Do You Have a Website?

Help with art websites.

I want to briefly discuss art websites and why they are important to you as a professional artist. I have heard so much advice given about this subject, and all too often that advice is confusing, misleading, or wrong. I want to give you my take on this important topic.

First question: do you have a website for your art? I hope the answer is "yes". If your answer is "no" you had best get started on one now. Not next month or next year--Now. The good news is that creating art websites are easier than you think and can be done for zero dollars (a bit more about that later). In other articles we'll discuss different website types, features, optimization, and a lot of other important and interesting matters. For now I wish to focus on getting readers without art websites to take the first steps to get their work online.

What stops you from having your own site? The technology is so simple, and the return on investment can be so great. You don't need to create your own site from the ground up. You don't need to learn to code. HTML, CSS, Java script, all those tools are great, but you don't need to learn any of them. Other people (geeks) have made it amazingly easy to create an online presence for you and your art, and it can be done for at no or low cost.

By the same token, it is possible to turn to a web designer for a highly customized and unique site. A couple of words of caution here though. You may not need to have the fanciest website around, and depending on how it is set up, it might be counter-productive. My advice is to start simple. You may want a new website in the future with new or improved features, but for now, just get started and get online.

If money is really tight and you're just starting out, try setting up a account with a service like blogger. It is fast, very simple, and absolutely free to use. It isn't fancy but you'll be online.

There are also other services which can set you up with very professional results for a monthly hosting fee. Some of these offer a free trial and I encourage you to try one of these for your first site if you aren't building the site yourself.

One parting bit of advice: If you aren't building the site yourself, get professional help. It need not be expensive, but don't leave it up to a friend or your cousin who's "good with computers". They may not be familiar with good art websites. This is just too important to your professional career.

Use the technology, get online, and show your art to the world. Do it now!

Check out the company we used to do our site. They are fantastic!

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