Article: Marketing Your Art #6
Using the Internet to Your Advantage by SKC
As an artist, you will have to become visible in various venues and formats for example, newspaper articles, galleries, special events and of course online. Getting your work online and visible is not nearly as difficult as it once was. Not long ago, you would have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a custom website to be built. Add to that the cost of paying someone to update the site for you on a regular basis. Alternatively, if you had tried to take on the task yourself, you risked creating a messy broken site, with all kinds of issues with load time and functionality. Add to that the cost of buying the software required to build your site (or taking a class to learn how to hard-code).
Today there are so many great options out there for artists to take advantage of. Templates are becoming a very common and very usable option, making the step into website ownership a much simpler and more streamlined one. This gives any artist (photographer, painter, sculptor, etc.) the ability to have the appearance of a custom site dedicated to their craft. No more do artists have to learn HTML or software to maintain control of their websites, and no longer do they have to beg friends and family to help them get set up. In the past I heard plenty of horror stories of even paid designers who created websites and later abandoned the artist or took ages to update their pages.
Many art-related templates even include storefronts that allow artists to sell prints and originals fairly easily using a simple basic PayPal account. One template site that has been recommended to me by a number of photographers and artists is bludomain.com. They have a lovely selection of templates that are fully editable and carry a number of excellent features.
You can find alternative template sites by google searching for “editable flash templates” or “editable portfolio templates.” One such site is flash4layouts.com. Always compare features and pricing (long term after initial set up fees) before making your final decision.
A Note about Domain Names (Your Web Address)
Many artists will choose to use their full names. This is a great idea if it happens to be available. Using your name makes it easy for collectors, friends, or even gallery directors to remember your website address. If your full name is unusually long, or has been taken already, it is time to start thinking of some alternatives.
You can search for unused domain names by going to almost any web hosting website. Take godaddy.com for example. On their first page you’ll see a space to type in your desired domain name to see if it’s available.
Play around with different descriptors and creative ways to say the same thing. Pull out your dictionary and thesaurus.
Ideal Domain Names:
1. Are short and easy to remember
2. Don’t use hyphens (this-name.com)
3. Use the .com extension over .net, .biz, .org, etc.
4. Read well as one single word with no spaces
5. Don’t mimic the name of another well known site
6. Shouldn’t cost more than $9 per year. If the name isn’t immediately available, don’t back order it, move on to a different option.
Online resources:
• www.bludomain.com – fully editable flash templates, hosting, shopping cart, etc.
• www.flash4layouts.com – editable flash templates
• www.godaddy.com – inexpensive domain name registration, hosting, email, and very basic non-flash website templates.
Next week we’ll talk about alternatives/additions to portfolio websites.
As an artist, you will have to become visible in various venues and formats for example, newspaper articles, galleries, special events and of course online. Getting your work online and visible is not nearly as difficult as it once was. Not long ago, you would have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a custom website to be built. Add to that the cost of paying someone to update the site for you on a regular basis. Alternatively, if you had tried to take on the task yourself, you risked creating a messy broken site, with all kinds of issues with load time and functionality. Add to that the cost of buying the software required to build your site (or taking a class to learn how to hard-code).
Today there are so many great options out there for artists to take advantage of. Templates are becoming a very common and very usable option, making the step into website ownership a much simpler and more streamlined one. This gives any artist (photographer, painter, sculptor, etc.) the ability to have the appearance of a custom site dedicated to their craft. No more do artists have to learn HTML or software to maintain control of their websites, and no longer do they have to beg friends and family to help them get set up. In the past I heard plenty of horror stories of even paid designers who created websites and later abandoned the artist or took ages to update their pages.
Many art-related templates even include storefronts that allow artists to sell prints and originals fairly easily using a simple basic PayPal account. One template site that has been recommended to me by a number of photographers and artists is bludomain.com. They have a lovely selection of templates that are fully editable and carry a number of excellent features.
You can find alternative template sites by google searching for “editable flash templates” or “editable portfolio templates.” One such site is flash4layouts.com. Always compare features and pricing (long term after initial set up fees) before making your final decision.
A Note about Domain Names (Your Web Address)
Many artists will choose to use their full names. This is a great idea if it happens to be available. Using your name makes it easy for collectors, friends, or even gallery directors to remember your website address. If your full name is unusually long, or has been taken already, it is time to start thinking of some alternatives.
You can search for unused domain names by going to almost any web hosting website. Take godaddy.com for example. On their first page you’ll see a space to type in your desired domain name to see if it’s available.
Play around with different descriptors and creative ways to say the same thing. Pull out your dictionary and thesaurus.
Ideal Domain Names:
1. Are short and easy to remember
2. Don’t use hyphens (this-name.com)
3. Use the .com extension over .net, .biz, .org, etc.
4. Read well as one single word with no spaces
5. Don’t mimic the name of another well known site
6. Shouldn’t cost more than $9 per year. If the name isn’t immediately available, don’t back order it, move on to a different option.
Online resources:
• www.bludomain.com – fully editable flash templates, hosting, shopping cart, etc.
• www.flash4layouts.com – editable flash templates
• www.godaddy.com – inexpensive domain name registration, hosting, email, and very basic non-flash website templates.
Next week we’ll talk about alternatives/additions to portfolio websites.
Labels: Art exhibits, artists, marketing
posted by Lou Belcher at
4:14 AM
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