Why Art Websites Fail: How To Fix It

What Every Artist Website Needs

Are you getting discouraged by the lack of sales your art website receives? 

There are many reasons why you might be having a difficult time landing a sale. This post will discuss what every artist’s website needs to attract new customers and turn potential customers into raving fans.

Why Art Websites Fail

Are you having a difficult time selling your art online?

Are you having a hard time driving traffic to your artist’s website?

Are you finding that the people who land on your site leave without purchasing your artwork?

Are you frustrated because the sales you are generating online do not cover the website builder’s monthly fees?

If you answer yes to any of the questions above, you are not alone.

There are many challenges artists face when trying to sell art online.

The myth that thousands of people will visit your site simply because you have listed your artwork online is not true.

POD (Print On Demand Sites) often entice artists to join their platform by telling them that over 100,000 people visit their site every month.

What is the first thing you think of when you read something like this?

You probably think that you will do well selling on the platform.

When I started selling on POD sites, I thought I would sell tons of prints.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Why was it so difficult for me to sell art prints when the POD site advertised that they receive over 100,000 visitors a month?

It was because I did not consider that there were thousands of artists using the same platform.

I was just a need in the haystack.

At that point, I realized that if I wanted to build a profitable online art business, I had to learn how to market my art online.

Would you like to know the secret to sell your art online?

If you have paintings for sale, you will have to promote your paintings, so people will know they exist. It is that simple. You have to put your artwork in front of people.

It does not matter if you sell paintings, drawings, jewelry, or pottery. You have to promote your product.

What is the best way to build an online presence?

Content marketing (blogging) is the most effective way to drive traffic to your art website or POD listings through content marketing (blogging).

Your blog will become the most valuable tool you will own for driving traffic to your art.

Related Posts:

6 Blogging Benefits You Can’t Ignore

How To Start A Successful Art Blog

There are two sides to the story when selling your art online.

The first side is to build brand awareness. As I have mentioned earlier, your artist blog could potentially drive thousands of people to your site every month.

But just because you learn how to drive traffic to your artist’s website does not guarantee you will increase your art sales.

The other side of the story is you will need to focus on the layout of your artist’s website. Below are some tips on how to create a website that sells.

8 Features Your Artist Website Needs

Websites for artists to display their work should focus on these areas:

• Image quality
• Pricing
• Ease of purchasing
• No guarantee
• Shipping costs are too high
• Art quality
• No FAQ section
• No way to contact the artist

It takes more than just driving traffic to your site to sell your artwork.

You will want to do everything you can to make it a pleasant shopping experience for everyone visiting your site.

Think of it as one of your favorite local stores.

Why are you loyal to your favorite stores?

It usually begins with a first impression. If a store is clean and organized and it is easy for you to find what you are looking for, you will continue to visit the store. Even if the prices are a little higher, you are paying for convenience.

Your online artist website should also provide the same experience for your visitors.

Below are some areas you will want to focus on for your site so you can make it a more pleasant shopping experience for your audience. Your goal is to turn a one-time visitor into a loyal art collector.

High-Quality Images

The images you use for your online gallery should accurately represent your original artwork.

Low-quality or blurry images will affect your sales.

Keep in mind when you are uploading your images, people will only be able to judge the quality of your artwork from the images you showcase.

Related Post: Sell More Are with High-Quality Images

Show Your Art Prices 

Buyers will not know if your artwork is for sale if you do not have a price next to the image.

Display the price and a way for them to make a purchase next to every piece of art you are showcasing.

Think about when you are looking at images online.

Would you know if the artwork you were looking at is for sale if there were no prices or a “buy it now” link?

Let everyone know your art is for sale by including a price.

Related Post: Art Business Basics – Show Your Art Prices

Pricing Your Artwork

Many artists struggle when it comes to pricing their artwork. The wrong price could be the difference between making a sale or landing no sales.

Related Resource:

Art Pricing Guide – How to Price Art to Sell eBook

Shipping Costs 

Your shipping costs could be the final reason a buyer purchases your art or leaves your site.

Develop a profitable pricing strategy for both you and the shopper.

Related Post: How Shipping Costs Affect Art Sales

Guaranteeing Your Art 

If you guarantee your artwork, you will build trust with your buyers.

They will be more likely to purchase an item if they have nothing to lose.

The odds of someone asking for a refund are slim as long as the images you are showcasing and the description you provide accurately represent the original piece of art they purchased.

Related Post: Guarantee Your Artwork For More Sales

Art Quality 

The quality of your art is determined by your experience and the materials you use for your craft. If you price your work with this in mind, you might jeopardize some sales.

FAQ Posts 

FAQ posts will help increase your art sales by answering customer questions, but they will also save you time answering the same questions repeatedly.

Related Post: FAQ Post Increase Art Sales

Contact Page 

A contact page will make your site look more reputable to the buyer. Many sales are lost when a potential buyer needs a question answered, and they have no way to contact anyone.

Related Post: How Contact Pages Increase Art Sales

Artist Portfolio Examples

Here are some great examples of well-designed artist websites.

Visit their sites and look at how they are displaying their artwork for sale.

Visit Leanne Fink

Visit Al Vesselli

These are some great examples of what an artist’s website should look like.

Notice that their menu bar makes it easy to navigate.

The images are professional, and each image has a price allowing the viewer to know that the artwork is available for purchase.

Selling Art Online Strategy

There are two reasons why you might be reading this post.

You might be new to selling art, and you do not know where to start, or you have been trying to sell your art online for some time now, and you can’t seem to land a sale.

It takes more than just posting a few images of your artwork on Facebook to land a sale.

Related Post: How Many People See Your Facebook Posts? Revised 2017

The first step is to take pride in your artist’s website. This will be your online store and will reflect the value of your brand.

Do not be too concerned with making it perfect at first.

You will be learning and changing things as you go along.

Take action today and look at your site with your customer’s eyes.

Start working on your content marketing strategy after having your site designed the way you have envisioned.

Driving traffic to your site takes time, so start developing a content marketing strategy.

Final Thoughts On Why Artist’s Websites Fail

There is no questioning that you can sell your art online.

Look at all of the fine artist’s websites online, selling art to people worldwide.

All you have to do is focus on the basics and find that you can build a successful online art business.

Why Art Websites Fail: 8 Features Your Artist Website Needs Overview:

• Image quality
• Pricing
• Ease of purchasing
• No guarantee
• Shipping costs are too high
• Art quality
• No FAQ section
• No way to contact the artist

Related Articles:

POD Websites – How To Increase sales

Guarantee Your Artwork For More Sales

Why High Website Traffic Doesn’t Guarantee Art Sales 

Number One Reason Artist Blogs Fail

How FAQ Posts Increase Art Sales And How To Write One

7 Elements Every Artist Website Needs To Stand Out

How To Write A FAQ Page For Art Websites