Are you someone who enjoys doing artwork? Do you want to share your masterpieces online and be recognized worldwide? Then, you just happen to be in the right place.
Creating an art portfolio website has become in demand these days. If you want to get hired by a company or a client, having a portfolio website for artists is a holy grail. Due to the pandemic, most companies nowadays use an art portfolio website as an alternative in recruiting their candidates instead of hosting physical interviews. It is like having your own art portfolio website as an instant resume for an online interview. So, if you’re really determined to get that dream job, learning how to build an art portfolio website is a must.
Image taken from L’atelier
But did you also know that owning the best art portfolio website can do more than give you a job? Yes! You heard that right. We collected them all for you in this blog to give you a better view of the wonders of an art portfolio website.
Reasons Why You Should Create Your Art Portfolio Website
For our first stop, here are the different reasons why we think you should start learning how to build an art portfolio now.
1. Helps You Showcase Your Works
In the world of social media, having a strong media presence is important when seeking for a huge number of audiences. This is also the same for a portfolio website for artists. If you want to showcase your works to a larger crowd, having a decent and more reliable space is necessary. Having an art portfolio website gives you a chance to professionally present all your art pieces. When your work is coordinated and neatly placed on an art portfolio website, clients tend to develop more interest in you than other contestants, thus giving you more opportunities to get hired.
2. Builds Personal Branding
Being in the world of art also deals with a lot of competition. There are other skillful artists out there you can outshine if you do not respond quickly. You must have your own identity that will help you ace the game. Mastering how to build an art portfolio website gives you an instant advantage in getting more attention. When you finally learn how to create an art portfolio website, you must always include your personality in your design. Be unique and express yourself more. You can advertise your own skills and even share your thoughts for your art portfolio website audience to know how you see the world. In this way, potential clients and audiences will remember you easily and, more likely, pick you among their other choices.
3. Gives You More Exposure
Unfortunately, having an established collection of artworks isn’t enough to get a client. If you want to have a stable flow of audience and clients, learning how to create your art portfolio website is the best answer. Potential clients are fond of browsing on an art portfolio website when looking for their candidate. You won’t get a client if you keep your work hidden. Create an art portfolio website and showcase how excellent your skills are. Exposure is easier to achieve when you master how to build an art portfolio website.
4. Starts a Simple Business
Who says a portfolio website for artists is only meant for job hunting? By mastering how to build an art portfolio website, you can also start a simple store and sell your works online! Companies aren’t the only ones who browse and look for the best art portfolio website. Most artists nowadays design their art portfolio website to cater to potential clients and buyers. When creating your art portfolio website examples, consider adding a simple store section where your audience can browse all the art pieces you are selling. Include the price and your payment method to make it easier for them when transacting with you.
5. Connects You to Audiences Easier
The digital world has brought a significant impact on our society. One of them is connecting people together more efficiently. Owning an art portfolio website allows you to build a stronger connection with your audience. They can easily talk to you and discuss their concerns in just a few clicks without having too much trouble. An art portfolio website also saves you from the stress of answering the same questions from different people. When you create your art portfolio website, you can easily integrate a live chat feature to answer all basic questions that a curious customer would ask. You can also add your contact information and other social media accounts on your art portfolio website to let the audience connect with you easily.
Image taken from Antoine Rangotte Troletti
What To Include on Your Art Portfolio Website?
Now that you’re done with the benefits an art portfolio website can give, let’s head on to another important aspect when learning how to create your art portfolio website—the elements.
There are tons of art portfolio website elements that you can freely include in your portfolio website for artists. But to make sure you only include the best ones, we already collected them down for you in Strikingly.
1. High-quality Photos of Your Artworks
An art portfolio wouldn’t make sense without photos. Photos help in making your art portfolio website look more enticing. When you create your art portfolio website, always make sure that you only post high-quality photos of your artwork. Choose photos that show vividly every detail of your work and avoid posting dimly-lit images. You also need to avoid badly cropped photos because clients might not like them.
2. SEO
Search engines play a massive role in ensuring that your art portfolio website is visible online. If you want to make the best art portfolio website, you must make it SEO-friendly. You can simply make this step by adding anchored texts and links to your art portfolio website content. You can also add meta-descriptions to your art portfolio website to make it more SEO-friendly. Also, always make sure that your links are all working. You wouldn’t want to lose the chance of increasing your SEO ranking, right?
3. FAQs Page
Most website viewers ask the same question when landing on any website. Especially those who land on an art portfolio website for the first time. To avoid these, adding a FAQs page is the best answer. FAQs page does not only make it easier for you to handle your website audience, it also helps potential customers to get a glimpse of what you can offer them. By adding a FAQS page, you can easily guide your clients on what they can expect from you, your beliefs, and how you handle transactions.
4. User-Friendly Templates
Website templates do not only make your art portfolio website look more aesthetic. It also does the job of making the overall navigation on your portfolio website for artists flow smoothly. There are tons of pretty, eye-catchy free templates out there, but not everyone can fit what the best art portfolio website must-have. Choosing carefully when you create your art portfolio website design is important.
Take note that you are not just aiming for an eye-pleasing look. More importantly, you seek a strong art portfolio website performance worth coming back to. Here is one best example made by Ink Some Tiny.
Image taken from Ink Some Tiny
5. About Me Section
Did you know that aside from the gallery page, an About Me page is also among the most visited pages on an art portfolio website? Yes, you heard that right. Some clients want to get to know who they are trying to connect with. They want to know what the artist can do to assess if they are fitted for the role. Some even look at the artist’s educational background and personal awards. When you start to create your art portfolio website, always make sure to include an About Me page. You can add an introduction, goals, mission, vision, educational attainment, and even some of your awards. Make sure to design it creatively to create an instant good impression.
Here's one best art portfolio website example made by one of our users Julienne Feir for her About Me page.
Image taken from Julienne Feir
How to Build an Art Portfolio Website
Now for the main course, we provided you with a quick guide on how to build an art portfolio website. We also included some of our awesome art portfolio website examples to inspire you!
1. Get a Domain and Website Builder
Domain names play an essential role in making your website work. A domain is basically the name of your art portfolio website. Buying a domain means buying a name for your future portfolio website for artists. Owning a domain name helps potential audiences to find your art portfolio website. Without it, making your website work may become too complicated.
Website builders are the main game changers in making your dream come true. They can either help you build an outstanding image or do the exact opposite of it. To prevent this from happening, always make sure to only choose the best ones. Look for someone who does know how to do the job and make things easier for you to reach—just like how we do it in Strikingly.
2. Check Their Templates and Choose One
Once you’re done making your domain name, it's now time for you to pick your art portfolio website template. Themes and templates add more spice to your website. Customizing themes help you in expressing your character towards your website audience and eventually capture their attention. When you create your art portfolio website, consider starting with clean, basic themes. This is because simple templates allow you to create a website design where your artworks are the main subject.
Image taken from Strikingly
3. Post Your Best Works
After picking your art portfolio website template, you can now start selecting the photos of your artworks. Use your chosen template to arrange your works in an organized yet unique manner.
Our pro-tip: When posting your artworks, add some captions to your photos. You can include a title for the artwork, the medium you used, and even a short description of the artwork itself. Here is one best example made by our user Elly Amelia.
Image taken from Elly Amelia
4. Add Blogs
It may not seem like it, but blogs also make your website more awesome. When learning how to build an art portfolio website, you should also learn how to keep your audience stay on your website after viewing your gallery of works. Blogs can help you do that. Share blogs about your artworks, past experiences in art, and even tips on keeping the fire burning in making art.
One of our users Cynthia Blair did a good job making an art portfolio website blog.
Image taken from Cynthia Blair
5. Connect Social Media
Social media is one powerful tool to promote your art portfolio website. With Strikingly, you can easily connect your social media accounts on your portfolio website for artists. Link your social media easily and in just a few clicks. Getting more audience is never impossible.
Building an art portfolio website isn’t too easy as it may seem. To achieve the best art portfolio website, of effort, time, and patience are a must. If you’re a beginner in this field, you will surely encounter a lot of troubles when finding where to start. To prevent that from happening, you must equip yourself with the right information to help you. Do not be afraid of trying new things. Have thorough research on what you can to make the best art portfolio website you could ever imagine.
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