In these couple of weeks, my website marketing have been taking all my times. Even in my dreams at nights, I’ve been submitting my website links to search engines.
You know, in last February, Google changed their search algorithm for what they calls "high-quality" content, which has dramatically shaken up the businesses of websites that moved up or down its search rankings.
What dose it mean?
I believe this comment I’ve found in Websites to Google; "You’re killing our business!" would tell you all;
"My God. I just lost 40% of my traffic from Google today," said commenter DickBaker. "Referrals from Yahoo, Bing, direct sources, and other sources are the same, but Google dropped like a rock."
Actually, this is never other people’s problem to me. As an artist, who’s been working on my art exposure in this internet world, I am also the one who got some negative impacts from there.
In these past some months, the numbers of the inquiries from my Online Gallery Shop had dropped a lot. I was wondering what’s going on.
At first, I naturally thought it was because of the current severe social situation being caused by the recession of the world, but after all, I had found that my website Google page ranking had got dropped so my shop website was not getting shown on the top of Google search as before anymore.
It was a shocking discovery, but on the other hand, it brought me a new hope.
If the silence of my online gallery was caused by the world economical depression, it would be a little hard for me to control it, but it seems like this problem was being caused by the bad effect of this website ranking status. Then why not to learn about this new SEO things a bit more?
The brighter news was that it was something which I could manage by myself for the better change. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am not a rich fat world famous artist who could afford to hundreds and hundreds dollars to hire professional SEO people, but time is always on my hands. Besides, I love playing with those new information and puzzles.
I lost no time in getting to work!
OK, so now let’s see what I’ve got….
Regarding to the complicated references of the new SEO techniques for improving website rankings, you could find thousands of suggestions from other smart internet experts in "Google search", such as ‘Google Challenging SEO Rules‘, ‘SEO rules have changed. Do you know the new rules?‘, so I am not going to give you more tortures to keep reading my funny English on and on, but I could add a couple of tips which I can share from my actual experiences here.
Firstly, please take a peek at my page;
"URL submission resources for website marketing".
Here is the list where you can submit your website URL for free or a little fee or reciprocal Link. I also have listed some pay services which you can use for your website marketing.
I made this SEO list
originally for my personal use, but since it made an useful list, why not to share with friends who support my art?
One tip for search engine submissions here is that some search engines keep the links for lifetime by one time submission, but some drops in some months, so it is important to keep submitting your URL to them constantly. I will also keep adding new links, so I would like to encourage you to book mark this page to add your SEO references. *thanx*
Secondly, What I would suggest is listing you and your art in ‘quality’ artist profile listing websites.
While I have listed some of them in my page above, in internet world, you could find hundreds artist listing websites which also providing the service of selling your art with. I think it is a good idea to list your information on them as long as they offer you to add your website links.
By the way, most of them offer artists profile placements for free, but if you want to sell your artwork with them, you may be asked for some fee.
But wait! Before you take your credit card out from your pocket, I would encourage you to take a little time to make some research.
Check their Google page ranking.
Even the website looks very neat and cool, if their monthly fee is high and their page ranking is low, they could be making money rather from artist registration fee than actually selling art there.
Also you can check Google search results, putting some keywords like "buy art online", not "sell art online". You know what I mean?
Your target is the art buyers who are checking search engines to find and buy art, not the artists who are looking the places to sell their art, right? Then you have to list your art on the places where art buyers check up on first.
When you fish, you put a bait which fish likes, not the bait which you like. Marketing is the same. To scatter baits in the right places, you must always think from the side of your target.
Here, as one of the effective artist listing websites for your art prints sale, personally, I would recommend Fine Art America.
I’ve been on their website for more than three years now, and they are the only artist website who is actually selling my art prints to bring me checks constantly.
Besides, their fee is very reasonable. You just need to pay thirty dollars once in a year. It’s not the monthly fee.
Once you get your gallery page up, you may need some marketing to let the world know about your art and your shop. I usually place my ads on free classifieds, also social networks service page, such as my facebook fan page.
Also, if you want to be more serious, you could open your own online art gallery shop linking those outside services as the extension of your online shop. In that way, you can own your shop online without worrying about shopping cart, customer support and any other complicated works to deal with the sales. You just need to work on building the traffics. Rest are taken care of by the printing service website people.
In that meaning, this Fine Art America is a very reliable service where I can send my customers to with my confidence.
Isn’t this an impressive story?;
One day, I’ve got contact from them. They said that they got an order of my art print, but my digital artwork image I uploaded to them had ‘slightly’ unnatural light spot and they made me fix it for three times until they gave me their OK to put it on their printer.
It was some extra work, but it gave me confidence on their sense of responsibility to provide better products to their customers.
I hope those tips would be some helps for your successful website marketing.
In this current uncool world economical situation, most artists’ lives are struggling. Even some art galleries where I’ve shown my art at had to close their doors in San Francisco, too.
I do not blame people if they wanted to buy food rather than art which dose not fill their stomachs in these days.
But after all, this situation rather opened my eyes for the new possibilities of my art marketing in internet world.
Compare with the old time maestros who did not have so many options for their art exposure other than depending on the connections of professional art dealers, we are lucky to live this cyber society where we could develop new markets as wide as we want without relying on those traditional methods so much. We just need ideas, knowledge, times, patience and challenging spirits.
In fact, the traditional way of the art exposure at physical gallery shows are fancy and cool, but honestly, it could have brought too much works to an artist like me, who do not speak language here so perfectly, who do not know even how to start car engine to transport my art, and in the bargain, who is a single mom with a little wild one who’s been really good at messing up my schedule.
As you may already know, to make a show at a gallery takes a lot of energy and times of artist. Starting with art submission, interview meeting, preparing for information, art transportation, sending out invitations, hanging (depend on the type of galleries), attendance to art opening reception, etc, etc…. And the greatest thing is that there is no guarantee that your art could actually sell in the show. Time to time, I could not help but feel like what I was doing was just decorating galleries pretty for free labor?
Ofcause I understand you say that it is important to have your art out in front on people’s eyes constantly. But in my experiences, unless you got a chance to show at famous or well-known galleries, the show at ‘some’ galleries would not leave you so much credits. I have shown at several places in San Francisco till now, but not so many special things left on my hand which I could add to the developments of my art career here.
In those wander, I’ve started being infused with new hopes in this modern generation tool where you can keep spreading your information to all over the world 24 hours 7 days without respite.
If you established original connections of your art in internet, the effect and possibility could be limitless.
Moreover, the best part of this ‘independent’ internet marketing is that you do not need to worry about the reactions of art galleries who mostly like to have art that can sell. As long as you market your art by yourself, you are the boss. You don’t need to worry about making any "compromise" on your artistic calling to modify your works to suit other people’s market conditions.
To be known in the world is a very important job for artists. Marketing art in internet makes it possible to spread your name and art as wide as you wish. The wider you spread your art, the more chances you could get to have them reach to various buyer’s eyes. Actually, my art has been selling more actively online than physical gallery shows these days, having my paintings get "adapted" by the art patrons from many different places in the world, whom I could have never met if I was just showing at San Francisco local galleries.
My future dream is, I hope that someday comes when these two ways, traditional way and modern way, meet together. I mean, spreading my art in internet to the world widely, I want to have a cosy base here in San Francisco where I can make my art showing them at a few relaxing regular galleries who truly love my art.
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Life is Beautiful 