Five Ways to Get Started on Your Artist Website

Still don’t have a website? Don’t fret, the following list will help you get focused so you can hit the ground running when you either decide to bite the bullet and create yoru own or hire someone else:

1. Write Your Goals:

Define at least 5 goals for your site and write them down. For instance, do you want to sell products like a store or just have visitors come and view your tour dates and new work?

2. Define Your Audience:

If you want to sell merchandise, who is your intended buyer or audience? A site for a children’s entertainer would look very different than a site for a painter whose work costs $25,000 per painting.

3. What’s in a name?:

 “.com” is still the way to go, though it’s not as important.  “.biz” and “.net” and .”org” will still do in a pinch. What is important is that the name is memorable and you don’t have to spell it out. Most artists use their name as their url, so see if that’s available first. Once you find it, I recommend buying it from Yahoo domains.  Q: Aren’t other places cheaper? A: Yeah, but do you really want to buy your next car from the used dealership on Jefferson Davis Highway, the one beside the Papoosaria?

5. Key words:

Write down 20 words you think someone would use when they are searching for a website like yours. Here are some samples of my keywords: Richmond, Virginia, Slash, Coleman, Slashtipher, storyteller, etc 

If you’re curious about what other sites use for their keywords use the “view source” tab at the top of your browser window. It should actually become your best friend. Once you visit a site, open the tab. Another window will open where you will see the html that other web site builders have used to create their site. Scroll down until you find the words “keywords.” Beside this you’ll see the key words.