The benefits of websites for artists

Websites for artists provide a number of useful benefits:

• They give you a quick convenient way to set up an online art gallery.
• With your own website you can be in total control as to what to put on it and how your work and content is to be displayed.
• You can create a professional looking online portfolio. Online portfolios can be used to showcase your work to potential real world art galleries, also for exhibitions which are by invitation only, you can often refer them to your site rather than have to put together a full proposal requesting an invitation to exhibit.
• Online portfolio websites allow you the ability to offer paintings for sale.
• You can set them up to sell your paintings directly from your site or you can provide a contact form for potential customers to discuss a purchase or a viewing of your artwork – which could hopefully lead to purchase.
• For commissions I often refer clients to my website to get an idea of the type of painting they are after. This makes the process of producing a painting that they will be happy with much easier.
• Your artwork can be online, and hence being seen the viewing public, almost as soon as it is completed.
• You can continue to show work, long after it is removed from a gallery. You decide when to stop displaying it.
• Effective websites for artists allow you to promote your upcoming exhibitions and events.
• People can also remain in contact with you through opt in mailing lists; this can help to reduce postage costs and virtually pay for your site in postage savings alone.
• Websites present your work to the whole world. With payments services like PayPal it is now very easy to get paid, from virtually any country, if someone purchases your watercolor painting or other artwork over the internet. If sales are a bit slow in your country it does not mean they have to be slow in other countries. As people become more and more comfortable with purchasing online, these types of sales will continue to increase.
• By creating a website you can offer other services to potential clients. I run regular watercolor painting classes and watercolor workshops, these are promoted on separate pages of my online gallery website and a significant proportion of my new students come from this channel.

Continue to: Creating your own artist’s online portfolio website