Build an Art Website Series – Creating a Free Online Portfolio with Wix

A while ago, we shared a series of posts on how to create a fully functional art website with Wix – from start to finish.

Wix is a powerful website builder which can be used to create free websites. They also have various upgrade options to instantly turn the free website into a professional one.

Included here is this whole series of posts.

Naming a Website

Fix Pictures in Photoshop

HTML5 Slideshow

Build a Keyword List

Social Network Buttons

Create Artwork Gallery Pages

How to Create an Artist Bio Page

How to Make a Contact Page

 

Build a Website with Wix Series

1. Naming a Website
   
   The most important and very first step in the creation of a website is to decide on a website name. For artists, naming a website is usually simple. Most artists choose to name a website by their name followed by “art” or something similar.
   
   This may not always be the best choice though. Its advisable to search on Google for other artists with your name. Think of ways to differentiate yourself from those, even if none appear at the moment.
   
   This article explains how Google Keyword Tool can be used to find ideas for popularly searched phrases to be used in a website title. The idea here is to find one which is original, memorable and with a commonly searched relevant phrase.
   
   
   
2. Fix Pictures in Photoshop - Reduce Image Size - SEO Tips - Watermark Photos
   
   Before even building a website, it is best to get certain things out of the way. Since an artist’s website is primarily about one thing – the art, adequate preparations should be made to prepare the images for the web.
   
   The images should be professionally photographed. Certain preparations to prevent art theft, such as reducing resolution and watermarking are more essential steps.
   
   It is also important to name the images according to commonly searched keyword phrases, so that they can be easily found by online searchers of art.
   
   
   
3. How to Make a Full Page HTML5 Slideshow with Wix
   
   The common version of slideshows are created using video or flash. Even though they appear quite attractive, the main disadvantage of these is the inability of search engines to read what is contained within.
   
   Slideshows can now be created using the new HTML5, which both has the appearance of flash and can be read by search engines. This means search engines can read titles of individual images and descriptions.
   
   This tutorial explains how to create a slideshow using the free website builder Wix.
   
   
   
4. Build a Keyword List
   
   A keyword list can be used as a reference for naming images, writing blog posts, writing image descriptions, titling pages, and more. The whole idea here is to accumulate a selection of well searched phrases which artists can use to optimize website pages and images for SEO. The better optimized your pages are, the higher the chance of people finding them using search engines. Finding the correct phrases is an art-form all aits own for some.
   
   Luckily Google has a handy tool for making searching and finding good keyword phrases relatively simple – Google Keyword Research Tool.
   
   
   
5. Social Network Buttons
   
   Social sharing icons (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.) allow the sharing of website content across the web. For example, a Facebook “like” not only adds to your like count, but also spreads the content to the sharer’s Timeline and newsfeed. In this way, others may come in contact with your art who may have not otherwise. Of course, without the social sharing icons this could not happen.
   
   This is why you see so many social sharing icons at Artpromotivate, and why we recommend artists have them at their art sites and blogs.
   
   This article lists several places to create your own like buttons for popular social networks – Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+. We also explain how to add social sharing icons to your Wix website.
   
   
   
6. Create Artwork Gallery Pages 
   
   The gallery pages are the core of an artist website and the reason why it exists. This article explains how to create these pages within a Wix website.
   
   Also included are tips for naming pages, adding artwork, editing descriptions, etc.
   
   
   
   
   
7. How to Create an Artist Bio Page
   
   The artist’s biography is an important part of any artist website, and is typically included at an About page. This article lists several tips for creating an artist bio page:
   
   - Be approachable
   -Tell your art story.
   - Keep it short and to the point
   - Include a large photograph
   - Talk about the past and future of your artistic journey.
   - Look at bio examples from other artists.
   
   
   
8. How to Make a Contact Page
   
   A contact page should be a part of every artist’s website.
   
   They are typically visited for one of two reasons:
   - The person wants to buy an artwork.
   - The person wants to know more about the artist.
   
   This article lists these 10 things to include in a contact page:
   Photograph, contact form, email address, address, phone number, newsletter, social networks, Skype, Google Maps, reasons for people to contact you.

 

If you have any questions concerning website building, please let us know. We will try tour best to answer your questions in upcoming article(s).

Thank-you for reading and have a wonderful artful day!