Spam filters on email are great time savers; they weed out a lot of garbage that we don’t want to see. But, they also trap a great many legitimate emails too.
If you use a spam filter, make sure it is not set to “auto delete” messages- have it put them in a junk or bulk mail folder. In addition, before you permanently delete the messages your junk mail folder, peruse through them and make sure no legitimate emails got caught in there.
There are legitimate businesses that specialize in what is called “Search Engine Optimization”. It has been our experience, however, that most of them do not send out random emails to website owners.
Be wary of anyone who claims they can guarantee you top search engine results. No one can do that. Some tactics employed by these unscrupulous companies can even get you blacklisted by search engines.
Rather than paying someone hundreds or even thousands of dollars for search engine optimization, we recommend that you look closely at the content on your website and make sure that it is keyword rich and relevant. In addition, you should seek links from organizations and associations related to your art.
For a while there it seems like every website I came across had all sorts of Flash content, rampant animations, fancy impossible to navigate links, spinning plates and spitting fire (just kidding- kind of).
Unfortunately Flashed based websites are not really great for Search Engine visibility. When Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc get to these sites they basically just see a line that says “run this flash file”. They have no way of seeing what’s on the website.
In addition, neither the iPhone or the iPad support Flash- that is, they won’t run it at all. So, unless your website has an HTML “shadow” site (and not many do), your website won’t show up at all.
We advocate the use of basic HTML websites- all of our template and custom sites are HTML based.
This doesn’t mean your website has to be plain or boring. Flash and other technologies such as animated gif files and javascript can be use to spice the site up. The key is to use them where they are appropriate and only in moderation.
The bulk of your website content should be in HTML, a language that allows search engines to see the actual content on your website.
An artist website should include the following:
It just that simple. Of course you can make it more complicated. The point is you don’t have to.
At Art Studios Online websites for artists, we make it easy to get your website online quickly using one of our professional artist portfolio templates. Our easy online system is written in plain english, to take the stress out of setting up and editing your website.
Want something fancier? We can do that too. Add your logo, or a custom homepage. Or, work with one of our designers for a fully custom design.
The background you choose to photograph your work on may depend on your specific type of work. Neutral backgrounds such as gray, beige or black or the ever popular graduated photo paper often work best. These are widely available at photographic supply stores and are well worth the investment. Just note, they are delicate and need to be taken care of- wrinkles, scuffs and scratches can be unsightly in photographs.
Smooth fabric can also be used. But, if you use fabric, be wary of wrinkles and fold marks, they can be very distracting.
Some jewelers use translucent glass lit from beneath for that magazine ready look.
Some artists even choose to shoot their images in situ or in interesting venues such as their backyard. This can be done to great effect, but be careful that the background enhances rather than detracts from your work. And, some show juries can be rather conservative, so unless you know that they will not be put off by such images, it may be better to use a plainer backdrop for jury shots. The same goes for props- just make sure they play a supporting role rather than stealing the scene.
There are several approaches to composing a photograph of your artwork.
For jury slides, a simple compostion is probably best- center your work in the frame. Two dimensional work should be cropped to show only the work. Unusually shaped and three dimensional artwork should fill as much of the frame as possible.
For advertisements or other venues you may want to create a more interesting or dramatic compostion.
Either way, be wary of odd or unflattering angles. Really look at the framed image in your camera lens as if it is a piece of art itself.
This tip applies mainly to all you 2d artists out there.
When you photograph your artwork, make sure the sides are in parallel. Sometimes paintings and other 2d images will look warped or fish-eyed in a photograph.
If you work is framed and the frame is not integral to the piece, consider photographing it unframed. Frames can present several problems: they often contribute the out of parallel effect, works under glass often have glares or reflections, and frames take up valuable real estate in your image that could be utilized by your actual artwork.
If you need to, it is often better to sacrifice a small sliver of your painting rather than to have a distracting slice of background in the frame.
Photo-editing software can help too. Many digital cameras come with scaled down version of software such as Photoshop elements. Additionally, there are several online services such as Picasa and Photoshop that offer basic editing tools like cropping for free. More complex programs such as Adobe Photoshop give you options to stretch or warp your images back into square, but they must be used with discretion so as not to alter your artwork too much.
Please please please, if you list your email address on your website, you must check your email frequently. This means AT LEAST several times a week. (I feel like I check mine several hundred times a day.) And please get back to people in a timely manner.
Additionally, if you have a spam filter on your email, you should check the contents of your junk mail folder before “purging” it. You can’t imagine the amount of legitimate email that gets trapped by these filters.
We are strong advocates for using email addresses on websites as opposed to those contact forms you often see.
Proponents of contact forms claim that they cut down on the amount of spam you’ll get. This may be true in some cases, but don’t you worry, determined spammers will get their junk through to you anyway. We would argue that these forms may in fact cut down on the number of legitimate contacts you get through your site.
We feel this way because contact forms can be unreliable. If the sender accidently mistypes their email address you may be left with no way to get back to them. In addition, most of the times these forms don’t give the sender any feedback that the message was actually sent, so they are left wondering if they’ll ever get a reply.
We also feel that these forms sort of imply a lack of trust on the part of the website owner that “I’m so worried about getting spam mail that I won’t let you know what my email address is”.
We feel that it just makes good business sense to give potential customers an easy way to contact you which includes listing your email address on your website.
Did you know that different types of light bulbs can create different color casts on your artwork?
Usually the most flattering light is daylight. Special daylight bulbs for photography are available. The can be a great addition to your indoor photography studio. It make take several lamps to get the results you want.
When I photograph my own artwork I find that shooting outside in natural light is often the best, easiest, and most economical solution. Shoot your images outside, out of direct sunlight- say on an overcast day or on the north side of a building when it’s sunnier (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere). This should result in an evenly lit image.
Either way you choose to photograph your work, watch out for harsh glares and deep shadows. They can be distracting.
