SELL YOUR ART ON THE NET. Part IV

Now you need a web site. 

You will need to consider several important items. 

First, the name of your site. It's crucial. Will you choose your own name, your studio name, type of work you do, a catchy name, it's up to you, but try not to make it too long, otherwise people can make mistakes typing which kind of defeats the purpose. 

Your page should look professional, therefore it should not have flashing images or text. No ads either, you want your audience to stay on your page not click to another site. Please, no music or irritating sound effects such as bird song etc. 

Keep to a plain colour background to show off your images at their best. Have the same text font throughout and the same layout and colours. Next photographs. Take high quality photographs, you can resize them afterwards. Use a thumbnail image which downloads fast and then can be enlarged by clicking or in a slide show. No decorative borders either on your photographs, a thin line maybe but nothing big or fancy. Give a close up and if appropriate show your picture in a room setting. It's useful to give alternative text for your images. It's a good idea to call your images by a name rather than a number, for example: autumnglow.jpg rather than 19065.jpg. Unless your audience know your work, it might be useful to give an indication of your price range and if you are willing to negotiate or give a reduction for multiple orders. That way someone looking for a $50 picture will look elsewhere if your work costs $500 or more. Indicate if your work is unique (more expensive)  or if there are several copies (cheaper).  If there are several pieces, then indicate how many are in the edition. Many artists are willing to take on commissions or to work with decorators. This is a good way to get better know, so it's worth mentioning. 

Don't forget to sign and date your work. It can be a good idea to enclose a certificate of origin, this adds to the value and your purchaser will be happy. Keep their contact info and ask them to refer you to any other interested friends or family and maybe offer them a % if they get you new buyers. 

Consider a banner for the top of the web page. Not too big, as it should be more than about 100 pixels high. It should download super fast. Don't call your opening page "Welcome". Call it "Main" or "Index". It should have your basic contact information, plus a short bio. Your first sentence is very important. It is what appears on Google when they find you. So give it some consideration. it should sum up you and your work in a short phrase. 

So to recap:

• Choose your domain name
• Register the domain and buy web space
• Decide if you will do the design and hosting yourself or employ a professional (see below for help)
• A Banner or heading

You web page should not have:

• Ads
• Blinking text or images
• Sounds

It should have:

• Consistency
• Same Layout on each page
• Same colours and Text
• Alt text for photos
• Photos should be 72 psi and .jpg
• Photos should have no borders or very fine line
• Prices for your work
• Contact email info on each page

If all of this sounds like too much work, time consuming and you don't know where to start, contact me and I will guide you through it. I can also do all of the above, plus hosting and layout for a very small fee. 

Starting at $60 I can host and design your web page and upload your photos and text. 

www.bluemoonweb.net

Future articles will be about Tags, SEO, Links, Analytics and Spam.