When do I need a web presence,
and how should it look?
Unknown poet, Prince Edward Island
If you have a body of work to promote and you’re ready to begin the process of getting it in front of people, then this is the perfect time to start thinking about building a website. But the when isn’t nearly as important as the how. Above all, your web presence—whether it be a full website or a blog—absolutely needs to be professional and well designed. Too many Creatives make the mistake of spending time, energy and money on sites that not only display their work poorly, but also aren’t designed to promote and market their work.
The basics:
Contact Information—If, after viewing your work, a website visitor wants to contact you, but can’t easily find your e-mail address, or phone number, they’ll likely leave and never come back. Make it easy for people to get in contact with you. If you get this part wrong, all of your other hard work will have been in vain.
Portfolio—This is the place to show a small selection of your best and most current work. You don’t need to include everything you’ve ever created here. You only need to show enough work to give a viewer an entryway into your work.
Sign-Up Form—What do you want a website visitor to actually do once they’ve finished viewing your site? How do you intend to get back in touch with them once they click away? A sign-up form of some sort is a simple and easy means to collecting visitors' contact information so that you can invite them back to your website or to an actual event long after they’ve wandered off to another part of the cyber world.
No matter what your field or medium, a website can and should be more than an on-line portfolio. The entire purpose of the website is to introduce yourself, present your work in the best way possible, and most importantly, to begin building relationships with the people that visit your site.
On-line Resources:
Easy and Affordable websites: OtherPeoplesPixels
Sign-up form and mailing list software: Mailchimp
Send me your questions. I'm here to help! Kesha Bruce: freshartinternational@gmail.com
Send me your questions. I'm here to help! Kesha Bruce: freshartinternational@gmail.com
I have known for a while that my blog is not the place to display, but have been timid about promotion. Thank you for the ideas!
ReplyDeleteGreat info. People need to remember to have a clear goal for what they want to accomplish on each page of their website. For instance, after someone reads my About page, I want them to check out my Process page so at the end of the About paragraph I say, "If you would like to see how I make my paintings, check out my process here>" and this leads them there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your note, Lindy.
ReplyDeleteHypertext/hyperlinks that direct visitors to other pages on your site are essential. You definitely want the visitor to click and stay for a while!