We live in an amazing age where practically any artist anywhere who
has access to a computer and the Internet can present their art to the
world, but of all the artists who maintain their own websites, only a
small percentage take advantage of the Internet's full capabilities.
Many take no advantage at all; they simply put their art online and do
little more than wait and see what happens. The whole point of having a
website is to use it to spread the word about your art and to broaden
your audience, right? The main reason why you're online in the first
place is to show your work to as many people as possible. The good news
is that any artist can actively increase the reach of their website,
but first let's look at the way things are now.
Considering all the online innovation that's taken place in
recent years, the typical artist website is still not that much
different from a basic artist portfolio of 20 or 30 years ago. In other
words, it's designed largely for people who already understand art,
know the artist, know what they're looking at, and know how to peruse
their way through it. The art is often presented with minimal
explanation, it's not well organized, writings about the art are not
easy to understand, navigating the site is not straightforward, and the
overall appearance of the site makes sense only to those who are already
in the loop. As a result, the reach that artists have in terms of
who's able to comprehend and appreciate their art hasn't changed all
that much from what it would have been before the Internet; the core
make-up of their audiences, though it may be larger, remains pretty much
the same. People who either already know or have some connection to
the artists are fine; the rest of us are left to grasp at whatever we
can. Showcasing art like this-- in clearly antiquated ways-- makes no
sense considering the various options now available for attracting and
appealing to ever larger and broader segments of the population.
One of the greatest advantages of the Internet, and one that
artists consistently overlook, is that complete strangers can land on
your website or discover you and your art entirely by chance or
accident. We're not only talking about art people here, but about
anyone! The truth is that the more people who are able to land on your
website and see your art-- no matter who they are or how they get
there-- the greater your chances of ultimately advancing in your career,
receiving invitations to participate in shows, getting gallery
representation, making sales, getting commissions, being featured on
blogs or art websites, and more.
As things stand now, most artists tell me that people find their
websites not by chance or accident, but rather by searching artist names
directly on search engines, once again demonstrating that artist
website audiences consist mainly of people who've already heard or read
or know about them, rather than as a result of happenstance or
incidental encounters. The reason for this limited exposure, as
mentioned above, is that the overwhelming majority of artist websites
are only designed for people who are already aware of or knowledgeable
about those artists' art, and not that much for anyone else.
But how about all the multitudes out there who might potentially
love your art if only they knew you existed and could somehow find you
online? Of course, attracting them is a bit of a challenge because you
have no idea who they are either, but it is possible. All you have to
do is present yourself and your art in ways that offer greater
opportunities for everyone to get lucky and discover you, not just
certain types of art people.
Remember, this is all about increasing traffic to your website
and expanding your fan base, not keeping it stagnant. You have to
assume that anyone has the potential to become a fan or even a patron,
and you want to make sure you're reaching out to those who don't yet
know you as well as to those who do. Your goal is to maximize your
online visibility rather than limit it, thereby increasing the
probability that complete strangers will either accidentally or by
chance land somewhere-- anywhere-- on your site, so let's talk about how
to do that.
One major mistake that many artists make is using the same exact
title line on every page of their websites, titles like "Joe Smith
artist" or "Mary Jones art" or "Bill Williams sculpture." The title
line, at the very top of any browser window, is one of the most
important lines on a webpage, and the text that search engines most
often search first. Make sure that every single page on your site,
particularly those with images of your art, has a title that accurately
and specifically (not in generalities) describes that page's content,
much like a news headline describes whatever story you're about to read.
Each title line on your website should be unique, thereby representing
another chance, another opportunity, another set of keywords, for
anyone who happens to be searching with similar search terms to have
that page come up in their search results, click over to it, and see
your art-- whether they know who you are or not. People searching
online click over to pages like this all the time; at least some of
those pages might as well be yours.
For example, if a page shows an image of your art, the title line
should include words or phrases describing aspects of that art, like
your name, the work's title, medium, subject matter, topic, style of
art, and so on-- the more specific, the better. If a page shows
thumbnails of a series or group of related works, the title line might
briefly state your name, the name of the series, the theme, concept,
unifying idea or other details relating directly to that grouping-- and
again, the more specific, the better. If an image of your art has to do
with a geographic location, the title line might name the location or
any landmarks that are pictured in the work. People searching for
information about that location with similar keywords might see that
page in their search results, click over to it, and like it enough to
email you about it, or tell their friends, or maybe even ask the price.
Rather than think only about your particular sector of the art world,
think about why total strangers might be interested in seeing your work,
and what types of search words or phrases might help to get them there.
You need more than good title lines, though. Another distressing
fact about far too many artist websites is that image pages often
contain little or no text, either in the form of captions, descriptions
or explanations. We all know that art is a visual medium, but
unfortunately, Google and other search engines can't search images
alone; they can only search text. When image pages have little or no
searchable text, one of the main purposes of your website-- to increase
your art's online visibility-- is defeated right off the top. Without
text or titles, those pages are nothing more than Internet black holes.
So make sure that every image page on your website not only has a
title, but also a brief description or explanation of what's on it,
ranging in length from a sentence or two to perhaps a paragraph or two
at most (but don't overdo it).
Titles and descriptions allow images of your art to appear in
search results, and especially in image searches. The more of your art
that appears in image searches, the greater the chances that people will
click over to your website. For example, if twenty pieces of your art
appear on a particular image search, that's way more impressive than
two. Likewise, giving someone twenty chances to click over to your
website is a lot better odds than two. No matter how or where your art
appears in search results, more is always better than less.
Think of the possibilities here. With deliberate and effective
use of text, descriptions and keywords, each page on your website
becomes one more way to attract a different type of person or
demographic to your art. Every time you pair distinctive text with an
image, with specific keywords that relate directly to that image, it's
like opening a brand new gallery in a brand new neighborhood because now
a whole new set of people, ones who are using similar or identical
keywords in their searches, have a chance to see that page come up in
their search results, click over to it, and view that piece of art.
So let's say you've acted on these recommendations and are now
attracting increased numbers of strangers and accidental visitors to
your website by adding more diverse title lines and greater numbers of
image descriptions. How are you going to keep them there? You start by
making sure you have a link to your homepage, one that's easily visible
and instantly accessible, on every single page on your website. Your
homepage is where any new visitors who may like what they're looking at,
but who need a little basic background information or introduction to
your art will want to go first.
The text on your homepage should quickly and clearly answer the
following two questions for any visitor who happens to land there:
"Where am I?" and "Why am I here?" Typically, you've got about 30
seconds or a minute to state your case in a way that people can
understand and connect with before they begin to lose interest or get
confused, give up and leave. Do a good job of answering those questions
in a compelling, engaging and welcoming way, and in language that
anyone can understand, hopefully in a paragraph or two or maybe even a
sentence or two, and accidental visitors will be more inclined to stick
around at least for a bit and have a look at your art.
Even if your art is conceptual, theoretical, has a significant
cognitive component or is arcane in other ways, you can always figure
out how to explain the basics in ordinary English that everyone can
understand. You want to present your site in such a way as to give
anyone a fighting chance to get a grip on where they've landed and why
they're there if they happen to look at your art and are intrigued by
what they see. They may not all stay; hardly any of them may stay, but
if only one is able to understand and appreciate what they find there,
then you've done your job.
Here are more ways to increase the chances that people will land
on your website, and then spend a little time there once they do:
* Make sure the design of your site is straightforward, easy to
navigate, and that visitors, especially new ones, can locate and click
back to your homepage, your gallery page, and other main pages from any
page on your site.
* One of the most important ways for you to keep new or
accidental visitors on your website is to always use language that
anyone can understand. You can have more complicated, complex or
detailed descriptions or explanations there too, but those should
generally be on secondary pages where people who want in-depth
information can click on links to read more. You don't want to drown
everyone in torrents of verbiage whether they like it or not, especially
complete strangers who are usually way more interested in seeing your
art than reading about it.
* Have an "About the Art," "About My Art," "Artist Statement" or
"Art" page to serve as a basic introduction to your work. The length
should be no more than 300 to 400 words. That's plenty for most people.
If you can do it in less, better yet. One or two concise paragraphs
may be more than adequate. Think of this page like the liner notes on a
book cover, or the trailer to a feature film, or a sample of a song
that you're thinking about buying. Use this introduction to your art in
exactly the same way, as a teaser to get people to want to see more.
The object is to interest and engage people immediately with your work,
to make them curious, to make them want to see more, and to get them
into your gallery or image section as quickly as possible.
* When writing about your art, always consider the needs of
people who have never seen it before (don't worry about those who
already have seen it; they're fine). You are probably familiar with the
most common questions that people have about your art, especially those
who know little or nothing about it. A great strategy is to answer
these questions up front, even before they get asked. This way, new
visitors don't have to waste time trying to figure out what they don't
understand because you preemptively clarify it for them, thereby
allowing them to get to your gallery page even faster.
* Organize your art; don't simply have page after page of
unrelated images or thumbnails of every work of art you create--
especially without explanations-- and then expect people to figure out
how it all fits together. You know your work perfectly; they don't have
a clue. Not only don't they have the time to sift through everything,
but even if they try, they'll only get confused, overwhelmed and leave.
Guaranteed. For instance, if you make art in series or if you produce
several distinct styles or types of art, have a separate gallery for
each one including a brief introduction to the work in that gallery.
Well-organized galleries instill confidence in viewers, make them feel
like they get what you're doing, like they truly understand your work
(and as we all know, nobody buys anything they don't understand).
* Use specific descriptive words and phrases whenever you write
about your art-- whether you're talking about all of it or particular
individual works-- and avoid vague or general terms or descriptions.
For example, let's say you paint an urban scene. Rather than describe
it as "Life in the big city" (useless search terms), list distinct
aspects of the composition like who's in it, the weather, location,
street names, events, time of day, vehicles, buildings, and so on.
Don't ramble on and on, but keep in mind that the more specific details
you provide, the greater the probability of attracting people who may be
searching for either certain kinds of urban art or even something
totally different, but who happen to be using those same keyword search
terms, and who might like what they find if your page link appears in
their text or image search results, and they happen to click over to it
by chance.
C'est
dans un but clair et affiché d'amélioration de la compréhension des
résultats d'une recherche par l'internaute que Google a mis en place ce
format. Il a effectivement pour objectif de résumer au mieux, avec le
plus de pertinence possible, le contenu d'une page web. Côté trafic, utiliser les rich snippets permet
clairement d'augmenter son taux de clics car apportant une vraie
valeur ajoutée à l'internaute qui cliquera plus volontiers. Utilisés à
bon escient, les rich snippets permettent d'augmenter son trafic
naturel.