With today's competitive landscape every artists needs a place where their art work can be seen. No, not on Myspace. Building a website has never been easier than it is right now. With all the free resources available today, there is no reason why you, as an artist, can't have one. To begin, lets break down what will be need.
- Domain - a domain is the address to your web site. For example, "www.blogger.com" is the address or domain. This should cost roughly about $7 to $12 a year, and should be consistent with your topic. Check to see the availability for your desired domain is free here.
- Hosting - Once your have a registered domain, it is time to consider a hosting plan. Hosting is "who" will be your provider for storing your web files such as pages(*.html), images (*.jpg), or whatever else you might want to place on your website. The price varies by what service is needed. For example, an artist with 100 good quality images wouldn't need anything larger that 5 gigabytes. In fact, that would probably be way too much storage space anyways. Some site will even host for free, but be wary of sites that offer free hosting with advertisements attatched.
- Wep Page Creating Software - For the beginner, I recommend investing in some cheap web design software before you dive into the source code and figure it out for yourself. Another alternative is using the Windows Word or Publisher if it is available. It may not be the best software for developing sites, but it will help you get the foot in the door. However, if you have a little bit of extra cash to spend you could look at Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page. These are both very good programs and user friendly as well. The most easiest route to go might be to find a layout (tons are offered for free online). But if all else fail and nothing is available to you, look towards Google. They have a few resources to get you moving without spending a dime on domains or hosting plans.
So now that we know what we need to build a page, we have to decide on how we are going to design the site with a plan. You will need to ask yourself a few questions to start off:
- What am I trying to accomplish? - Are you building this to only show off your art work or are you building this as a professional artist?
- Who will be visiting this site? Potential clients & fans, potential galleries or studios, or just family and friends?
- Do I have everything ready to begin building the site? - Aside from the domain, hosting, and software, do you have all your images, bio, or similar elements that a portfolio would entitle ready?
The next piece you'll need to plan for is the structure and elements you want to include. Here are some ideas you may want have on your web site:
- Bio Page
- Categories - Ex. Paintings | Sculptures | Glasswork OR Cityscape|Landscapes|Ocean Scenes
- Events page - List of dates and events. Possibly include a RSVP page.
- Galleries - Where can someone find your art?
- Contact Page - How are your visitors going to contact you?
- Blog - Keep interested clients informed about what your up to.
- Recent Creations - Anything new?
- Guestbook - Let you fans and clients leave comments about you.
- Share this page - This feature allows your visiters to send a particular page to someone else.
- Other useful resources - You may want to "secret" create a page where you or someone else can download or print specific resources such as a printable portfolio, a biography, or a price guide for your work. Who knows where you might be when you need one.
Finally you have a plan and know exactly what features you want on your site. Now you just need to get started on and you will be on the web in no time.
