Artist & Internet | Before You Start Anything: Keywords

Every business today should have a website if you want to look professional. The website should back up what you do “out in the real world”.


What do I mean by this?


It's expected in today's market. It should be a place for someone to go to learn more about you, your business and your products. As an artist, or photographer: Yes, you should have a domain name, with at least a small portfolio on it: Minimum where a person can learn more about you & your work. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but it should back you up in what you do. The better websites, share content. A way to purchase. A way to capture a sale they might not have in person. I will get into websites more later.


I'm going to skip over actually having a website.
An get down to the fundamentals of what makes one popular.
A principle that runs the web, an has since at least 1996.


What you need to know the most before you ever put on up, or post artwork to sites or social media.


The last decade or so: I haven't ran a website. I didn't have time for it, the way I know one needs to be ran. I had a “feeling” social media was going to get “big” an print art sites would too. Since I worked for companies that already had websites: I didn't really NEED a website, other then for my own personal art I had already started promoting on social media. For a year, I put a lot of work into just my fractal art, using only social media & art sites to promote it. Then went into managing the studio an only monitored how it was doing once in awhile.


I didn't go at it full blast like I know how to.


I was busy going non stop in studio. I didn't pay attention to it much. Everything just kind of sat on the internet, an I'd get some residual income from it here or there. Not as much as it could be producing, but more then a lot of artist even see. So, while I did my other art: I watched what it would do.


It was a curiosity thing.


The sales I have made where from keywords.


I didn't need a website to actually apply principles websites use: because I posted all across social platforms & art sites. I just tried to make sure I used keywords when posting.


What are Keywords?


Keywords are words to describe what you are posting. When you post artwork, many of the sites allowed you to pick words to describe your work. I would pick words a person would use when searching for my type of artwork. An the ones I did this well on sold. The ones I was to in a hurry to do well, didn't.


Keywords are found when a search engine scans one of these sites, scans the digital picture. It registers the word as a descriptor. When a person searches for something using that word, it will bring up your stuff in the results. How well you describe something using keywords, will get you closer to the top of the search result.
Keywords are also in the title of the artwork you post. So having words someone would search for is helpful in getting you found on search engine results. It's also helpful in the search on the site it's self. It works the same way.


So if your on a art site, an it has a million artist on it: Paying attention to the keywords you use. An your description helps you stand out from other artist an get found in a sea of them. Their search engine, an main ones like Google scan your descriptions: An return you in the results if you do a good job of what folks would search for when buying.


Keyword results are also embedded in the page for engines like Google. In the html. Places Google, who has a whopping 60% of the market find keywords within the page. They are called meta tags. A good art site to post on is one that is search engine friendly. I can search on Google for artist dana haynes how well I'm actually keywording.


An truth is, I was normally in a hurry an didn't do that great of a job.


An know if I want to increase my art sales online: I have to go back to each of these sites an do a better job of titling them, describing the artwork an key wording them. I will get more results in search engines, an on the art sites if I invest time doing this. Which increases my odds of making a art sale online.


The low return on artist dana haynes isn't a problem: Because most folks are not going to know your artist name at first anyway. Unless you really get to the point of your KNOWN known: It's just good way to tell if your keywords all your work. Eventually, as you become more known by name: Yes, it can be a big deal. When searching for writer dana haynes, I'd expect to find that person: Not myself. But when searching for artist dana haynes: All my work should be in the results. It's not. An that is how I can tell, there is room for improvement. More sales.


I make more sales on Redbubble, then I do any other art site.
So this gives me a hint, where I am doing something right.


Redbubble has a chart you can look at to help you understand where your key-wording efforts are paying off. What I learn about looking at the chart is, about half my traffic comes from within the site an the other half is organic: With social media sprinkled on top.


What does this mean: It means when people are searching for the type of art I do: It can be found on Redbubble. It also tells me, I am bring in lil over half my traffic to sell someone my kind of art. This is good. My titles, keywords an descriptions are working to be found. It increases my chances at a sale.


I personally know most of my “organic” sales come from Pintrest.
From their search within the site. An it gets picked up on Google.


So since I know my traffic is coming from this way: I can go look at what I posted on Pintrest that is coming back in results. Look at how I key-worded it. Described it. An titled it. It's where half my sales are coming from, so I'm need to go back an look at what I did right. Then do it again that way on each piece I have. So more of my artwork gets picked up more in results, an actually in front of another persons eyes.


It's the same process a website uses to get found.
See, to sell artwork you don't technically have to have a website: Although you should to increase your chances of sales. It's the same reason you should be on social media. The same reason you should be on art sites.


The more a search engine sees “you”or you work, the higher up in the search results you go. Being in all these places, gives you a higher ranking. The higher ranking you have, the more people see your work. Increasing the chances of a sale or gaining a customer. The more you keyword right, website or not is what drives the internet.


Before social media this was important an still is.


To get a website popular, you had to network. You had to make sure you came back on as many sites as you could to be listed near the top of a search engine result. This meant spending a lot of time keywording your work an linking it on other sites. Websites would exchange links, join webrings, list with each other. The more people that shared your link, the more popular your site would get moving you up search engine results. That would increase your traffic, increasing your chances of making a sale.


The only thing that's changed is that you have a more socially acceptable way of networking. You now have ten places on social media you can share links of your work. Whether it's on your site or theirs. It's still YOUR work. You have at least ten art websites you can put your artwork on. All linking to YOU, your work. An with social media, you have people commenting an talking about it. All that can be scanned an picked up by engines. That's about 20 stable networking links. Driving them back to your work in search engine results: Allowing your work to actually be picked up by others to see.


That's more traffic then average artist would with a website back in the day.


Many would just float around in “out space”with no one viewing them. Or if it someone did, it would because they where already a face to face client. That's why I said, you should have one to back up what you already do in “real life”. But if your wanting to sell artwork online, you have to understand what drives traffic to you online.


Keywords. Networking.


When I say networking. I'm not talking about social media. I'm talking about what puts you higher up in search engine results so you can reach more customers. New customers. Customers that might be more interested in your work, then those locally. My fractal art is a acquired taste. Not everyone is into it. It has a market for it, but I have to show it to more people to find those that are into it. So when I talk about networking, I'm talking about internet networking. The “old fashion way”. Linking my work, no matter what site it's on as much as possible to drive it up search engine results to get found.


The same you'd do for a website.


I didn't have one, which I should have if nothing else to drive more content links up search engine results to get the artwork seen. See, it really doesn't matter if I have 400 people on my Facebook page, or 2999 for traditional or fractal artwork. What matters is how many links of my work I can get a search engine to pick up.


It's nice if you can drive them back to your website for more sales, or follow up sales or have some place you can create another network link for a search engine to pick up: But the number of people you have on social media doesn't isn't what's important. It's how many links can you put on it the search engine will pick up. To drive up you rank in search engines. Drive up your popularity in search engines. Pushing that up is what actually gets you art sales. Or leads in photography. Or new customers locally.


Google alone is 60 percent of results.


Whatever feeds a search engine with links that have keywords people are searching for is going to be what gets you the sales. The new customers. The niche art buyers you are looking for. So I can feed my social media with links of my art key worded on it an on the link to drive up traffic, which drives up my sales. It's not how many people I have on it selling artwork nationally, it's how many links I can put on it. An you can post as many as you like on social media. The more links back to your work, drives it's popularity. It's rank. Higher up you go. The more people find, you an add you to social media accounts.


That is how influencers become influencers. They posted a lot.
They had a lot of links. The higher up in ranks they go in search engine results.
It feeds their popularity. More add them because of it.


If your an artist, selling traditional art or niche art.
Focus on keywords & linking as much as you can.
Try not to think local, but world wide.


If your work is more local, like for example: I do portrait photography. I don't need customers for it nationally. So, I don't link link link like I do for other artwork. Your approach to a local business vs reaching a national one is going to be different. My photography business just needs to be found in specific searches for it. I don't have to reach as big of an audience to sell it. But if I was doing a different kind of photography, I'd probably have to use this approach.


So, say on social media for the artwork I sell locally. I might post couple times a day at prime time for it to be seen. Not to the point of annoying. But for a national customer base, I'd post as much as I could. As often as I could. Not because I want to annoy people, but because I want it picked up on those search engines. So, later that customer far off in another state could find me. The more links the merrier. Higher my chances.


Make sense?


It all starts with keywords. Then links. So if you keep this in mind, before you even build your website. Join an art site an post on it. Or jump on social media, your a step ahead of the game if you do it right in the first place. If you have a clear understanding of it. I do, an have to tell ya: I did over 265 pieces of art, just in fractal art that I have to go back to on each site an tweek for better results. That's 1000s of pages I have to tweek. I am not looking forward to it: but it gets the results. It wins the game. Residual sales.


Which is the goal of artist on the internet.


It's simple to do. It's pretty straight forward advice. An if you keep this advice in mind right from the start, will increase your art sales. An it last. I made an posted most of my fractal art in 2010. I am still at the top of results by taking the time to try to do this correctly in the first place. I still see traffic from it without putting in any more effort. It's pretty much stayed right where it's at. Whether I had time for social media or not. Paid any more attention to the art sites or not. It's stayed in tack, generating traffic, results an producing more customers for me. Without a lot of effort on my part since. So if you put in the work right from the start, doing it the right way will keep producing results. An that simply boils down to really understanding the technology you are working with. To sell with.


In 2013, I deleted my studio's facebook page. I deleted over a 1000 folks of my facebook page. I didn't need to reach folks locally to sell my portrait photography. I was traveling at the time. An it was a distraction. I kept all my work online that was just needed to reach a national audience in tact. It grew even when I wasn't paying attention to it based on just a years worth of real effort & hard work. I'm back to having time to focus on it an making more traditional art. I have the time to do it. An the first thing on the list to do:


Is not make any new art. But tweek what I already have produced.
That's how important keywords are. Descriptions are to art sales online. Titles.


Once I feel I have those profected, then I can really get going on linking. Internet Networking.
Then I should see a degree of advancement in art sales. Then I can get back to doing more art.


But it's kinda like taking time to clean up your studio.
Or the pause before a diver takes the dive.


In selling anything, you have to put it together in a way that a customer would want. Use. Customers use the internet to research what they are going to buy before they even buy it. There is a right way to reach them, an it's not luck.


It's keywords.


An the key to that is simply ask yourself...



“What words would someone use to search for what I'm selling”

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