Operating a successful art blog can be a great source of income and one of the best ways to funnel traffic to your art listings. One challenge you might have as a new blogger is that you will not know what your blog needs to look like a professional blog.
By the end of this post, you will know…
- How to research other art blogs for ideas and inspiration
- How to start an art blog
- How to brand your art blog
- How to create a favicon
- About blog disclosures and policies
- How to write posts that will drive traffic to your artist website
Blogging allows you to be seen as an expert in your field.
People are willing to spend a lot of money online for original artwork, but the person forking over the money will have to trust the artist they are purchasing from.
Blogs make it easy for readers to connect with the person writing the blog post. Or in your case get to know you as an artist.
When you can connect your artwork to a viewer and you gain the viewer’s trust, you will land a sale.
You need to achieve both, make the viewer connected to your art and let the potential art collector get to know you as an artist.
When you achieve both, you will have built a successful online art business.
When you are just starting a blog, how do you not appear like a new blogger?
How do you write posts that will attract your target audience?
How do you write blog posts that will create an emotional bond between your artwork and the reader?
How do you write posts that will build trust?
The truth is that there is a lot to learn, but if you are dedicated and willing to put in the work, you too can have a successful blog just like all of the other artists you follow online.
My goal for this post is to make it easier for you to build a professional artist blog quicker.
I am going to highlight some key points that will speed up the process so you can enjoy landing sales online.
Before we get started, I do want to mention that it does take time to build an online presence and have your website rank in the search engines.
But the work you put in today will pay off years to come.
So be patient, work hard, and keep learning how you can make your blog work for you.
Research Other Art Blogs
The easiest way to know what to do and what not to do is to spend some time researching other art blogs.
How do you find art blogs?
To start just type in Google’s search bar, “Best art blogs” and Best art websites”.
This is what came up when I did a search for “best art blogs”.
Another way to find art blogs is to join Facebook artist groups and go to Facebook artist pages of your favorite artists.
Most Facebook business pages have a link to the website of the artist. Go to their website and search for their blog.
If the artist is using WordPress the blog will be included on the site.
I have also written a post that highlights 4 artist’s websites and goes over what each site has to offer.
Take a few minutes and visit 4 Amazing Artist Websites so you can discover what options you have.
How To Start A Blog For A New Blogger
Nothing will lose potential art collector’s trust quicker than having an art blog on a free platform like Wix.com or Blogger.com.
Free platforms like these limit your ability to personalize and brand your site.
You will never have full control or ownership of your website if it is built on a third-party platform.
Investing in a website that includes a blog like WordPress is your best option if you are starting an online art business.
The first step to not look like a new blogger is to own your domain name.
For example, my domain name is:
www.nevuefineartmarketing.com
If I started a blog on blogger it would be:
www.davenevue.blogger.com
Related post: How To Pick The Best Domain Name
You can easily see which domain name looks more professional and would seem more reliable.
The good news is that purchasing a domain name and hosting is easy and does not break the bank.
I just recently switched my hosting and domain to SiteGround for about $4.00 per month.
My site started to slow down when it began to receive a large amount of daily traffic.
SiteGround is fast, reliable, has unbeatable customer assistance and it is cheaper than my previous hosting service. I wish I knew that when I first started this site.
Brand Your Blog
Branding your WordPress Blog has never been easier.
One-third of the websites online are built with WordPress.
Because WordPress is so popular, the number of Themes and plugins are limitless.
Anything you can think of can be done with a WordPress blog.
The themes and plugins will help you to build a unique site that will separate yourself from all of the other artists online.
And if you plan ahead you will have a professional blog right from the start.
If you do not want to look like a new blogger, take some time to brand your blog.
The first step in building a brand is to know what your objectives are.
Once you have a clear vision of what you would like to achieve, you can start designing your Website logo, favicon, and social media logos. (All of your logos should look the same. You want people to recognize your brand on all mediums.)
There are two ways you can go about creating a logo for your brand.
The first way is to design your logos yourself.
There are plenty of tools that you can work with like:
Or you can hire a professional to design your logo:
Professional blogs are easy to navigate and are visually appealing.
Anything less will have the readers move on to the next blog.
Like I have mentioned earlier, making a website easy to navigate and look professional has never been easier.
WordPress themes are a collection of templates that define the appearance and display of a WordPress website. Themes can be changed and managed from the WordPress admin area of your site.
You have a choice between free WordPress Themes or Premium WordPress Themes.
Free WordPress themes have limited customization options and are not as secure as premium themes.
I highly recommend investing in a Premium theme for your online art business, but if you want to take a look at some free themes below is a list of sites that offer free WordPress Themes.
The list above will get you started to learn more about free WordPress Themes.
The best WordPress Themes are premium themes and can range in price.
StudioPress builds my favorite WordPress themes and I have been using them for years.
Their themes are fast, secure, SEO optimized, flexible foundation code, and mobile responsive designs.
StudioPress comes out with new themes frequently. So if you are in the market for something new, check out what StudioPress has to offer.
I am using the Executive Pro Theme.
Here are a few new designs that have just released:
Create A Favicon
Now that you have a professional logo and WordPress Theme, let’s talk about adding a favicon.
A favicon is a small image that represents your blog and website and is often found in the search bar of a web browser.
You can easily create a favicon in Canva.
A site icon for WordPress should be square and the size is 512 x 512 pixels.
After you have created your favicon go to your WordPress dashboard, click Appearence>Customize>SIte Identity.
This is where you add your site title, tagline and site icon (favicon).
New Blogger Blog Disclosures And Policies
When you are starting an online business and building a website, you want to make sure to protect yourself and business from all potential legal issues.
I am not a lawyer and am in no way providing any legal advice but here are three areas I recommend taking care of when you are starting a new art blog or any blog or website.
Privacy Policy – You have to disclose how you store people’s information and what you do with it.
I have a link to my privacy policy page in the footer of my site. This allows anyone to find out more information about this subject easily.
Affiliate Disclosure – If you are planning on supplementing your income via affiliate links, you will need to disclose that links on your website may be for affiliate companies and you will receive a commission if a person clicks on the link and makes a purchase or signs up.
I have an affiliate link disclosure that is displayed on the top of every blog post.
Adding information to every page can be quickly done with a WordPress plugin called Ad Inserter.
Terms And Conditions – Disclose what the terms are your readiers are accepting by accessing, reading, purchasing and using resources on your website.
There are a lot of recourses available to make sure all of the above comply with the law.
To get started, visit The Contract Shop.
The contract shops have standard clauses that are pre-written by lawyers for online businesses and bloggers.
Write Quality Blog Posts
By now you know what your art blog objectives are.
You do not look like a new blogger because you have a beautiful, easy to navigate the website and you have provided disclosures and policies.
The next step is to write blog posts that will attract your target audience.
The blog posts you write will drive traffic to your site and art listings.
Here are some posts to help you write posts that will help you to increase your traffic.
- 3 Ways To Write Better Art Blog Posts
- How To Write List Posts That Generate Traffic
- How To Write Pillar Content And Why It Is Important For Artists
Conclusion:
I hope you enjoyed these tips to help you not look like a new blogger.
Just because you are a new blogger does not mean that you are new to creating and selling art.
Best wishes on your new online art business.
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
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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