Routinely I must visit hundreds of artists’ websites each week while judging/curating an exhibition, considering accepting a new client, or giving a consultation. My initial reactions range from “WOW” — what a joy to view this wonderful website — to “OW” this hurts me to see that the artist is harming themselves and their art career. As you read this article please take an honest look at your art website and consider this question: Is your art website hurting your visitors and also your art career? Afterwards, you may want to make a few quick and simple changes.
Does Your Art Website Have the “Wow” or “Ow” Factor?
The “Wow” Factor
Your website has a welcoming, large, and powerful home page image or maybe an attractive slide show. It is immediately clear to understand who you are as an artist and the kind of art you create. Your vision comes across without any confusion or distractions.
The art website is easy to navigate, is uncluttered and is quick loading. The overall feeling of the site is professional as you move from page to page. It displays top navigation links with easy to find your portfolios, artist’s biography and artist’s statement. Visiting your website is a pleasant experience and I want to stay longer and also revisit.
The “Ow” Factor
This first point hurts and is easily avoidable. Before I even step inside your website, if I see that the website has not been converted from HTTP to HTTPS, this tells me that you don’t care about website visitors security concerns nor do you take security seriously. Ask your website hosting company about this simple update and get it done.
Your website may receive tons of interested art buyers but they are experiencing pain from visiting your art website. It hurts to look at if it has a poorly designed home page, the thumbnail images are too small to capture their interest, and the text you supply is extremely difficult to read or comprehend. The overall design may be very busy and disorganized.
You may expect us to embark on a scavenger’s hunt to find important information. There should be easy to find links on each page.
You may not do this intentionally, but if you write a long, detailed artist’s biography that includes every misfortunate obstacle in your life, we feel awful. It’s not the kind of enthusiasm we ought to have about buying your art.
Or, if your artist’s statement is incoherent and self-gratifying but doesn’t offer any value to the potential art buyer, that is painful for everyone.
The art website may also assault your visitor with a sign up/contact pop up before they’ve had a chance to become acquainted and decide if they want to sign up. (That action is almost like asking someone to marry you on the first date.)
I detest pop ups on artists’ websites. Most art marketing experts and potential art buyers I respect agree that they are annoying and distracting. If you must have pop ups, at least time them properly and give us a chance to explore first before we commit.
Another “Ow!” factor may be that we are confronted by “buy” buttons every place we look. They seem to visually dominate the rest of the visual content. Some of these buy buttons scream, “I’m desperate to sell my art!”
Whenever I visit an artist’s website and I see these assaults, I say no thanks, and run to another artist’s website. It’s too painful!
There is so much more that I’ve written another article about all the mistakes artists make. Please read “Does Your Art Website Pass This Test?”
No Excuses For Not Having Good Design and Function
When I built my first website in 2000 I had to learn html coding and it was costly and took forever to design and maintain. Today, that is no longer necessary with the easy to use platforms. There are many to choose from and the best websites I’ve seen have been created using Squarespace and WordPress.
I use WordPress.org for all of my websites and two of them have online galleries. Many marketing experts also recommend using WordPress for a range of businesses, not just bloggers. It is an SEO-friendly website platform with thousands of themes to choose from ranging from $40. Many of those themes are perfectly suited for art websites and have many compatible plugins to choose from after you get started. You will also find many helpful, step-by-step tutorials about designing your WordPress website.
Important! Make sure you use WordPress.org and not WordPress.com as there is a huge difference between them.
Evaluate Your Website’s Health Condition
Having a professional online presence as an artist requires having a carefully designed art website. Take an honest evaluation. You may only need a few adjustments or you may want to consider an entirely new website. To get some ideas before you take the plunge, you’ll find many helpful tips in this article “How to Get Started With Your New Art Website”
Take time to place yourself in the positive of the visitor and potential art buyer. What is the experience you are offering to them?
If your website is not helping you, it is hurting you and your visitors.
Thanks for these interesting insights. I don’t know if my sites are wow or ow but I have a lot of fun managing and updating them with the spirit of creation. I am unable to conform to a standard because it would not completely represent my freedom which sometimes I accept that it is not popular at all. Thanks so much
Dear Allesandra, Thank you for your comment and sharing a link to your website which has a “Wow” galleria page. Your art is visual exciting and reflects your freedom of expression. I agree, don’t conform to the norm! All the best, Renee