Design

Before you get started, it’s a good idea to take a look at other websites. These can be for other artists but any subject is fine. It’s more about getting a sense of what you like and don’t like. Pay attention to color palette (dark or light backgrounds), font choices, negative/white space, and the overall flow of information.

Content

• Home page: Choose an image or a group of cohesive images for instant visual appeal as well as a short blurb about who you are and what you do. You may also choose to include social media, a newsletter signup, recent or upcoming exhibitions and/or press.

  Pro tip: When you are photographing your work think about possible banner images and take a mix of horizontal and vertical images. If you want a full width image on your home page, horizontal images work best.

• About: This is where you go into more detail about yourself and your process. It’s the perfect spot for your artist statement, bio, and CV, as well as possibly your photo if you choose to include it.

  Pro tip: Make this readable and relatable, not overly heady and long.

• Links to Press and Exhibitions (optional): Some people include this information chronologically in a blog format.

• Portfolio: Include your most relevant work first and organize it in a way so as not to overwhelm visitors or potential curators. If you have different bodies of work or work in different media separate them onto different pages so they are easily digestible. Don’t include too many pieces on one page or be tempted to include everything you’ve ever done. The goal is to present your best work in its best light. This may mean showing installation shots and/or detail views. If someone expresses interest, you can always share more.

  Pro tip: See our guide for what information to include in your image captions.

• Contact : Include a contact form or your email and phone depending on how you prefer to be contacted. You may include your social media links on every page, or they may be on this page.

  Pro tip: Unless you have a public studio do not include an address.

Costs

• Most of the CMS tools cost approximately the same. For an informational site (without eCommerce), they average between $150-200 per year if paid annually. To add eCommerce increases this to an average of $300-450 depending on capabilities (shipping labels, Print on Demand, etc.).

• A domain is free for the first year with some CMS tools but the cost after is generally under $20 per year.

• Hosting is included in the annual subscription for Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly but is an additional fee for WordPress. The cost for this can vary greatly, but it’s an important decision which can directly impact your site speed, performance and Google ranking. The cost for a good plan will start at $25 per month.

• If you design the site yourself you can avoid this fee, but if you need help getting started, doing the finishing touches, or want a complete design it’s good to ask for multiple project estimates or an itemized quote. Website designers can be found at different price points, but for an experienced, independent designer, expect to pay a minimum of $100-150/hour.

Content Management Tool & Domain

• A CMS tool is a platform where your website is designed such as WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and Weebly. Though they are similar in function, they each have strengths and weaknesses so it’s good to get a sense of your priorities: ease of use, mobile first, SEO, eCommerce, etc.

• Your domain is the name of your website for example www.myartistsite.com. This is sometimes included with your CMS subscription or can be purchased separately.

Updates

• Last and most importantly, due to the nature of what you do as an artist, know that your site will never truly be done. The beauty of an easy to maintain CMS tool means that you can easily add new work, press, and exhibits. It not only keeps your site looking fresh, but gives you an excuse to contact potential clients and curators to have them take a look at your updates.

SEO Basics

• SEO is a very specialized skill that requires ongoing research and maintenance but don’t let it overwhelm you. There are a few basics that can help your site get noticed.

• Copy on each page. Words count and Google can’t see images so including a summary or description of your body of work on each page in addition to your art images is helpful.

• Links to and from other reputable and relevant sites. These can be links to exhibition sites and galleries where your work is shown, social media, press, etc. Links to other websites should open in a new window and links to other pages of your own site should not.

• Image titles and alt-text. Before you upload images to your site rename them for example instead of IMG_9989.jpg rename it to sreaves-untitled99.jpg. Also on the backend of your website on most CMS tools you can add Alt-text which is a description of the image which Google can see. It’s also super helpful for person’s with disabilities and ADA compliance.

• SEO Titles. In the image below you can see the title of the page is About but I’ve included a few extra “key words” Fashion Photographer and NYC. These should be divided with a space and the pipe symbol (on a Mac it’s the key above the return).

• SEO Descriptions (also shown below) should act as a summary of the content on each page. These should include keywords but be written in full sentences. Every page should be unique. DO not cut and paste on all pages.

• For more detailed SEO, there are services and apps that can show you what terms competitors use to be found Google and of course there are Google Ads. For example, SemRush, Moz, and WordStream.