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Best Website Builders For Artists
The art world has seen a change in the way artists sell art and how art collectors discover new artwork.
Art sales are increasing every year, and so has the demand for websites for artists.
Over the past few years, numerous companies have been excited by this movement and designed artist website builders for emerging artists selling art online.
Today there are so many different websites for art than in the past, choosing the best platform can be challenging for artists interested in selling artwork online.
This post will make it easier to decide the best site builder by providing a list of the most popular websites for artists selling products online.
Before diving into the first artist website builder, do your research and decide what platform will work best for your business goals.
Best Artist Website Builders
WordPress
WordPress is a content management system that allows youto incorperate a proffesion blogging platform and online store all in one.
Almost one-third of the world’s websites are WordPress websites.
Businesses of all sizes use WordPress for marketing and selling products and services online.
Even small personal blogs take advantage of all of the features WordPress offers.
Most artists say that WordPress is an affordable and user-friendly artist website builder.
But some artists feel that there is a steep learning curve associated with WordPress’s powerful software.
Benefits of WordPress:
- Flexible and Adaptable. It allows you to easily change the function of your site while your art business grows.
- User-friendly. You can purchase hosting, a domain name, and have your website live in just a couple of clicks with BlueHost.
- Unlimited Themes and Plugins will allow you to brand your art business and separate yourself from other artists selling art online.
- WordPress websites tend to rank higher on search engines.
- WordPress has a built-in blog to help you drive more traffic to your art listings.
- Most themes are mobile responsive, making it a more pleasant experience for your viewers, looking at your site using mobile devices.
- WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to showcase and sell products on WordPress.
- WordPress is a free website builder software for building professional websites for artists. (You will have to invest in a domain name and website hosting)
- Most WordPress Premium themes are optimized for search engine optimization.
- WordPress plugins make it easy to have your content shared on social media.
Watch this video to learn how to launch a WordPress artist website with BlueHost.
Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce website builder that allows anyone to set up an e-commerce store for selling products and services online.
Unlike WordPress fees (you only pay for hosting and a domain name), Shopify charges a monthly fee, and the monthly payments will differ depending on what features you decide to use.
Shopify provides a broad range of customizable templets that will allow you to brand your online art store without knowing code.
HTML editing is optional if you are more advanced with coding.
The basic Shopify plan offers:
- Online store
- Unlimited products
- 24/7 support
- Sales channels
- Manual order creation
- Discount codes
- Free SSL certificate
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Print shipping labels
Shopify Pros:
- Easy to integrate print on demand companies like Printful so you can quickly sell prints of your artwork.
- Shopify has analytics that shows you how your website is performing.
- The website builder is easy to use, but there is a slight learning curve.
- Shopify offers modern and clean templates.
Shopify Cons:
- A poor blogging feature which makes it challenging to drive organic traffic to the site.
- Advance modifications for the templates require knowledge of code.
Watch this video to learn how to set up and launch an artist website with Shopify.
Weebly
Weebly is an easy to use platform that makes building websites for artists effortlessly.
Weebly is a popular platform and is an excellent tool for artists who would like to build a website quickly.
Weebly’s websites are optimized and guaranteed to have fast load speeds, which help in search rankings.
Weebly’s pricing plans range from Free to $26.00/mo.
One negative is that Weebly does not offer a high-quality management system (blog), which will make it more challenging to drive traffic to your fine art website with organic search engine traffic.
Organic traffic is free traffic generated from someone clicking on a link in Google’s search.
Weebly Pros:
- Weebly’s is user friendly and offers a variety of customizable templates that can create beautiful artist websites.
- Apps are available to track visitors.
- Weebly allows you to sell tangible and digital products.
Weebly Cons:
- People complain about the bugs that happen often.
- Additional functions and addons are an extra fee.
- Data downloads do not allow you to choose what you can download.
FASO (Fine Art Studios Online)
Faso is a platform that was built especially for artists.
Over 12,000 artists use FASO artist websites to sell art online.
Faso offers mobile-friendly website designs, domain, email, blog, and newsletter for a monthly fee.
Pricing ranges from $8/MO – $35/MO.
There are a variety of template designs but they are not as customizable as WordPress themes.
FASO Pros:
- FASO’s websites for artists to sell work is easy to set up and manage.
- Excellent customer service.
- FASO offers multiple templates.
FASO Cons:
- Templates are limited.
- Artwork images are smaller due to the extra white space.
- Poor blogging platform making it difficult to drive traffic to the site.
- Poor newsletter templates.
Art Storefronts
Art Storefronts offers everything you need to run an online art gallery.
ArtStoreFronts started as a print on demand site but have incorporated an e-commerce solution for artists.
Art Storefronts Features:
- Build a professional-looking online gallery that will convert the maximum amount of visitors into buyers
- Get all the tools you need to run your online gallery business
- Get marketing education & ongoing coaching to help you acquire customers
According to Art Storefronts, artists and photographers who run their art galleries regularly sell anywhere from $20,000 to over $100,000 per year.
ArtStoreFronts Pros:
- An excellent resource in marketing, making it easy to learn how to promote art online.
- It is a full artist website builder connected with a print on demand service.
- Unlimited technical support.
ArtStoreFronts Cons:
- They stress coupons and discounts, which could lower the value of the artwork.
- Limited options for customization.
- No email hosting
- 10% print sale fee.
- 5% original art or other products sold fee.
- Steep learning curve.
More Online Websites For Artist Options
The artist website builders mentioned abouve are not the only solution for artists selling artwork online.
Below are online website platforms that also allow artists to sell art online.
The platforms below allow you to build an online gallery on their platform.
The platforms below are also known as Third-party websites.
ArtPal
ArtPal is an online art gallery that allows artists to sell original art, custom framing, prints, or ArtPal’s free Print-on-Demand service.
With over 136,000 artists selling art on ArtPal you can feel confident knowing that it is a reputable platform.
Start selling your art on ArtPal with no membership fees and no commissions.
Etsy
Etsy started in 2015 and has become one of the most significant creative marketplaces to buy and sell art and crafts.
Etsy allows you to set up a storefront to sell your art, prints, or crafts.
Related Post: How To Sell Art Prints On Etsy With Printful
If you are interested in an easy way to start selling your art online, Etsy might be the perfect platform for emerging artists beginning to sell products online.
Artfinder
Artfinder is a juried gallery that showcases a selection of talented artists.
You also have a chance that Artfinder will feature you as an artist which will give you extra visibility.
Artfinder Features:
- Have your art seen by a global audience of more than 500,000 art collectors.
- Have control of your store, pricing, listings and receive performance stats and insights.
There is a 33% commission fee Artfinder takes for artwork sales.
Saatchi
Saatchi showcases over 65,000 artists around the world.
Creating an account on Saatchi is free plus offers secure online payments and artist protection.
Saatchi makes selling art by shipping your artwork to the collector for you. You only pay for the shipping costs.
Saatchi is more than an online art gallery; they also organize fairs, promote artists, and curator groups.
Like every platform for artists, it will be challenging to have your art noticed on Saatchi with many artworks posted. But if you develop a strategic online art marketing plan, you could see your art sales grow on Saatchi.
Fine Art America
Fine Art America is a POD (Print On Demand) site that offers a free artist website for artists and photographers interested in selling prints of their artwork on museum-quality prints, canvases, frames, acrylic, and other merchandise.
Fine Art America makes it easy for you to generate more money by selling prints of your original artwork.
All you have to do is create a listing, and Fina Art America will fulfill and ship the product directly to the buyer when they purchase a giclee print.
You can also promote your original artwork on the listings.
Artplode
Artplode was created in 2014 and was designed for galleries and art dealers to buy and sell artwork. They also allow artists to sell their artwork to private customers which makes this a unique artist website builder.
There is a $60 listing fee rather than paying a commission fee when a sale occurs.
You will have complete control of the sale, including the content and images of the listings and the ability to contact people interested in purchasing your art.
Artfire
Artfire is similar to Etsy and connects people from around the world to crafters creating unique handmade crafts.
Crafters can sell handmade goods, vintage items, and craft supplies.
Artfire is a marketplace where millions of people worldwide connect to make, sell, and purchase unique products.
Plans range from $4.95/MO – $40.00/MO
Amazon
Have you thought about selling your art on one of the biggest e-commerce platforms?
Amazon launched its Amazon Art section in 2013 and is a legitimate way for artists to get their artwork in front of a broad audience.
You will have to be pre-approved if you are interested in selling your artwork on Amazon, and if you are excepted, there is a $39.99 per month shop fee plus additional selling fees.
Amazon is becoming more popular with artists and crafters, so it will be challenging to have your artwork noticed. With a well-designed art marketing strategy, you might discover that Amazon might be the perfect fit for your art business.
Society6
Society6 is a print-on-demand website that allows you to sell prints of your artwork on art prints, canvases, and other merchandise such as bath mats, carry-all pouches, iPad and Laptop Skins, and more.
Society6 Features:
- You control the rights to your work.
- Easy to upload images.
- Unlike other POD sites, you can set the prices for your art prints.
There are hundreds of thousands of artists and photographers uploading and selling their original artwork on over 30 premium products.
RedBubble
Redbubble is an Australian POD (print n demand) company founded in 2006 and is similar to Society6.
Redbubble is an easy to use platform for artists interested in selling prints of their artwork on a large variety of merchandise.
RedBubble Features:
- Retain ownership and control of your artwork
- Have total control over what you sell your art for
- Handle all transactions
- Print and ship products to the buyers
- You collect the royalties
- You do not have control setting the prices of your products.
Redbubble connects over 700,000 artists and designers across the world with millions of passionate buyers.
Rise Art
Rise Art is an online art gallery where artists can upload and sell their original art.
Rise Art Features:
- Art sales, rentals, and client commissions
- You have total control over how you use your profile
- Art advisory service for personal recommendations
- Specialized seller console
- Professional framing service
- Shipping and logistical support
- Artist seminars and tutorials
- And more….
Alternative Artist Website Builders
If you haven’t found the perfect artist website builder from the site builders mentioned above, you will want to take a look at these website builders.
These website builders are not as popular as the ones highlighted above, but they are still good alternatives.
Some of these alternatives are free websites for artists but research to see all of the features available and if there is any costs associated with upgrading to a better plan.
Final Thoughts On Artist Website Builders
If you want to sell art online, you must have a platform that showcases your artwork and allows art collectors to purchase your artwork and products.
Take a few minutes to document your art business goals.
Then look further into artist website builders and platforms have to offer.
Once you have a clear vision of your objectives, you will make a better decision.
I do recommend owning a WordPress website if you plan on selling art online for the long haul.
If you just want to try it out you might want to consider setting up an Etsy shop.
Do not be fooled by free website builders. They might offer a free plan, but there will be limited features that will make it challenging for you to grow an online art business.
WordPress is a free website, but there are costs associated with hosting and domain names.
All of the artist website builders mentioned above provide an online portfolio, but each service will have different pricing and features.
Take some time to decide what will be the best option for your own website.
For more information on how to start and grow a successful art business, visit Art Business/Art Marketing Resource. There you will find over 1,000 art marketing articles.
- What platform are you using for your online gallery?
- What are the pros and cons of the service you are using?
- Did you use a different service before, and if so, why did you leave them?
Let all of the artists interested in building a website your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Below are some of the most famous art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
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