As an artist, your website is the perfect platform to showcase your work and connect with potential clients. Your website is more than just an online gallery; it’s an extension of your brand. It’s a tool to spread the word about your art and grow your audience, right? 

Unfortunately, many visual artists make mistakes that can prevent them from reaching their full potential online. In this blog post, we’ll look at 7 big mistakes visual artists make when building a website, and how to avoid them.

1. Move Forward Without Clarity

When building a website, it’s important to outline your goals and objectives beforehand. Consider what you want to achieve with your website. Do you want to sell your artwork, attract potential clients or showcase your accomplishments? By having a clear purpose, you’ll be able to create a website that resonates with your target audience.

Before getting started, ask yourself - why do I want this website?
Is it to display my work and attract attention or is selling your art online?

Make sure your ambition isn't ending too soon: keep asking 'why' until everything makes sense!

2. Failing To Let Your Work Shine

As an artist, you know the power of visual appeal. Your website should reflect your brand and aesthetic. Strive for a clean, sophisticated and professional design. Use high-quality visuals and images that showcase your work in the best light.

If you’re not tech-savvy, you may find it challenging to design and maintain a website. Don’t let this discourage you from having an online presence. There are plenty of easy-to-use website builders that don’t require any coding skills.

Alternatively, you can hire a professional to create a website that meets your needs.

3. Not Telling Google You Have A Website

Having a website won’t do much good if no one knows it exists. Enhance your visibility by optimizing your website for search engines. Start by doing keyword research on the terms your target audience is using to search for services or artwork. Incorporate these keywords into your website’s content, headings, and meta descriptions.

Engage in SEO practices such as link building and guest posting to improve your search engine ranking.

4. Forget To Name Your Images

Many artists’ websites contain little or no text.
We all know that art is a visual medium,  but each image page on your site should include text relating to that art.

Search engines need text to understand the context of your website. Unless you give them words, every image on your page is just a useless black hole and Google won’t be able to rank your website. 

Therefore, when the images on your website have no text, the main reason for your website - for people to see your art - is lost right from the start. 

So, make sure every image on your website includes basic information about that art (titles, sizes, mediums, prize etc) at the bare minimum. 

5. Not Keeping Your Site Fresh Like Hot Rolls

Once you’ve built your website, you need to keep it updated and relevant. One of the best ways to do this is by creating fresh and interesting content on a regular basis. Share your artistic processes and inspirations, showcase your latest works and share news and events related to your work. By having a blog or news section, you keep your visitors engaged and ultimately, attract and retain potential clients.

6. Ignoring Your Data

When it comes to building your artist website, it's important to remember one crucial step - measuring its performance. Many visual artists make the mistake of ignoring analytics data, which can ultimately hinder their website's ability to attract and retain visitors.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to help track user behaviour, such as Google Analytics or Hotjar.
By leveraging these tools, artists can gain invaluable insights into their website traffic and make more informed decisions about the content, design, and functionality of their website to ensure that they are driving the engagement they desire.

7. Not Thinking About Your Ideal Customer

When designing your website, ask yourself:

• Who is buying my artwork now?

• And who could be interested in it down the line?

Consider the demographics and why they purchase from you. Think about how to make sure that their experience using your site fits with what's important for them – a tailored design just right for them!

Conclusion

A website is a crucial tool for artists to showcase their work, reach new audiences, and engage with potential clients. However, building a website can be challenging, and it’s easy to make mistakes that can be detrimental to your online presence.

By avoiding the five big mistakes mentioned in this blog post, you can create a professional and engaging website that reflects your brand and resonates with your target audience.

Google will reward you for it and your website visitors will love you for it 😊.

Higher ranking in Google ➩ More people on your website ➩ Greater chances of ultimately advancing in your career with opportunities such as:

⭐ Receiving invitations to participate in shows

⭐ Getting gallery representation

⭐ Making sales

⭐ Getting commissions

⭐ Being featured on blogs or art websites

⭐ And a lot more of the cool stuff

And if you’re looking for further guidance, consider joining our membership program, which offers website reviews and support to help you work smarter, not harder.