If your website or blog has been under-performing, there’s no need to take drastic measures like creating an entirely new site. Consider these 11 tweaks to give your online presence a boost.

Gloria Lamson, Falling Apart and Coming Together. Installation includes jigsaw puzzle pieces and teabags. ©The Artist

1. Get rid of any splash page. Those are passé, slightly annoying, and you don’t want to count on people clicking through to your main menu.

2. Make sure your name is visible at the top of every page. We shouldn’t have to search under a rock to see whose art we’re looking at.

3. Tweak your Title <TITLE> tags. The title of your page is embedded in your code and shows up at the top of a browser—not on the page itself. Title meta tags are very important for search engines. Let’s say your page title default is “Home.” Do you think people really do a Web search for “Home”? A better choice for a page title would be rich in keywords such as “Paintings by Wyoming Artist Charles Frazier.”

4. If you use a blog for your primary Web presence, your artwork should be easy to find. Don’t make us scroll to find your art buried in old posts. Create a link for a Web page of all your art—perhaps using a Flickr plugin. Speaking of which . . .

5. Make sure the link to your artwork is clearly defined with any one of these labels: Art, Portfolio, Paintings, Photography, Sculpture (or your medium of choice). Don’t use the word “Gallery” to describe your artwork pages. Save that word for the galleries representing you.

6. Enlarge your thumbnails. Leave the stamp-sized images behind and create an impact with larger thumbnails. In I’d Rather Be in the Studio! I suggest the smallest dimension be at least 100-140 pixels. You have to WOW us before we’ll click.

7. Add a credit line next to each artwork. (I hope you’re paying attention to this!) If you want other people to give you credit for your images, you first have to give yourself credit. This means a complete credit line with every piece you have on your site. It should look something like this:

©2010 Alyson B. Stanfield, On a Windy Day. Hand-dyed fabrics, reclaimed wood, ink, and thread, 36 x 24 inches.

Avoid using “quotation marks” for your titles. They are visually distracting.

8. Add images of your art to every page of your website. Use this free virtual real estate to display your art at every opportunity.

9. Put your artist statement next to the art that it discusses. There’s no need to make it a major link.

10. Add a picture of yourself to your About page. Don’t schedule a fancy sitting at Glamour Shots. Get something casual that makes you look like a vibrant artist who is going places. (No dowdy photos allowed!)

11. Add your social media accounts to your About or Contact pages. We look for these additional ways to follow you.

FINAL WORD: Creating an entirely new website or blog is overwhelming. Tweaking what you already have is easier! Implementing even a couple of these ideas will make a big dent in the way your website functions.

Listen to the audio version of this content.

Creating an entirely new website or blog is overwhelming. Tweaking what you already have is easier! Implementing even a couple of these 11 fast fixes will make a big dent in the way your site functions.

Tune in to this week’s Art Marketing Action podcast–an audio version of the newsletter/post of the same title. Read the newsletter here.

Make sure you don’t miss an episode: Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Are you a fan of the podcast?

If you are a fan of the podcast, would you take 5 minutes to give it a nice review on iTunes? You have to have an Apple or iTunes account to do so. Just go to the iTunes store and search for Art Marketing Action podcast and click on Reviews or Write a Review.

You can leave a 5-star rating (!) and add just a sentence or two that would help browsers decide whether or not it’s worth their time.

Thank you for your help with this.

You can’t just build a website and wait for people to come. If you want more visitors, take a lesson from all the ways I direct you to ArtBizCoach.com (which is just one of my sites) and then adapt these to your situation.

Shoshanna Bauer, Going Home. Watercolor, 15 x 11.5 inches. ©The Artist

Here are fifteen techniques to start the wheels churning.

1. I send out the weekly newsletter that helps you with your art career. In it, I post links to classes, workshops, and products on my site. I do the same with the audio version (the Art Marketing Action podcast)—mentioning the site at the beginning and end of each recording and often in between.

2. I put a link in my signature block that is attached to the bottom of all of my email messages. You would be surprised at how many non-artists are intrigued by what I do and want to know more. Likewise, I’m sure they’d be interested in what you do. Everyone loves to meet artists and see good art!

3. I have a blog that has a link to ArtBizCoach.com and links to featured products in the sidebar.

4. I offer complimentary marketing plans at Art Biz Connection. These are to encourage artists to get together and support one another. Coincidentally, the format also sends subscribers back to ArtBizCoach.com.

5. My classes and e-books all have links that reference items on the ArtBizCoach.com site.

6. I always keep a supply of postcards—with my URL prominent—to send or hand out.

7. I advertise in artist magazines from time to time, but paying for advertising is rare. I’m spoiled by the effectiveness of free publicity and word of mouth.

8. I write articles for magazines like Art Calendar, which mention my site.

9. I conduct workshops and give keynote addresses. My website URL is prominent at the beginning and end of my presentation slides. Those who want follow-up information can get it by going to a special page just for them at ArtBizCoach.com. Read the details of how I set up this process.

10. If you call my voicemail, you’ll hear a recording that says I’m sorry I missed you, but I hope you’ll visit ArtBizCoach.com to find out about marketing tools for artists, etc.

11. I am a guest on radio shows and agree to many blog interviews. The promotions always mention my site and link to it.

12. I wrote a book that mentions my sites frequently.

13. Every so often, I tweet promotional links on Twitter. In between, I build trust with followers through conversation and by providing helpful resources.

14. I have an Art Biz Coach fan page on Facebook.

15. I say Yes! to anyone (so far) who asks if it’s okay for them to link to me. I go out of my way to be helpful to anyone who wants to promote me.

Are you driving traffic OR just waiting for it to start coming in?

FINAL WORD: You can’t just build a website and wait for the traffic to pick up. You have to encourage visits consistently. Look at your online presence, and check all of the details for each outlet. Are you driving traffic to your site wherever you can?

Are you driving traffic to your site wherever you can? Here are fifteen techniques to start the wheels churning in this week’s Art Marketing Action podcast–an audio version of the newsletter/post of the same title.

Read the newsletter here.

Make sure you don’t miss an episode: Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Are you a fan of the podcast?

If you are a fan of the podcast, would you take 5 minutes to give it a nice review on iTunes? You have to have an Apple or iTunes account to do so. Just go to the iTunes store and search for Art Marketing Action podcast and click on Reviews or Write a Review.

You can leave a 5-star rating (!) and add just a sentence or two that would help browsers decide whether or not it’s worth their time.

Thank you for your help with this.

As a result of conducting workshops over the years, I discovered that some of the same questions come up over and over again–questions I can answer by pointing people to an old blog post or resource.

When such a question is asked during a workshop, I can say, “I’ll give you all the details for that in some follow-up information.”

Also, new questions may arise. I ask an assistant to write down these questions and I promise to respond to them in the follow-up.

Alex Leadbeater, Closed. Acrylic on canvas on board, 40 x 40 inches. ©The Artist

After the workshop–maybe 2-3 days later–I send all of the participants an email with a link to a special page just for them. This page has about 20 additional resources for their art careers.

The workshop follow-up page also, quite purposefully, advertises my next class in big, bold letters.

It would be an error to give workshop participants everything in a handout or an email. I want them to visit ArtBizCoach.com! For their troubles, they’ll be rewarded with extremely helpful resources.

You could do the same at your workshops, gallery talks, and even in your festival booth. If you have email addresses, great! You can follow up with a link in an email. If not, print business cards with a special URL where you post FAQs.

On your FAQs page, promote a single thing in a big way. This might be a newsletter sign-up, a special report, an exhibit, or an upcoming class. But it should be just one thing. Be sure to update the page before each event.

“Older” artwork presents a dilemma when designing an artist’s website. On one hand, it’s nice for visitors to see your progression as an artist, you’re proud of the work, and the art is still for sale. On the other hand, you want your current work to be most prominent, and you want visitors to know what you’re working on now.

If someone were opening your website as they would open a portfolio, you could guide them through a tour of your career—showing them the works in the order you prefer. In a portfolio, this is usually front to back. But the Internet doesn’t work that way. Thanks to search engines, visitors might land on any number of pages on your site before they see your home page. You have to be ready.

Every page has to be a landing page.

Kathy Knaus was happy she left older artwork on her website. Someone found it and selected it to be featured on a billboard in downtown Denver. ©The Artist

So how do you show “older” art on your website? Here’s one way.

Your main menu would have a link titled Art or Portfolio. Clicking on that link would take site visitors to a page with your most recent work or with categories of that work.

Your primary art pages (meaning the pages that display the art you want people to see first) would be the fewest clicks away from the Home page. In the following example, Bronze Sculpture is a primary art page. It’s one of your categories.

Home -> Portfolio -> Bronze Sculpture (or Recent Bronze Sculpture)

You feature 10 recent works on that Bronze Sculpture landing page. You could then have secondary pages to show your older artwork—linking from the Bronze Sculpture primary page. They’re not links in your main menu, but are only found from your primary art pages.

In the examples below, both wildlife and figurative works are secondary pages (remember that secondary pages are more clicks from the Home page).

Home -> Portfolio -> Bronze Sculpture -> Wildlife 1995-2005
Home -> Portfolio -> Bronze Sculpture -> Portraits & Figures 1995-2000

or

Home -> Portfolio -> Bronze Sculpture -> Wildlife prior to 2006
Home -> Portfolio -> Bronze Sculpture -> Portraits & Figures before 2001

The above examples for secondary pages are better choices than “Older Work” or “Archived Work.” Site visitors will appreciate the descriptive categories and these categories highlight your subject matter (or medium or style) rather than when the work was created.

Another reason to use descriptive categories for your Web pages is that, as I said, you can’t control where visitors land on your site. Every page has to be welcoming. Every page has to have your name on it and show visitors exactly where they are. Every page has to provide context.

FINAL WORD: Older art has a place on your website, but not necessarily front and center.  Descriptive language and clear navigation on your pages will allow site visitors to easily locate, appreciate, and purchase (!) your current and past artwork.

Blogging can give your art career a big boost. It can help you become more articulate about your art, build relationships with fans and future collectors, and give you favor with search engines.

But blogging isn’t for every artist. Yesterday I wrote why artists should have blogs. Today, I’m going to let some of you off the hook.

Neil Corman, Pipes on a Building. Photograph. ©The Artist

You shouldn’t blog about your art . . .

If your only reason for starting a blog is because someone (me?) told you that you had to have one.

If you’re not going to keep it up. If you’re not going to post two or three times a week, you might as well stick to a static website and update your news page.

If you have a bad attitude or think about it as “just one more thing I have to do.” Don’t ever enter into any new venture with a bad attitude. It will end up being a waste of your time.

If you don’t care about connecting with your fans and potential fans. If you don’t want to respond to people who are asking you about your art or if you find questions annoying, skip the blog.

If you don’t want to post a lot of images of your art. If you’re afraid of your images getting stolen or used improperly, a blog isn’t for you.

If you’re uninterested in exploring a deeper meaning of your art. As I’ve said previously, blogging can help you connect–through words–with your art. It will help you better articulate your work, but only if you want to go there.

If you’re just fine where you are. If you are lucky enough to have plenty of sales, friends, and opportunities, you probably don’t need a blog because it would just bring you more of all those things. It’s okay to be happy with where you are right now! But maybe think about the future, too. Will you be bummed if, in six months, things slow down for you and you still haven’t started your blog?

Coming up: Blogging for Art Collectors

Are we blogging just because it’s cool? I responded to that question more than 3 years ago on this blog. Since then, I think I have come to appreciate the value of blogging even more. I figure it’s worth an update.

I think artist blogs are terrific–IF they’re done right. This means a commitment to posting, linking, responding to comments, etc. This is what we teach in the Blog Triage class (which coincidentally begins tomorrow).

Blogging isn’t for everyone, but here are four reasons to have and maintain a blog about your art.

Michelle Davis Petelinz, Land and Sea. Mixed media on bamboo bowl, 18" diameter. ©The Artist

1. Blogs allow you to interact with your fans.
You’re not just talking AT your readers on your blog. You’re starting a conversation the minute you post and open your blog up to comments. You respond to comments and let them know that someone is listening. In short, blogging makes you new friends and . . .  the more people you know, the more people there are to buy your art.

2. Blogs bring a little more lovin’ from the search engines.
Search engines love blogs because blogs have (or should have) fresh content regularly. This doesn’t mean that you can start a blog and it will take off immediately. It means that steady posting and building your readership will put you in better favor with search engines than if you maintained a static website. (It’s really not as simple as this, but this is a start. I would say linking and commenting are also important.)

3. Blogging can help you grow as an artist.
You learn a lot about your art and your goals as an artist when you blog and interact with people. Almost every artist who blogs regularly has shared with me that this is their #1 reason for blogging. It may not have been their most important reason for starting a blog, but it’s a big incentive to keep it up. Listen to my interview with artist Margret Short about what blogging did for her.

4. Blogging can make you an expert.
If you post lots of how-to content, demonstrations, and videos, you can quickly become known as an expert in your field. This is particularly valuable if you who want to lead workshops or have your own radio show.

Tomorrow: Why Artists Shouldn’t Have Blogs

Many artists have an unhealthy fear of having their images stolen and used improperly. This fear can cause you to fall behind in your race to the top. These artists hunker down and do so much to “protect” their images that they discourage legitimate people from helping them promote their work.

Last week I told yet another artist that I’d love to feature her work on the Art Biz Blog, but that I have a policy against using images with a watermark through the center—as hers had. I don’t mind an inconspicuous mark at the bottom or side, but I do mind a big © that stretches the width of an image. There is no way that art can be fully appreciated with that kind of interruption across its surface.

Alex Mitchell, If I Only Had a Brain. Acrylic on wood, mixed media, 72 x 38 x 15 inches. ©2007 The Artist

Sure, artists could send me clean images sans watermark to use on my blog, but I refuse to link to a site where images are covered with watermarks. I won’t waste my readers’ time by encouraging them to click through to those sites. They’d only be disappointed in the end.

Protect yourself as best you can by registering and posting your copyright and by documenting your progress. But, if you’re going to put your art online, do it because you want to show it off. Don’t hide it behind virtual lock and key where no one can see it at its best.

How do you encourage people to talk about you and your art and protect your images (as best you can) at the same time?

Here are two beginning steps to take.

1. Add a credit line to every image you post on your blog or website. If you don’t have your name, date, and image details with every picture, how do you expect others to treat them? Yes, EVERY image of your art should have this information! You wouldn’t install your art in a gallery without a label next to it, so why do it online? See how it’s done.

2. Add a media room for bloggers. I wrote about this on my blog last week when I encouraged museums to do this in conjunction with their No Photography policies. You can adapt this idea for your own use, but it only works if it’s easy to find the media room!

Update: One brave artist took me up on my challenge! See Tina Mammoser’s Media Room.

As I was writing this newsletter, Michele Renée Ledoux sent me an email. I featured her work last week in this newsletter and on the blog. On that day, her website traffic nearly tripled! She wrote:

Now, I realize some artists might respond by saying, “But, how many sales resulted in this upsurge of hits?”  My answer is that it doesn’t matter.  Exposure is exposure. Statistically, I have more of a chance of selling my work if I expose my work to more people.

Michele gets it! She got nearly 3x the visitors that day because I showed off her work.

FINAL WORD: Do what you can to protect your images properly, but don’t be so fearful that you miss out on opportunities for others to promote your art for you. Make it easy to be talked about!

Are the colors, font styles, and font sizes consistent on your website or blog? It’s easy to be seduced by a sexy font or a trendy color, but don’t be. As an artist, you should be more concerned about the visual presentation of your art than about any fancy design tricks. The art should always be shown in its best light.

One way to keep the attention on your art is to be consistent with the design elements. You should do a lot of planning so that site visitors don’t think too much about how things look when they visit your site. They’ll just focus on the art!

Let’s start with color.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) coding for building websites uses a six-digit number for every color you choose. For example, #CC0000 is the red in my links on ArtBizCoach.com and #C8C1AF is the light gray background on this blog. You’ll want to choose two or three main colors for your sites, and they shouldn’t be jarring. Instead, they should provide a harmonious backdrop for your art.

You don’t want people to look at your site and applaud your color choices. You want them to applaud your art! To help with your color selection, check out these tools.

Bob Armstrong, Bees Out of Balance. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches. ©The Artist

Next, let’s look at your font styles.

There are a limited number of fonts that are universal. You want to stick to these styles in your text. (Text in graphics is another matter.) These include, but may not be limited to, the following.

Sans Serif Font Styles: Arial (not Arial MT), Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet
Serif Font Styles: Times New Roman, Georgia

Before you choose a serif font, I urge you to view it on various computers and browsers. I initially wanted to use Georgia on my website until my Web guru sent me a screen capture of what it looks like on her PC. It was pretty handsome on my Mac, but it looked awful on her PC. Sans serif fonts are more reliable across platforms and easier to read on an electronic screen.

In addition to the font family you choose for your site, you also need to think about when and how you’ll use all caps, italics, bold, and indented text.

Finally, consider font sizes.

Decide what font size you’ll use for paragraph text, headings, subheadings, and credit lines that go next to your artwork. Pick your color for each one and . . . Voilà! You have a style sheet.

FINAL WORD: Creating a style sheet to use as a guideline for your website and blog will 1) give your site a more professional look and 2) make it easier on you because you no longer have to spend time worrying about what color or font to use.

The podcast is an audio version of this post.