Why You Need an Art Website
I was talking to an accomplished artist friend of mine who is thinking about rebranding her outdated website. She asked her tech wizard 20 something son what he thought she should do and he said, “just use instagram! You don't need a website.” Usually the 20 somethings are 100% right about tech things, but in this case, the suggestion was 100% wrong. So today, I want to talk about 4 reasons why you need an art website if you're serious about developing your art brand and your collector base.
I want to talk about your digital footprint.
Unlike social media, Your website is your corner of the internet. It is the one thing you can control--the design, the content, the links, the artist brand you are trying to convey. Social media is an incredible tool, but it's just a start. You can’t control a LOT of what happens on social, but you can control your website.
Here are 4 reasons why you need an art website
Reason number 1: It’s legitimatizing
It shows you’re serious. If someone is considering buying valuable art from you, they will feel a lot better about your bonafides if you have a website.
By the way, if you ARE serious about growing your art biz, you might struggle with pricing! That’s why I created a free guide “Pricing Your Art Made Easy”. Get it here!
Reason number 2: Social media sites are not stable and do not replace the need for a website
From Instagram for instance, you don't own your followers; instagram does. The algorthim changes and your people don't see your stuff. Funny story about that, I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen for a few years. She follows me on most social channels. In the course of the conversation, she said, So are you still making art? Uhhhhh, yup. Been posting an art video every day for entire duration since I'd seen you last. And she just never saw it. Instagram and facebook didn't show it to her. Moral of the story,I can 't control what happens on social. I do my part, but I don't know if or when anyone is ever going to see it. Now, I can't force anyone to visit my website. But, moving on to….
Reason number 3, why you should have a website is this: you can collect email addresses from your website.
And that is key. If I had my friend's email address, she would have gotten an email a month from me and even if she didn't open said emails, she would have been reminded by my name popping up that yes, I am an artist and I still am making art. An email list is the only reliable way to access your people, short of stopping by their house, and my email list is the most important tool I have.
Reasons number 4: Use your website to sell your art
Even if you’re not ready to sell your art this moment, having a commerce capable platform ready to go will help so much when you’re ready. The best news about designing an art website is that You don’t need to build the WHOLE website all at once. You can start with one page and an email form. You can add additional pages over time and add your shopping capabitlities when you're ready.
There you have it, 4 reasons why you need to have an art website. I use squarespace for mine, but there are many, many options that are quite affordable!
