As an artist, having a website where you can showcase your work can help you in more ways than one. Establishing your position online means you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and potentially increase your profits by selling your work online. It’s a win-win!
Additionally, art is about more than just creating something aesthetically pleasing. It’s also about connecting with people — and if you have a great website, you can communicate with people throughout the world. Still not convinced? Let’s go into more detail about the four main reasons why you need a website to share your art:
It can be much cheaper than a “bricks and mortar” gallery
Let’s imagine that you’re not looking to sell your artwork. Perhaps you’d rather take commissions than sell existing pieces. Or maybe you dream of getting your artwork in a gallery — but that’s easier said than done. And while you can always create your own gallery, that’s very expensive in the real world.
Online, though, you can create a digital gallery that people all around the world can view. You can show off your old projects, talk about upcoming projects, and use it as a springboard to get more involved with social media. There’s even the option of creating a virtual-reality gallery through a service like Artsteps. So before you put money you can’t afford to lose into a public display, set up an online gallery to see how it fares.
It can help you sell your work
If you want to turn your artwork into a business venture, having a website is essential. Selling art in person was hard enough before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s since become immensely impractical: even in an area where people value art, it’s tough to get enough footfall to make renting a space worthwhile.
Conveniently, you don’t need to have any technical skills to run an online store. You can simply find a company that provides what’s known as managed hosting: in other words, it’ll build and maintain the architecture of your store, leaving you to do non-technical tasks like describing your artwork. Cloudways, for instance, offers 1-click site store creation using relevant templates to highlight elements such as photography.
It can help you share your artistic story
People love to know the stories and ideas behind artwork. Running your own website means you can provide greater insight to your audience so they can learn more about you as an artist. Adding an “About Me” page is a great way to share your story as an artist, but you can also go into more detail about specific art pieces and your process. What inspired you to create certain things? Why do you enjoy a specific style of art?
The more you can talk about your artistry, the more people will want to support you. If you allow yourself to be vulnerable, you can even win over those who were initially doubtful of your motivations and level of creativity — and no one will support you more strongly than someone who were initially dismissive of you.
It can strengthen your brand
While there’s always space for new and upcoming artists, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd — particularly in the online age. If the quality is there, building your own website can help you level the playing field, positioning you to establish your personal brand as a real contender within your chosen art niche.
Remember to play to your strengths, though. Don’t shy away from the things that make your art worthy of people’s time and investment. The more you can focus on what makes you different, the more of an impact you’ll have — and that even extends to the design of your website. Be playful and fearless.
Anyone who runs their own business or wants to make money from a hobby needs a professional website, so whether you’re a seasoned artist or just a beginner, you should start working on an online presence today. What do you have to lose?
Rodney Laws is an ecommerce expert with over a decade of experience in building online businesses. Check out his reviews on EcommercePlatforms.io and you’ll find practical tips that you can use to build the best online store for your business. Connect with him on Twitter @EcomPlatformsio.
You can also read 4 Strategies For Artists to Build Awareness & Interest Online by Rodney on our subsidiary website the Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery.
