Social Network Marketing for Artists
An artist here in Ojai inquired about some web marketing assistance. I had a hard time pinpointing exactly where he was going
to get the most bang for his buck.
Search engine optimization probably won't help much because an artist has very little textual content on the pages. We could do some standard link building, but its fairly expensive and I don't think its going to have the kind of impact we'd both like to see for his site.
So I recommended that his best bet right now is to concentrate on social media, particularly social networking sites that focus on artists. Basically, an artist need to sell himself through his imagery, and traditional search engine optimization doesn't really cut it - an artist is better off seeking the communities where people are looking for art.
I did some research and found the following online communities that are chock-full of artists.
Search engine optimization probably won't help much because an artist has very little textual content on the pages. We could do some standard link building, but its fairly expensive and I don't think its going to have the kind of impact we'd both like to see for his site.
So I recommended that his best bet right now is to concentrate on social media, particularly social networking sites that focus on artists. Basically, an artist need to sell himself through his imagery, and traditional search engine optimization doesn't really cut it - an artist is better off seeking the communities where people are looking for art.
I did some research and found the following online communities that are chock-full of artists.
For an artist's own site, even without a lot of text, there are still some opportunities for visibility on the web. Be sure to name the files intuitively, and use the available attributes in the image tag (alt="" and title=""). This should increase visibility in Google Images and other image searches.Maccaca
Amateur Illustrator
MyArtInfo
ArtUproar
deviantART
Saatchi Gallery
Bebo
Ning Artist Search
Social Media SUPER List
ArtFlock.com (added 01/25/08)
Folio Link (fee)
ArtSpan (fee)
I'd like to throw ArtFlock.com into that list. We're actually pretty good when it comes to artists names being return quite high up the results. We're free to join too. Would you say that it would help an artist to join as many of these sites as possible? Or can too many do damage?
Hi Ed -
ArtFlock.com is a really nice site - I added it to the above list.
I'd recommend an artist joins as many sites as possible, as long as those sites reflect the artist path and core values. So a surrealist painter joining an anime site might not be the best fit, but in general, building visibility and links back to the artist's personal site will benefit the artist in the long-term.
There is no danger or damage with building out these kind of links or web presences at all, from a web marketing standpoint.
For the most exclusive artists, branding becomes more important, where the notion of controlling one's image and availability might outweigh the benefits of building out profiles on other sites. This would be similar to the music industry, where the superstars may want to tightly control their brand, but for the 99% of artists looking to build and nurture their fan base, visibility is the key.