The Importance of Having A Good Art Website
Your art website doesn’t just exist to have pictures of your art and your email address at the bottom of the page.
Your website exists so that you can captivate and engage anyone who is even a little bit interested in your art. The desired outcome is to turn as many visitors as possible into buyers, collectors, collaborators, representatives and fans.
After reading this blog, you’ll want to go back to your website (if you have one already) and make tweaks that can guarantee your website is performing at its best. And if you don’t have a website yet, this blog will provide you with the three foundational elements of a well-made online garden for your art.
✓ PRETTY✓ POLISHED✓ WELL-STRUCTUREDAPPEARANCE
MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY
The artwork you share on your Instagram may already look beautiful and it may be enough to compel people to work with you or reach out and buy an artwork from you. BUT, MANY people will want to visit your website (the old school way) in order to get to know you a bit better, and experience your artwork in a simpler format.
Spending time on the appearance of your website means:
thinking about the fonts and colours
thinking about design elements that will engage visitors
thinking about how you organise and position elements on the page
thinking about how you present your artwork
Not paying attention to the appearance of your art website has a cost when your text looks uninteresting and not worth reading, when images of your artwork are random and ununiform, and when elements are disorderly, overcrowded and overlapping (this happens). In these instances, visitors become disengaged, and what’s worse is that they may fail to appreciate and see the value of your art.
Why make your art website LOOK good?
A good-looking, well-presented website, second to your art itself, makes a strong impression on visitors. It makes you look professional, and it gives the impression that you put care, time and attention into every detail of your business, which to visitors will be an indicator of the service you provide in later stages of their engagement and collaboration with you. These signals boost people’s trust in you and help strengthen a positive perception of both you and your art. Let people know that you are a true creative!
PROFESSIONALISM
AN ART WEBSITE AS POLISHED AS ANY OTHER GREAT WEBSITE
Having a polished art website means having a website that works like any other good website. Just because you are pouring more time, dedication and effort into your master pieces, it doesn’t mean your website needs should be an afterthought. Your website is an integral aspect of your art business. Just like any other business, you feel more compelled to buy into them and what they have to offer when their website appears trustworthy, informative and professional.
Having a polished art website means:
including all standard website pages (a privacy policy page, terms and conditions, shipping policy page, etc.)
having error-free content (no spelling errors, correct grammar, no broken links)
having fast loading speeds
complete website pages with enough text to guide the visitors’ actions
An unpolished, unrefined website can make you look unprofessional. Coming across as reputable and reliable by taking note of the above will again reinforce trust and will help you initiate a strong bridge between you and the people you want to work with.
Why make your art website POLISHED?
This is important when it comes to visitors who want to buy - it is important they feel comfortable and confident when it comes to making a purchase. And appearing professional to potential collaborators will demonstrate your high standards when it comes to service and collaboration.
ORGANISATION
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE WELL-STRUCTURED
It’s vital that your visitors can get around your website without any hitches. Being intentional about how you structure your website - in a way that appropriately accommodates the artwork and the information you have to share - makes a difference to how people interact with your website.
Being intentional about the structure of your website means:
thinking about how you structure your main menu/navigation bar
thinking about how you organise your gallery and collections
thinking about the layout you create for your collections
thinking about including important information in clear and visible areas on your website
making calls to action visible and easy to follow
using colours, layouts, and different font formats to enhance the readability and flow of your site
Not paying attention to the structure of your website can result in a website that it is difficult to navigate. If visitors find it hard to find what they are looking for on your site, they might be more likely to leave your site out of impatience and this is the last thing we want.
Why make your art website WELL-STRUCTURED?
Making a well-structured site is the simplest and most basic way to boost conversion on your art website (that means making visitors do what you want them to do). The most important thing you want to do is make information easy to find, display artwork clearly using clean, uniform images and make your website feel clear rather than cluttered.
Now you have a firm understanding of the three crucial elements that go into making a good art website.
ACTION STEPS:
Your next steps are to review your website and see where you could make improvements so your website can stand tall amongst other great websites on the internet and, more importantly, do justice to the artwork you want to share with the world.