most advanced and awesome flash ever, it looks amazing. 

You sit back and wait, and then..

Nada, nothing.  Or worse, the statistics show that people visit, and leave asap.

Welcome my friend to search engine hell, you have some work to do. Sure, I’ll admit that just fixing some of the options below (or, all of them) isn’t going to take the place of marketing or promotion and the above is rather dramatic, but there are a few common issues that are done quite a bit.

Here’s just a simple tutorial on how to fix them, and why you should.

Not all of the below is going to apply to everyone, so use your own judgment on them.

Minimalism Is Your Friend

Don’t go overboard with all your work on one page.  Spread thing out in a clean and pleasing way.  While you may not be a website designer (doilies, remember), your potential clients won’t expect anything less than professional looking.

Spread things out in a way that may make sense, be it a theme, a series, or by date created.   Too much going on in a small space will detract from your work.  This will also reduce the load time on your website making it a lot friendlier.

Separation

Separate areas for different types of work can help create a much cleaner overall look.  Keep it simple, and have separate areas for writing, your present showings, art, portfolio, etc.  This will also help people find what they are looking for easily.

Don’t overdo the flash (Kill the auto play, please?)

This one is a personal issue of mine, browsing the web at night my kid sleeping finally nicely- I click a link- loud music.  The first thing I do?  Close it quick.

Unless you are a musician, then you know- at least provide a way to quiet it.

Otherwise having music auto playing on your website is a good way to turn off a searcher quick.  Sure, you think your favorite band is completely awesome but – not everyone else does.

Don’t Abuse The Navigation Privileges

Art websites generally get a relatively free pass for having mystery meat navigation.  Hey, artists are eccentric normally in the website arena- and many normally have pieces of their work as their navigational links as well. 

This is fine, and relatively expected. 

Just be sure to labels things with alt tags so the public can figure it out too.  When someone has to click a ton of different images to find what they want it stops being ‘quirky’ and just becomes annoying.

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