Advice Line:

Your Website: What it can and can’t do for you

From One Artist to Another

In this modern electronic age, with the ability for folk to shop at their leisure in the privacy of their home via the Internet, we as artists cannot dismiss this ever so important advertising venue.

In the Internet's early days, everyone and their dog was into designing websites. Many without any background in marketing at all nor an eye for appealing design, let alone good business ethics. Needless to say, the web became full of poorly designed, expensive and ineffective websites. (Which I’m sure you’ve all seen your fair share of!) In order for a website to do for us what we intend it to, it needs to be well thought-out and organized. Treat it with the same respect and seriousness one would give when planning a print ad, and it will do for you what that ad will do, and more!

Myth: A website can make me instantly famous and an overnight millionaire.

Fact: A website does expose your work to a worldwide audience that would not otherwise have access to see your work. It is part of a complete advertising plan. It can reach farther than any one magazine ad, and linger longer in the memories of people than a brief encounter at a trade show event. It also gives your existing clientele a way to stay abreast of your latest works, at a fraction of the cost of printing new colour brochures to mail out each time you have new works. Like all things, the longer it is around, the more traffic it attracts. Websites take time to build a following, but once they have, the sky is the limit!

Where to Start

Before you’re ready to take on the web, or any advertising venture for that matter, be sure you know who you are, how you want to present your work, and who your target audience will be. After all, the Internet is one big advertising arena, and to stand out, you need to know what you want your site to say about you and your artwork.

Once you know what you want to say, sit down and sketch it out on paper. It helps when you can visualize it. If your mind draws a blank, turn to the computer and visit some artists’ websites. We've listed a few of the ones we've designed on the left for your inspiration. See what you like and what you don’t. Imagine yourself firstly from your own voice. How you want to present your work. Then, imagine yourself from a visitor’s point of view. You may even want to ask a few friends for their input on your ideas. What is the first thing they think of asking? Can they find what they want to find easily and quickly? Attention spans are small among the internet audience, so you have to “hook” them quickly. Neat, clean, uncluttered layouts work best. If you aren’t sure of what you should do here, this is where you would speak with your designer, and together you can both arrive at a layout and business plan that is exactly what you wanted.

Have your artworks archived in photographs, slides, or scanned images. Knowing WHAT you have to put onto your website, is one step towards being ready to create it! Be sure each image is labelled with your name, the artwork’s title, size, medium, etc. This will help both you and your designer stay organized.

If you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to write a little bio about yourself. Unlike regular print media, you do have room to say a bit more about yourself, or go into more details about your artwork. I find that people want to be able to make a connection with you or your work, and by telling them a little about it, it makes that same connection they would if they met you in person at a show.

Once you have decided what you want in a website, now is the time to find someone to design it for you, or, look into learning how to create one for yourself. Whichever route you decide to go down, there are some key things you should learn that will help you in all your decisions and make your website be all that you imagined it to be!

What's what

Before you make that venture into seeking out a reputable designer to create your website, there are a few terms you should know that will help you make an informed decision.

• Website Design/Construction: This is the layout design, planning and HTML coding of a website. A website is a series of files - both text and images - that comprise the whole. Think of it as putting a brochure together in your word processing program. It’s put together and ready to publish. In most cases, prices quoted by designers are for this service, as some artists have their own webhosting company in mind to use. A website, once designed, can be delivered on disk to be used where you want, or, uploaded to your webhost of choice by your designer.
  
  
• Webhosting: This is the service that gives your website a home on the world wide web, making it accessible by all. It is comparable to what printing/publishing of that brochure would be. This is usually a separate service. Some internet providers, such as SaskTel, provide their customers with a limited amount of webspace with which to publish a website. The more serious artist, however, will want to have what is known as a domain name and a full hosting account with a reputable webhosting company. Try to avoid the free webhosting companies out there, with their popup ad banners, as that is the number one way to kill traffic to your site INSTANTLY. The public HATES those! Some things are worth paying for, and if you’re serious about your art business, this is no place to skimp.
  
  
• Domain name: One of the big words of the web, a domain name is www.yourname.com. This name is registered for an annual fee, paid to a domain name registrar. A website doesn’t have to have a domain name in order to be accessible on the web, but it does make you more memorable and professional looking in the eyes of your potential customers. It’s all about image. There are many types of domains out there as well, besides the ever popular .com There’s .org, .net, .info, .biz, .ca, to name but a few. But the dot coms are by far the most commonly typed in out of habit by the general surfing public.
  
  
• Website Promotion: Once your site is built and published on the web, that’s all there is, right? Wrong! Until someone knows of it’s existence, it won’t do you a whole lot of good. Most designers will include basic submission of your website’s address to the search engines, as well as a few key important places to be linked on. But that’s just a start. Website promotion is an ongoing thing. The more places your website is linked with, the more likely someone is to find it. Things to consider are web-rings and targeted audience advertising. (For instance, if you are a wildlife artist, having your link appear on related nature websites, or places that wildlife art collectors would frequent, can pay off in a big way!) How does one get linked? Simple. Many sites provide an “Add your link” form where you can submit your website’s information. It’s URL (website address), your name, your email address, and some description about your website. Some will also ask for keywords, which would be words that you think folk might use when looking for work like yours. For sites that don’t provide an Add Your Link form, you can also contact the webmaster (there is usually an email link somewhere on the site) and let them know who you are, what your site’s address is, and ask them if they would be interested in exchanging links with you. (This is common courtesy. If someone adds a link to your site on theirs, you should return the favor as well.)
  
  
• E-commerce: Another big word, it essentially means doing business with your website. Which is what we're in this for, after all. (Unless you only plan to use your website for showcasing your work) Things to consider when preparing to do business on the web are:
  
  What types of payment will you accept? Checks, money orders, credit cards? For transferring sensitive information such as credit card info, it is wise to invest in a Secure Server certificate with your webhosting account. This encrypts the information between you and the buyer, so that no third party can intercept and use the credit card information illegally. If you plan on taking credit card payments, and don’t already have a merchant account, this is something to look into with your banking institution. There are also online payment services available, such as the ever popular PayPal.com, which act as third party credit card processors.
  
  Other things to think about are shipping and insurance. What methods do you plan to use? Postal? Courier? What does it cost to ship common products of yours, so that you can inform the buyers what approximate shipping costs will be? Find these things out ahead of time, so you are somewhat prepared.
  
  Something else that people often overlook is writing skills. How well can you correspond in email? A vast majority of clients will make their first contact to you via email. You have to make a good impression on them right away, or you may never hear from them again. If your spelling is horrible, and you’re used to writing in shorthand, perhaps now is a good time for a refresher course in basic grammar and proper letter writing. Always be courteous, thorough, yet concise and to the point. Promptness is a must.

Okay, I’m ready...now what?

Great! Now you’re ready to look for someone to design your site. Or, if you feel you want to try it for yourself, you can do that as well. No matter which way you go, keep these things in mind:

• Keep it fast loading! Not everyone has highspeed internet yet. Make sure your site isn’t over cluttered and all the images are sized right, so they don’t take forever and a day to download.
  
  
• Classy looking! Gear your website to who your audience will be. If you wanted to be treated professionally, make sure your site LOOKS professional. A bad website can give a bad first impression, and you’d be better off not having one at all!
  
  
• Make sure it’s easy to navigate You have 30 seconds, on average, to get someone’s attention. If they get frustrated trying to find their way around your site, they’ll hit the “Back” button.
  
  
• Make sure they can get a hold of you! While most will want to email you, some may want to write or call. Don’t be afraid to put your mailing address and/or business phone number on your website. One of the biggest complaints about the web these days is the lack of seemingly legitmacy with online businesses. If you want someone to be prepared to spend a lot of money on your artwork, show them you trust them by not being afraid to tell them who you are! Postal Box numbers are perfectly fine, and wise, for doing business anyway.
  
  

That said, as the proprietor of Black Horse Design, and I have been creating websites for several years now. I began by building my own website, using it to learn and hone my skills. Having spent many years as editor for two arts publications, and being the founder/director of the internationally acclaimed Equine Art Guild has given me a good eye for design, and a finger on what artists' needs are. I can work with you to come up with that perfect website. I pride myself on giving that personal touch, and spend much of the time spent while building my clients websites also educating them on how to follow through and make it a success for them. I work at my client’s pace, as they are comfortable and ready to proceed. I know this is something new for many of you, and I want to be sure that all of my clients are comfortable and happy with the end result that we create.

Because of my renowned design quality, I am always fairly booked up with websites to design. Much like artists working on commission, I do take bookings for website designs and the process is not all that unlike the same procedure. Completion time is usually 3-4 weeks from the scheduled start date, depending on how organized you are with providing me your materials so that I can get down to work on creating your masterpiece!

Hiring Black Horse Design to create your website presence

We pride ourselves in designing cross-browser multi-platform websites with both functionality and aesthetic appeal in mind. (This means it will look the same on as many different types of computers as possible!) Our specialty is creating websites for artists, writers, and equestrian businesses, although we take on all types of clients.

Being fully versed in all aspects of HTML and Flash multimedia, we work with our clients in creating their complete web presence from concept to finished website. Tell us what you want, and we make it happen!

Click Here to View our Rate Packages

Checklist:

• Do you have your content materials ready? Text, photos, your ideas/suggestions/preferences?
• Do you know what domain name you want? If at all?
• Do you have a webhost lined up? Or do you need me to line that up for you?
• If you plan on accepting credit card orders, are you setup with a merchant account?

If you are ready, then you may fill in the form on this page to request your booking for a website design. Have fun with it!!!