It’s the darndest thing about having a website: people aren’t going to visit just because you build it.
Creating a website is just the first step. Now you have to attract people to it, and driving traffic to your site is an ongoing task.
Add some of these ideas to your marketing mix for more eyes on your art.
Best, Basic Practices
1. Write a newsletter article with a hook, which requires recipients to visit your site to read the end of the article.
2. In your emails and social media posts, tell people why they should click. What’s in it for them? Why should they interrupt their focus and visit your site?
3. Give something away to people who visit your site and sign up for your list.
4. Mention your website address on your voicemail.
5. Add your website address to the back or underside of your art! If an attached piece of paper disappears, the website will still be with the piece. (If you work through galleries, run this by them first.)
6. Blog regularly. People are more likely to return if they know there is going to be fresh content.
Social Media Strategies
7. Ask a few bloggers you admire if you could write a guest post for them. Include the link to your website in your byline.
8. Make sure your website link is visible to the public on your personal and business profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. I’m surprised at how many artists don’t do this. (See more about this under One Final Lesson at the bottom of this blog post.)
9. If you have a business page on Facebook, see that it is your employer on your personal profile. It’s easy to do. Click on “Edit Profile” and then “Add a workplace.” Start typing in the name of your business page and save.
10. Change your website URL frequently on Instagram. Feature links to different pages or artworks in the bio area that is hyperlink-able on the platform.
11. Become an active member of a Facebook or LinkedIn group for your niche market. The more you comment and post, the more people will be able to connect with you and be exposed to your site.
12. When you pin your art to Pinterest, pin it directly from your site so that your URL shows up with the pin. If you upload images to Pinterest, type your URL into the image description.
13. Leave thoughtful comments on blogs with an avatar that is an image of your art with a link back to your site if you can. Get your universal avatar for all WordPress blogs. (See Final Lesson at the end.)
Stop Sending People to Your Home Page
Can we agree that almost every other page on your site is more interesting than your home page? If so, then why do you keep encouraging people to land on your home page? Instead …
14. Switch out the URL in your signature block to point to a specific page or piece of art on your site. For example: My new body of work celebrates working women → http://…
15. Send tweets that entice followers to explore the interior pages of your site and blog posts.
16. Use QR Codes on exhibition labels that lead art viewers directly to a page on your site or blog with a description of the piece they’re looking at.
Crazier Things Have Been Done
Let’s face it, the best way to get people to your site is with some kind of online communication because it’s easier for people to click than to remember to type in a URL in their browser.
Still, you might consider ordering custom items with your website address printed on them, such as:
17. Bumper stickers
18. Tire covers
19. T-shirts
20. Baseball caps
One Final Lesson
The artists featured on this post (with the images linked to their sites) appear here because they left a comment on my blog or Facebook page, and I could find their websites quickly.
When I first started including artists’ work in my posts, it took me at least an hour to find images to feature when it should have taken about 15 minutes. I would spend time clicking on artists’ names from my Facebook page that led nowhere.
I wasn’t “friends” with them, so I couldn’t see their site (if they had it posted). Also, my policy of “no watermarks” limited my choices.
If those artists had commented as a business page while on the Art Biz Success page on Facebook, it would have made it easier because I would have known that I could access their information.
Since then, I have come to only use art from artists who comment on my blog and leave a website link. I don’t think I’m alone in not having time to fish around for contact and website information. There’s always other art to look at.
Make it easy for people to find you and your work so that you don’t miss out on opportunities to share.
How do you get traffic to your site?
161 thoughts on “20 Ways to Lure People to Your Website”
As I was reading this article I was thinking about adding watermarks to more of my images, especially in my Etsy store. Than I saw the “no watermarks” rule statement and wondered when you think they are appropriate (if ever).
Lori: It’s just a policy that I have. There’s no sense my featuring art if people can’t see the work under a giant watermark across the image.
On the other hand, I don’t mind them at all at the bottom or on the side.
I’ll respond to Carl’s comment below – related.
Great post Alyson. Having had some of my best images stolen and having served several takedown notices, a photographer friend gave me a great suggestion of hidden watermarks. I do usually do at least 1mb images or they seem to look grainy. I usually hide my name within the image nowadays. Also, I have an idea for you. I met a local artist who just had a solo museum exhibit. He puts his thumbprint in his work. However, it didn’t work for me due to the way I paint.
Lori, that kind of depends. Allyson might not want to put up your images because of watermarks, but are watermarks helpful? Depends, do you worry about your artwork being copied by others & you not get any pay? Have heard of other artists having their art ripped off by artists of other countries & reproduced. On the other hand is this a real concern?
If you want a workaround for this, try using a photo program & instead of using 72 dpi as the standard for your photos run the dpi down to 5 or 10. That way when someone trys to steal your work & blow it up, it becomes pixellated very quickly. This also makes the photo KB’s smaller so the webpage comes up more quickly (I know poor English). A plus for folks still on dial-up (yes some people are still on dial up).
Using smaller dpi can help prevent fraud & also allow you to not use those annoying watermarks. Besides, the folks who will steal your work will do it regardless of what you do. Saw an instance where a blogger wanted a picture of a “C” level celebrity couple. The blogger had to resort to stealing a color photo with the photographers’ name run in white, diagonally across the photo, about 25 lines worth. Was real attractive.
Alternatively, Allyson could drop you an email to get the image. Might not work for Allysons’ time alotted for that task, but it is your image.
Carl: Yep, I could email people, but I don’t have time to wait and guess which people will email me back. So I find the image and then ask permission.
Since I’m a potter I have less worry about someone stealing my artwork from an image. My thought was a small watermark in the bottom corner of a picture. My thoughts are that if someone pins my image on pinterest, or uses it on their blog that my name will be seen.
Thanks for the very detailed and well thought out answer, I appreciate it.
Carl… I will experiment with the lower dpi… seems like a good tactic… does it hinder the quality of the image as seen on our website? I guess I will find out when I try it.
Hi Mary,
Websites are at 72 dpi. But printing is usually closer to 150 to not appear bad, and 300 for good quality. If you have an image that is 72 dpi and 2 inches across if someone tries to print it, they will need to print about 1″ x 1″. In general it is also great to have images at 72 dpi on a website because they load faster! Win-win!
Ditto that!
Great article Alyson, and timely as I just got my website up and running last week. Could you clarify your last statement a little, I’m afraid I don’t understand what it means to “access their information”. Also, I was going over my ABLO notes about setting up a fb page and I can’t remember why you reccomend making a business page vs an artist’s page. Thanks again for the post!
Sally: Business pages are public and, hopefully, lead to a website. If I’m not friends with someone, I usually can’t see their info.
Does that make sense.
I’m experimenting with a new incentive for art lovers to subscribe to my list – a downloadable PDF portfolio of paintings. I just implemented it. I’ll let you know how it goes. http://bmc.me/art/portfolio-promo/
Interesting. Yes, do let us know, Brennen!
Brennen… your PDF is beautiful and seems like a brilliant solution to the freebie. I would love to hear how this works for you.
Brennen, that sounds a fantastic idea. Your PDF portfolio looks an enticing gift. I have been trying to build up my subscribers list by adding Hello Bar(http://old.hellobar.com/) with coupon offer on my website but I have not seen much growth yet, and I have started to thinking of freebie ideas recently. I am looking forward to hearing your update on the experiment!
I wouldn’t classify this as a surprising way to lure people to your website, but how do you lure people to your website who have never heard of you? By optimizing your art images with alt tags. People search not only for text based info, but images and especially so for art.
Describe the image, not the title of your painting. An alt tag of “Nature’s Interlude” won’t do you any good. No one will search for that. Be more descriptive.
Here’s an example of some results in a Google image search and the returns I got for images associated with my website.
realistic bluebonnet painting
23 images first 24 rows with 8 being in first two rows
realistic bluebonnet oil painting
20 images in the first 10 rows with the first row showing all of my work
realistic landscape oil painting texas
24 images in first 9 rows
realistic oak tree oil painting
10 images first 17 rows
By having my images this way resulted in acquiring a $7500 commission for a 36×42 oil painting that featured bluebonnets and Indian paint brush. My new client who had never seen my work before found my work by using similar search words. The quality of your work can be a lure, but not if you don’t have a descriptive alt tag for your images. They won’t show up in the results. It’s like a fisherman throwing out a line with no bait on the hook.
William: Absolutely ! Great reminder and thanks for sharing your results.
William… thank you for the alt tag advice and showing us the results. I will put that into immediate use.
Thanks, William — I actually never thought of this, so really appreciate it.
Mary and Julia, glad the alt tag advice will help. It’s also similar to using a more descriptive title for each page of your website. It’s what you end up seeing in your browser’s tab. For example on your available works page Julia your title tag simply says Available Works. Maybe consider changing it to fabric and mixed media collages. As another example on my website I have a few giclee prints. The title for that page is: Giclee Prints on Canvas | Landscape Painting Reproductions. I Googled the phrase “giclee landscape painting” and that page showed up on the third page. If it was simply giclee prints it’s too broad a term and likely wouldn’t have been found in the results. It’s the same principle as the alt tag for images, but this is for people doing a web search and hopefully a page within your site will show in the results if it has a good descriptive title. A web page title of “abstract landscape giclee prints” is better than just “prints.”
Never thought about the alt tags this way, William. Makes so much sense! Now I want to update mine. I do that in the image editing screen on my web site, yes? I use WordPress.
I believe you can update your Alt Tags in your WordPress site by going to your uploaded images in your media library, select the image and a screen should come up whereby you can update the image info. At least that’s how I can do it on my blog, which is also WordPress so I’m assuming it’s the same.
So much helpful and thought provoking information. Thank you ALYSON and thank you All.
William Hagerman – I have a wordpress site. Just now when I went to take you up on your suggestions, i see in Media library, in each image, ALT TEXT, to the Right Under Description…. nowhere do I see ALT TAG among my uploaded images. Is that the same place where one would add tags? great suggestion. Looking forward to your reply. Thank you.
Ula,
Yes, the Alt Text is where you would place the description. If you’re unfamiliar with what it stands for it’s Alternative Text. It was designed for accessibility for those who cannot view images. Therefore in place of an image on a web page they will see the alternative text which should describe the image. It also helps with SEO for providing a place to use relevant keywords. But you don’t want to abuse that by stuffing a bunch of keywords in it, which is a spammers practice and could get you penalized by Google. Again, the alt text is essentially designed for people who can’t see the image in their browser for whatever reason or for those who are blind and using a screen reader which is software used by the visually impaired to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer. The alternative text is read where the images would be.
thanks for the examples William very helpful; it’s no good telling me something I need showing – thanks again best ashar
William, FYI, I am getting a “404 page not available” message on your link/
The only thing I disagree with is the web address on the back of the painting. If you are selling through a gallery they will not be happy with this.
K: True. But if you do business on the up and up, a gallery would understand.
Still, many artists don’t have galleries and need to think of every marketing angle.
Personally I find this concern to be a bit of a non starter in this day of everyone googling everything. With respect, on one hand we use seo tactics to be found online, yet we somehow expect those who actually get a piece in their hands to not look us (the artist) up online? It doesn’t seem realistic to me for a gallery to think artists live in a offline bubble.
That being said, I realize it is also an argument for not being concerned if there is a website address on the back or not. So if a gallery ever said to me they prefer it not to be, I would have no problem obliging.
(Yes, I do put my web address on the back, have so done for many many years, and have not had a single gallery owner or curator remark on it. So found this convo interesting as it had never occured to me there could possibly be an issue with it.)
Greatly appreciate the informative article and comments!
Oh, and I would like to add, I once bought a piece from an artist at a festival and was SO disappointed her full name was not on the back. Only her initials were on the front. I really wanted to learn more about her, see more of her work, by looking her up online 🙂
(Which also puts a crimp in acquiring another piece.)
I love the suggestion of putting your website on the back of your artwork. I sign my name >LEGIBLY< on the back (sometimes the front), of originals and prints, and when I mat them, I add a sticker on the back that has my website and biz name…
And remember once you have got them there don’t let them out with links to other sites…unless they are yours!
And all those quick internal links from one area to another…have them open in a new window…that way they always stay on your site, that little bit longer.
You make references to your website wherever you can…perhaps visit & comment on the contributors here?
Your last suggestion is a good one, Phil. Hopefully people will take you up on that.
11. “Switch out the URL in your signature block to point to a specific page”
I just realized this the other day when I looked at my website stats and it dawned on me that people were going to the home page then leaving!!! So in the future I decided I was going to change things up a bit, just as you suggested…
Let me know how it works, Pia. As I say, the home page is usually the least interesting one on a site.
Just a suggestion, but my home page also features all my available art for sale. I have a plugin that pulls the images and prices from my shop.
My home page IS the least interesting page on my site!!!
I can’t believe it took you an hour to find those three images. Thanks for your dedication :), but we should all really make it easier for you!
Good for you, Michelle, for having an interesting home page.
I have to concurr with the blog comment angle. I recently left a comment (I think it was from one of your blog entries, Alyson) and got an online art magazine asking for my opinion on early career art marketing and what’s worked for me. They are now following me on Twitter and offered for me to be a guest blogger sometime. It works!
That’s awesome! Glad to hear it pays off sometimes 🙂
SWEET!
You give the best advice!! I had noticed that I get a lot of hits on my Home page but not as many on other pages…so I am going to redirect people right to my artwork page!!! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!! I have taken away so much great and practical advice from you…thanks SO much Alyson!!
Kathryn: That’s what I’m here for 🙂
Thanks Alyson for the always-great advice!
The Home Page… I made my homepage more interesting by including my art on it. It seems simpler to make the home page more interesting than send people to a different (and longer) url. Just my opinion, perhaps wrong? It seems my art website is constantly changing as I continue to learn and trends change.
Mary, you have a partial solution, but in general, you can use any length of a website address and not have it be “long”.
In an email signature, you can simply put “click here to learn more” and then link the address to that phrase. Just in the same way that you would link on a website.
It can come in quite handy if you are wanting to send people to a page dedicated to a specific bit of news; new work, new gallery, new…? If you are having an open studio, a page that was all about that event would be a welcoming and time saving way to get your message out.
The average attention span is plummeting. Sending anyone to a home page and making them hunt for the “meat” of your art could be costly in the long run.
OH… almost forgot: you can also shorten any URL by using free tools like https://bitly.com/ OR http://tinyurl.com/
This is especially important to know when you tweet!
Thank you McKenna! The extra length of urls was just swirling thru my mind!
Alyson… thanks for the tip on the Universal Gravatar. I just updated mine.
Good work, Mary!
Alyson, I just wanted to stop by and thank you for all the tireless work you do if providing us with such invaluable information. I never tire of reading your posts and always learn something new. I really love that you do it in easy, bite sized chunks so that it never becomes overwhelming either. Ruthie
You’re so sweet. Thank you for posting this, Ruthie. And for being here.
Alyson, thanks for all the great tips. I have a FB business page and I blog (http://www.janellmithani.com/blog) once a week, so I have had pretty good traffic to my websites, but it could be better. Also, the one place I am lacking lately is growing my newsletter list. (I have been concentrating on my blog followers.) Thanks for the free gift for signing up idea! Great idea! Thanks, Janell
Alyson, I’m with you on the watermarking. Thing is, stealers are going to steal. I think putting time into trying to stop them is counterproductive, mostly. If the same energy is put into finding new collectors, or developing compelling art, that will produce better results and less stress, too.
Yay! Happy you agree, Barney.
When do you change the dpi for pics, before shooting or
In a software program? New to posting and blogging.
If any one is interested, can you take a look at my blog and make any suggestions.
Thanks, Carol
Carol: In a software program.
I never put anything on the internet without a watermark.
Beth: You have a tasteful watermark that doesn’t cut across the image. Perfect.
Thank you so much Allison for featuring my painting but mostly for all the great marketing advice you give. I appreciate the easy ones, like changing my web link to a more interesting landing page. Brilliant and painless!
Hi Alyson, I have a question about putting the website on the back of our paintings. All these years, I’ve been writing my website on the back of my paintings, just after the title, medium and signature. No one has ever mentioned it being a problem for them. A few months ago, I sold two paintings to a new collector, who emailed me that doing that is not appreciated by art collectors. He made me feel like I had fouled all my paintings. So do you think he is out of line and I should just ignore? I think it’s good to do, because people could lose the cards but the website will always be there on the back. It’s safe and secure. He seemed to think it was crass. All the artists I know do it and they said ignore him. He indicated that he would be interested in future works.
Christina: I understand. It probably isn’t what he’s used to – especially if he’s been buying art at galleries.
Here’s the thing – something I’ve learned the hard way – you can change to accommodate the preferences of a single collector or you can do what you think is best for you for the long run.
I’m curious, though. What did you say in response?
I say ignore him.
Christina, you absolutely should continue that practice. It is in no way crass. I adhere a printed tag with my name, title of the piece, email address, and website address on the back of all my art. My intention by doing so is to make it as easy as possible for the owner of that piece to contact me in the future, should they desire. I think most collectors would understand that, especially if purchasing directly from us. As Alyson eluded to in the post above, we do ourselves a disservice as artists by not making it easy for people to find us. Putting our website addresses on the backs of our work is the least we can do.
Another question, how do you make a photo show in these comments?
http://gravatar.com
I think I figure out the photo avatar in the comments. I hope it worked.’
Interesting point about the home page being the least interesting one on a site…soooooo…..Surely another blog post topic? How to make your homepage zing!
P.S. I love you’re captcha questions Alyson but the devil in me was so tempted to pick ‘pilot’ today instead of ‘curator’ 😉
Cherry: Hmmm… zingy home pages?!
Thanks for playing my captcha game.
Great article, Alyson! Your advice on pointing to other parts of one’s website and NOT the home page is especially a gem! I’m going to start using that immediately. 😀
It goes without saying … and yet, here I am, Alyson! I know you have blogged a great deal about making sure there are sign-ups on people’s websites, but I saw the one comment here about the “hello bar” and I kind of winced.
Once we make it our goal to get people to our sites, it is imperative that they don’t leave without signing up to get our emails. A hello bar may not be enough.
While it was mentioned – give something away to get sign ups – I want to emphasize the rest of that action: put sign-ups (like Alyson did at the very top of her sidebar) in more than one place. And every once in a while, put one in a different and more prominent spot, like at the end of a blog post: “Like what you read here? Sign-up … etc….”
People who visit a site for the first time, might not see your one and only spot! Or they see it, but read the blog and then forget to return to the top of the page. Out of site – out of mind?
And as Alyson is always reinforcing: having them “voluntarily” receive your news in the future is powerful for growing your business.
Is it an imperative to get them to sign up to your news letters…and to hell with the rest of your website and your art?
I prefer to be happy knowing its about my art and me and not a lemming-like thrust just to get an email address.
Personally I find all those please sign-ups down the side to be an irritation. Respect the privacy of your viewers and let them contact you if they feel the urge. And if they do respond today with a personalised email.
You always have juicy tidbits to add, Mckenna. Thank you.
Thanks for all the great tips. I can see room for improvement on the way I title and list artwork.
So many great tips here. Thank you Alyson!
As a beginner blogger it is great to learn from others. I hope to get my site looking more interesting and am on the lookout for tips and ideas. Thanks
Fabulous post! Thanks, Alyson!
On the downside, man, I still have lots of work to do.
Tom: That’s actually an upside. How boring if you had done everything already. Anyway, it will change again next month. 🙂
Thank you for these pointers. I noticed you visited one of my pages – here’s another one 🙂
https://www.etsy.com/listing/153788101/ties-patchwork?ref=listing-shop-header-2
I plan to pick up your book this week as it keeps me focused.
I enjoy and am inspired by your writings. Writing for someone else’s blog sounds like fun – now to find one for this cryptic writer.
Thank you!
Hmmm. I don’t recall visiting. Was it your Etsy shop? These pieces don’t look familiar.
Thanks for being here, Kate.
Alyson… thanks for sharing, I get traffic to my blog by using wisestamp, join twitterchats, use stumbleupon for sharing and wenn i have got time for it, I send visual follow ups at Twitter
Hi Alyson,
Thanks for this. I am going to bookmark it and read it many times.
Such great information.
XOXOXOXOXO Barbara
Thanks once again Alyson, great advice as usual. I have tried to make my home pages on my blog http://www.asharart.me.uk and website http://www.asharart.co.uk as interesting as they permit; but will now send them to other pages.
I am dithering about getting one of those popup sign up plug-in for my blog, what are your views on them? I cannot decide! – best ashar
Ashar: We are all annoyed by pop-ups, and yet every study shows they work. It’s worth testing!
Yes they annoy me too, that’s why I haven’t yet gone for it – still on the fence I#m afraid – best ashar
Aha! Fear is no reason not to do it. In fact, it’s the perfect reason to go for it. You can always take it down.
yes very true may take another look at them this week – best ashar
There is some “middle ground” to consider: A “slide up” from the bottom only on certain pages – like your about page and your blog. Those two pages would be populated by people with deeper interest in “you” and would likely see that slide up as they get to the end of reading about you or your blog. This is a subtle nudge, but with a poignant placement.
Ashar, I like Mckenna’s suggestion of a slide up or maybe a fade-in top bar. Something that doesn’t totally interrupt the user’s experience.
I go a bit against the grain but, the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” makes me dislike popups greatly. I’ve often been immersed in a great blog posts only to have popups ruin the flow, make me lose my place, crash my mobile browser. I know proponents say that they work, but I’ve always felt that it’s also important to craft the experience you want for your customers (especially in art) and not solely be let by A/B testing and data (even though those are important). It has to be decided carefully because by simply continuing to add things that “work” can lead to a sort of race to the bottom where we are with many media sites today. We’ve all hit pages that take forever to load (due to excessive javascript), break a simple article into multiple pages, overload you with ads, start playing a video and stick a popup in your face. In isolation, every one of those techniques “works.” But as each thing is added the experience for the user gets a little worse and a little worse until it got so bad on many sites that Google had to introduce AMP just to make sites readable on mobile devices again.
As always, you have to think about your goals, the experience you want for your users, and if ready to try something new, test it.
Good luck,
Clint Watson
BoldBrush/FASO Founder & Art Fanatic
thanks Mckenna, that seems like a good compromise do you have a WP plugin you would recommend? – best ashar
I do not, Ashar. I am reworking my own site, so I will eventually know this information. Try googling it?
But I wanted to add another thought in regards to pop-ups and any sign-up boxes: make them creative!
If one is considering a pop-up or slide up, just be intriguing, enticing, and irresistible. Content people, like Alyson, have it easier – we just offer some information and people who land on our pages want that so it’s a easy carrot to dangle.
For artists, you need to consider the “value” that each name has to your future. It might be worth it to offer a free 5×7 (unmatted) open edition print of their choice or a set of 4 note cards or something else that is not too costly to you, but might mean a lot to your collector or future collector.
One artist I know has a monthly raffle and gives a more valuable prize: small original painting. She gains several dozen new subscribers each month. She has watched her sales grow as a result and her quarterly open studios are a big success. We designed her sign-up box (a pop-up by the way) as one of her paintings and to the right it says something like: “I am giving away art! Sign-up for my emails to be entered to win one of my paintings in the next drawing. Plus you will get updates on all my new work and so much more.” She also points out in smaller font: “You can always unsubscribe if you get tired of seeing my art in your inbox.” Her webmaster did the rest.
Creating a compelling reason for people to sign-up is very important.
opss… I just went back to the article and see that Alyson had (of course) already mentioned this concept. It’s been a while ago that I first read it, so pardon my introducing an idea already discussed!
Alyson,
I love your advice and am going to try it. I am using some of you advice. I am hoping to make more sales.
Alyson, My heart sank as I discovered that my images had been taken. The site advertised “download all you want” and there was a charge per work. I didn’t figure there was anything I could do. I need to do what you have recommended concerning to redirect homepage. I wish you could view my site sometime when you have an idle moment…:)and tell me what you think! I would like to be more consistent with blogging. I do keep a Journal maybe I can use information in the journal for a blog.
Just wanted you to know that your book IRBIStudio has been so helpful to me and supercharged my confidence in knowing what to do to move ahead with my dreams. After teaching visual art to high school students for 33 years, so much has happened with your tips from your book.(last 5 years) Artwork published this year in SPLASH 16: Creative Solutions, 5 Signatures, National Awards, selling work,TN Crossroads featured artist, etc.—THANK YOU…I mentor several artists and always tell them to get your book!
Tuva: Thank you for your kind words and referrals. I am so grateful you are here. And I’m sorry to hear your images were stolen. I don’t really understand how this happened (not clear on that) but you seem to have a good attitude going forward.
My paintings are all on my home page of my website so they are seen.
That sounds like a perfect solution, Ray.
Hello Alyson! Great article 🙂 I see a lot of visitors from my Facebook Business & Personal pages. When I have a new blog post, workshop scheduled or newsletter published, I put a link on my professional FB page. Then I share that post from my personal page. Sharing other people’s content (like Alyson’s and other artists) helps my page stay fresh looking… not just repetitively saying ‘look at my work.’
This holiday I decided to offer free downloads of my Christmas Card to new or current newsletter subscribers. So far I have had good responses!
Thanks Alyson. Really great information – I am hitting the social media this year with a true effort. I always forget to add my website on google, instagram etc. I will correct that right away. My website is still being worked on every day by me and will continue to evolve. My blog will start – hopefully – this week.
I love the information about lists. Just when you want to dump FB YOU find another way to make it work for us!
Much thanks
I have several websites, all of which need visitors, but for my rock climbers t-shirts(and other items) site, I have big magnetic sins which I have on my van door panels. It has a gorgeous image of Yosemite Valley, which is recognizable to most people, and gets climbers hot and bothered.
In short – they look at the image, and then the sign, and want to know what this is all about, this business that features Yosemite.
People DO stop. I have been lounging in the van(I am on a road trip half the year, and live out of the van)and hear them talk… They often mention my business name, and take note of the URL. Some take pictures. On occasion, a climber knows about me and tells their friend “Oh, that’s so and so…”
Terrie: Great idea! And since I am married to a climber and know many here in Colorado, what’s your climbers’ site?
You mentioned replying to a post on your Facebook page using our business account so you could find us. i use the Facebook App on my IPad and that ability does not seem to be available. If I go to Facebook from my browser, it does allow that. Just thought I would share.
And thank you for these valuable tips.
Regarding changing the dpi on images, I disagree with the advice given. The important control is not the dpi, it is the pixel dimensions of the image file. Decide on a maximum size you want the image to show. I suggest it being a small enough pixels wide by pixels tall so that you don’t need to worry about it being stolen off your page. That means you can skip the watermark. When you build the web page you can have it set to display smaller if you want, but it won’t get bigger. I suggest you also make your thumbnails this way rather than telling the page to display the full resolution version smaller.
One last bit of advice- Check how your page looks on a phone/tablet in addition to a computer screen. It might need some adjustment.
And- I always use every excuse to mention my URL, so take a look at http://www.RandyAsplund.com to see what I mean.
This is such a great post, Alyson. Everyone’s contribution is so valuable. Thanks for using my image last year. I see my website traffic stats and people still navigate to my site from that mixed media collage image on your blog post.
That’s great to hear, Kate.
Regarding watermarks, I paste a tiny copyright/web address notice on one edge of an image of a painting. I don’t want to stop people viewing my art because it has a huge amateurish watermark right across it. And I don’t mind people sharing my art around as it’s more exposure. But at the same time I want people to know whose work it is, so my small notice on an artwork image is a compromise solution that seems to work for me.
Sometimes I think I’ve covered all the points of marketing, that there’s nothing else I can try. Then along comes your email to give me an eye opener. One especially good pointer was number 11. I posted a video to a group in which I critiqued one of my paintings almost finished. What was good, wrong, how I planned to change it. The post got more likes and comments than any on my own page. Now I’ll go through your list one by one. Thanks https://Carolyn Hancock.com
Nice work, Carolyn.
Thanks for such helpful information. My freebie is a monthly downloadable “Fine Art Calendar”
Every month I blog it, and recently email newsletter as well since it is a different audience, and upload the link to Facebook. I don’t set up a full year ahead, because I do my best to only use recent art, but I can even use sold pieces. It have had comments of appreciation for not always “selling” on Fb, but also giving.
I have a new Instagram account, and need to learn that now! Thanks again!
https://sandrapearce.com/page/13530/2017-november
https://sandrapearce.com/workszoom/949392
Great post today, Alyson! Here’s an instagram tip which I heard about it recently and implemented… you can have multiple links and it is simple to update or change. Check out my feed and click on the bio to see how it works: https://www.instagram.com/helenhiebert/…
or the actual Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/helenhiebert
I’ve used many of those strategies for years 🙂 I’ve had a website since 2003 and I’ve been on social media since it became available here. Can’t say the traffic to my main art site is at the level I would like it to be so I’ll keep working at it
Well, Alyson, after all this time of “lurking” I am inspired to comment. As so many others have said, this article is timely for me also. Perhaps I will be able, with my new website, https://www.delbertbeckham.com/about, and blog, https://www.delbertbeckham.com/blog, be able to lure folks in as you have done me. Chuckle… db
https://www.facebook.com/delbertbeckhamsculpture/?ref=settings
Me again… After reading my own comment, I realized I offered nothing in return… I recently went from using IWeb to WIX, which I have found to be very friendly unlike some other similar sites, which shall remain nameless, that I tried. For a 20th Century Guy, that says a lot. I do have a couple of toes in the 21st. db
Delbert: I’m delighted you’ve been lurking and thank you for sharing your experience with WIX.
Allison – could you lend us your thoughts on using “tags” vs “categories” on web-sites ? I assist an artist friend with keeping her workshop calendar up-to-date on her website. We’ve always used categories but lately I got to thinking perhaps we should add tags to the classes listed in the workshop calendar as well. I would love to read your thoughts [and others on this board] about using one vs the other vs both. Thanks so much for your posts — always food for thought and things for the to-do list !
Hi, Chris. I am sooooo not an expert in this. But at one point I read that categories are for visitors and tags are for the backend – to help us organize behind the scene.
Many thanks for this blog post – lots to think about! Your very first point of writing a newsletter with a hook to get people to read the rest of the article on your website was a light bulb moment for me. I have been confused between newsletters and blogs. My website is http://www.thecollectorsartist.com
Yay! Happy this was helpful, Cally. (love your name)
Thanks for the informative post. Love to hear your feedback, since I can tell you’re guilty of clear thinking! http://paintings.joriginals.net/
Joanna McKethan
Oooo. Don’t ask for my feedback. Ask for everyone else here who is reading your comment. But this article might be helpful for when you want feedback: https://aaartbizold.wpengine.com/feedback/
Hi Alyson,
This was so helpful! Thank you, thank you, thank you again and again. Here is my newest work
http://www.margaretgalvinjohnsonstudios.com/#/honoring-my-mother/.
I still have not figured out what’s in it for them or what to give away if they go to my website from my newsletter. Not sending people to my homepage will be helpful! I need some help with Squarespace. Do you or Mesa know anyone who specializes in this website platform?
I’ll explore QR codes,
So Appreciated,
Margaret
There is a company in NY that will help you on Squarespace. I am at a paintout and not at home or would send it to you now. If you email me at Linda@lindarichichi.com on Monday I will send you there name and contact info. They are very affordable too.
Linda
Margaret: I suggest Claudia Retter for help with SquareSpace – a fellow artist with a keen sense of design.
No watermarks? Please discuss this more.
Ellen: That comes from my museum background. A museum would NEVER show art in a catalogue with a watermark through the middle. And you’d never see a visible one on a museum website.
Likewise, you’d never show your original art with a watermark through the center of it.
Watermarks can ruin the appreciation of artwork.
Having said that, I am not opposed to tasteful watermarks along the bottom or side of an image.
While I don’t draw or paint, I do make jewelry. I do have a website as well as social media business accounts. I continually struggle with drawing people to my site but your post has given me some great ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Heidi. And you just left your website link (linked to your name) with this post. Here’s a thought – next time you leave a comment, tell us what kind of jewelry you make – give us a picture so we might be enticed to click.
Very helpful tips! Thanx. Check out my latest abstract paintings At my group website http://www.InnerIdeaArtists/marysewellcooper. I also hav an Etsy shop for my handcrafted jewelry http://www.etsy.com/shop/marysewellcooper
A perfectly concise checklist to clean up and perk up all things internet and promotion. Timely too as I just updated my site and working on tweaking everything. http://www.melissabrauen.com (yes, I shared my home page, I like it!! lol)
I like that your home page has a bunch of thumbnails on it, Melissa. Nice!
And, if I may add, your prices are WAY TOO LOW.
I agree with Alyson Melissa. Your work is beautiful and you should not undervalue your paintings. Raise those prices!!
Wishing you much success.
Best,
Mary Mirabal
http://www.marymirabalart.com
http://www.facebook.com/marymirabalart
Wonderful ideas. I am going to try more of them. I love what you do, and your advice is
highly motivating.
XOXOXOXO Barbara
Barbara: Thank you for being here all of these years.
Thanks Alyson for all your helpful info. I need to put effort into this if I want to achieve my goals, its certainly not just about making the work.
IF you want to sell or gain recognition.
Thank you Alyson. As always great info! Most of the time I create series. For a few of them I did a rack card with photos on one side and explanation about the series on the other side (not to forget the website address!!). I noticed that viewers enjoy it more than a simple business card.
I also switched to WIX and am quite happy with it as I was able to make the site more interactive than with previous platform.
http://www.beatriceart.net
Great article – it will be printed off instead of just saved. I am going to be going through it and making some adjustments and additions!
Have a great week!
Deanna
http://www.DeannaLavoie.com
Thanks, Deanna.
Hi Alyson,
Thank you for your blog
I was wondering about what to put on my blog when I feel that there is so much excellent blogging out there and I am definitely a much better painter than writer. There are so many bloggers that would better say what I have to say, and my kids say just paint.
I don’t want to bother people with a newsletter when we all get too much email? Yet my email has both on it?
Thank you,
Pearl
http://www.pearlmccarthy.com
Pearl: Write about you, your art, and your life as an artist.
And stop worrying about bothering people with email who have asked to hear from you.
Because I’ve read your book, I’d rather be in the Studio, and followed you for years, I had most of those points covered, but I did go down the rabbit hole on #8 about making sureyour url is visible on social media pages. I realized my facbook wasn’t necessarily visible and it took me forever to figure out how to do it. I’m almost afraid to look at Titter or Instagram. I have a blog http://www.finenatureartbyslgraves.blogspot.com and my website is for my online beginning painting classes. https://www.paintingwithacrylics101.com. As always, I appreciate your calm manner of teaching and explaining things like this. Have a great one!
Thanks for reading the book and following, Sharon.
Don’t let fear win. 🙂
Thanks Alison, another excellent blog post. A few things I need to tweek. Changing my website link in Instagram is something that I am not doing. I will now! What are your thoughts on having a “pop up” sign up form on you home page?
It’s a great idea, Laura – but on all pages, not just your Home page. Make sure that it’s delayed 10 seconds or so. (Probably more – not sure what the best is.) Gotta give people time to look.
Awesome roundup of ideas! I started getting more people looking at my website when I started blogging… but not everyone sees everything (or anything) I post on social media. Dang algorithems! So I’ve started sending links to friends directly, especially if I’ve seen them recently. I’m always suprised how many friends DON’T know I have a show coming up!
I blog at https://www.aislingmeehan.com/art-blog/
Aisling: Good work! And … That’s why your mailing list is your most important asset. I would NEVER see it on social media.
This is timely as I was just going over this yesterday. I don’t have an issue with getting people to my website, it’s making them stay and then return. Altho according to my research I am in the right
margins…34% bounce rate…but I want it lower. I’m going to direct them to a different landing page like you suggested and see what that does. Thanks…as always!!
You can’t make anyone stay or return. You can encourage them to stay and return with good content and frequent updates.
Such a timely and motivational article Alyson. I’ve been updating all my website and social media. Great tips to implement, especially about changing your landing page and switching URL on Instagram. Now I’m off to change my own landing page.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
Best,
Mary Mirabal
https://www.marymirabalart.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Marymirabalart/
https://www.instagram.com/mbmirabal/
Thank you for advices!
Thank you, Alyson. All good information as I am in the process of writing my second ever newsletter. I like “write about you, your art and life as an artist”. ~Tara Moorman
https://tara-moorman.pixels.com/collections/art+is+emotion
Good work, Tara.
Thank you for a great article, Alyson! You always have such helpful information to share. I use my newsletter and blog to share my latest work and sometimes work in progress. I think we all have a story to tell. If you can weave that story into your newsletter, blog and social media, it helps to draw people in. I grew up in North Carolina, but I’ve lived in New Mexico for over 30 years. So my paintings are about my New Mexico surroundings and my time living here. I used to use all of the major social media sites, but decided that Facebook and Instagram work best for me. Here’s the link to my portfolio of works page.
Thanks for sharing, Gayle.
Oops, I did something wrong with the link. Trying again…
https://gaylefaucettewisbon.com/works
I like very much a new program SPARK from Adobe. As an artist I have made with it some interesting Portfolios. As an example: my portfolio Creo+Art:
https://spark.adobe.com/page/R4axJhRqQr0MX/
Thanks for your ideas.
That looks nice, Richard.
Hi, Alyson! I’ve been going through all of your posts now that I have some more time from working on commissions. I’m very shaky on all of this internet stuff, but am delving into it today. If I have some questions, is it alright to send you a question or two? I promise not to flood you with questions. Thanks! John Prout
Great tips & thank you for sharing, I’m a big fan!! I’ve printed them out to take action on!
How nice. Thanks, Cynthia! I’m thrilled you are taking action.
Thanks for the valuable information Alyson. I am a notorious fb hanger outer where I am drawn to where I have ‘created’ where all the action is. With recent Mr Zuckerberg goings on, I am realising that I need to heed past advice and get my website busier…like, really focus on getting more active on there. I think it’s been a self worth thing and finally, I feel I/my work at http://www.tanyacolearts.com IS, worthy to promote and be truly SEEN. So I will be implementing all of your suggestions where I can. Thanks so much. x
I love this, Tanya. Take control.
Great article.. you’ve got simple and easy tips to really get your website out there.. Thank you