Are you struggling with your art blog? Are you finding it difficult to generate traffic to your blog? If so, you are not alone. There are many layers to blogging that you will want to become familiar with. Instead of me always talking about what you can do to improve your blog, I want to talk about common mistakes that will prevent the growth of your art blog. In this post, you will discover 5 blogging mistakes artists must avoid.
Blogging Mistakes Artists Must Avoid
First, let’s take a couple of minutes to think about why you have started a blog or why you are thinking about starting an art blog.
If I were to guess, one reason might be because you have an interest in selling your art online and you have either heard me or someone else tells you how important blogging is.
Understanding that blogging is important might be a reason to start a blog but you are going to need to go a little deeper. Blogging is a long-term commitment. If you want to be successful at blogging you will need to know exactly what you want to accomplish with your blog.
Reasons Why Artists Blog
Here are a few reasons why artists are blogging:
- Get exposure
- Sell art online
- Keep people up-to-date with local events
- Build a larger following
- Connect with people in their community
- Build relationships with collectors
- Build brand awareness
- Be known as an authority in their niche
- Teach other artists
- Increase sales
You can easily see that there are a lot of different reasons why you might want to start a blog. Some artists focus on one area while others will have multiple focuses. There is no right or wrong answer here. You need to know what you want.
Take some time and write out your goals and vision.
Your blog will grow a lot quicker after you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Everything you do for your blog will have a purpose.
5 Blogging Mistakes Artists Must Avoid
Now that we have gone over how to be more productive with your blog, let’s talk about some blogging mistakes you will want to avoid.
Inconsistent Blogging
One of the biggest mistakes I see artists make with their blog is they are not consistent.
There are two parts to this.
First, you should be consistent with your schedule.
Decide on how many times you will be publishing blog posts a month and stick to it. It does not matter if it is once a week, twice a week or even seven days a week. Once you have decided on what will work for your schedule, commit to it.
I have a close friend who is not seeing any traffic to his blog or YouTube Chanel because he is so inconsistent.
He had his YouTube channel doing so well a couple of years ago, he was making a part-time salary just off of his videos. For some reason, he stopped making videos for about four or five months. Needless to say, his fan-base dropped and so did his income.
He has been trying to build it back up for about a year. The problem is he is not consistent with scheduling his videos. One week he will post 5 videos then he will not post another video for a couple of weeks. Due to his inconsistency, he is having a difficult time generating traffic. He would see better results if he took those five videos and posted one a week. He would not be adding any extra work but he would be more consistent.
He is also inconsistent with his blog. He will write a couple of posts and then not write for a couple of months. Needless to say, he is not generating any traffic to his blog.
Don’t make the same mistake my friend is making. Come up with a plan that you can work with and stick to it. You will see better results if you post once a week then you would if you post five times in one week and then nothing for a couple of months.
Worthless Content
With so much content being uploaded every day, you have to make sure your content delivers.
People live busy lives and they do not have the patience to read through blog posts that do not interest them. They can easily find another post that will provide them the information they are searching for.
Mobile devices are changing the way bloggers are writing. Not only does your topic have to deliver quality, but it also has to be easy to read. More and more people are reading posts from their smartphones and tablets. Make your content easy to read by keeping paragraphs short.
The next time that you are at a restaurant or a place where you have to wait for a service, take notice of how many people are looking at their smartphone.
I think you will be amazed at what you will see.
Focus On Your Mission And Brand
Every post that you write should focus on your brand and blog’s mission. Staying consistent with your content will be a priority if you want your readers to come back to your site.
Are you blogging because you want to increase your art sales?
If you are, you want returned visitors. The more times a person visits your site the higher your chance will be to land a sale.
I have visited and reviewed many blogs that are not consistent with their mission.
If I go to your oil painting blog and I have to scan through multiple posts before I find a post that relates to your oil paintings or technique, I will leave and not return. I’m not going to stick around if I am looking to purchase an oil painting and I see posts about your favorite wine or your vacation trips you were on. There is a time and a place to share your personal life, your artist blog is not the place.
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Email Opt-In Form
One of the many mistakes I made, in the beginning, was not to focus on building my email list. I have heard from so many people the importance of building an email list but I kept putting that task on the back burner.
One of the reasons was I was not sure what to do or where to start.
After a few years, I took the time to learn. I am so happy I did. My email list is my biggest asset and it will be yours too.
Do not make the same mistake I made. Start building your email list today.
These articles will be everything you will need to know to get started.
- How to Build an Email List from Scratch Fast
- Ultimate Email Marketing Guide for Selling Art Online
- 4 Email Opt-in Plugins for WordPress
After you have finished reading this post, come back to these links so you can start to build your email list. You will be able to grow your art business much faster if you do.
[clickToTweet tweet=”My email list is my biggest asset and it will be yours too.” quote=”My email list is my biggest asset and it will be yours too.” theme=”style3″]
Contact Form
So many artists are losing sales because they do not provide a way for potential buyers to ask questions.
A contact form is a place where a reader can submit a question. The question will be emailed to you and then you will be able to reply back to the reader.
There are many free contact form plugins available for WordPress.
Here is a list of some popular plugins:
You might want to consider providing different options for your potential buyer to contact you. Some artists provide a contact form (most common), email address, or a phone number. You might also see some sites with a live chat feature.
Decide if providing different options will work for your art business. Just make sure that you provide one way for your audience to get in touch with you.
Another tip you might want to consider using is having a FAQ post.
Most people will visit a FAQ page before they go to a contact form. Keep in mind the person is in a buyers frame of mind. You want to do everything possible to make it an easy transaction for them. If they have to spend time writing to you and waiting for a response, they might lose their ambition to purchase your art.
Buy It Now Link
More people are shopping online than ever before.
We are seeing a change in the way people are living right before our eyes.
You no longer have to go in a car and travel to a destination to make a purchase.
You no longer have to sit at a PC in your office to make a purchase.
You now can make a purchase anywhere you have an internet connection.
Think of the change we have seen in a relatively short amount of time. We can make a purchase while we are sitting at one of our child’s sporting events. We can now make a purchase whenever and wherever we want. As long as there is internet access and the site has a purchase option
Make it easy for people to make an impulse purchase. Provide a way for them to purchase your art with a click of a button.
There is nothing more frustrating for a potential buyer than to have to waste their time searching for a price and a way to pay.
Conclusion:
Selling art is a job and blogging is a valuable tool that will help you to build an online presence. Take your blogging seriously so you can start to drive your target audience to your landing pages and increase your sales.
You can increase the success of your blog by not making these mistakes.
If you are serious about selling your art online, you will have to make an online presence. Blogging will be a powerful tool to help you separate yourself from other artists.
If you struggle with planning or being organized, you are not alone. That is why I wrote the 28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists.
This book makes blogging easy. You do not have to plan or think about what you should do next. Just follow the plan and watch your blog and art business grow.
