Creating an art portfolio website is critical to building your brand online. It’s one of the most effective ways to showcase your work on the web and attract potential clients and followers. Your talents deserve an audience and, when done right, art portfolio websites can help you build the following you need to enable you to follow your passion and possibly even earn an income from it.
As an artist, you are probably more focused on your work, creating pieces that reflect your feelings or thoughts at the moment. Building an art portfolio site may be the last thing on your mind especially when you’re in a creative kick. But getting your own website is a crucial part of building a successful career. With agents, clients, art connoisseurs and fans constantly on the lookout for the next great masterpiece, you want to be able to showcase your work to a wider audience base. Strikingly makes it possible for you to build your own free art portfolio website in minutes. In this way, you can get back to creating beautiful pieces to add to your portfolio.
1. Come up with a concept for your art portfolio website
Consider your online portfolio as your business card on the web. It has to reflect your personality and your brand. Before you start building your website, it’s important to be clear on your objectives and the overall look and feel of your portfolio. What types of content would you like to add? Check out art portfolio website examples to get inspiration and to find out what other artists in your niche are doing.
2. Select a catchy website name
To pique your target audience’s interest, you start with a catchy website name. Some creatives use their brand name as a website name while others try to be a bit more descriptive to give users an idea of what the site is about. Don’t make it too long, however, or it will be difficult for people to remember. Don’t make it too complicated as well. No one has the time to remember a jumbled mix of numbers, letters and special characters on a website address. Strikingly lets you choose a custom website name for your free art portfolio website. You can also take this a step further by registering your own personalized domain name to make your site even more professional-looking.
3. Select the right portfolio template
The next step is to choose a website template to start your website on. One of the best things about starting from a template rather than building your website from scratch is you don’t need to learn how to read or write code to get your site up. A template has already been prepared to accommodate content so it can actually stand as a functional website on its own. Think of it as the shell of a house you want to decorate according to your preferences. Having said that, templates are not necessarily created equal. Your content will drive the type of template you choose including the sections it is supposed to contain.
4. Add your best work
The best art portfolio websites do not necessarily contain all the works an artist has created so far. Most clients and agencies will not waste their time going through your entire work history so it’s much more efficient to select a few of your best work. These are pieces that represent your style and the niche in which you practice. If you still have a lot of pieces in your collection, consider dividing your work according to categories such as medium, topic or theme. You can add multiple gallery sections to your art portfolio website to keep your space organized and easy to view.
5. Write engaging website copy
Introduce yourself through brief but punchy website content. Tell people about your passion and what types of services you offer. Many clients are more likely to purchase artwork when they are able to connect with the artist behind the masterpiece. Help your followers understand the thought-process behind your work through blog articles and behind the scenes accounts.
