So you've got yourself a new website, you've uploaded all of your artworks or photographs and added in your content. That's phase one of having a successful website - having one that is full of great things for people to look at and read.
The following are our recommendations for giving your website the best start possible for when you are ready to launch:
1) Get Your Own Domain Name
Make sure your website is running on your own domain name, not a sub domain such as www.myartwebsite.gallereo.com. This is important for looking professional and putting out a good image, as well as being important for search engines understanding who you are.
2) Get Involved in Social Media
You might not be a big fan of Facebook or Twitter, but these sorts of platforms can make people aware of who you are and what you do. Create a page or an account about you as an artist or a photographer, and let people know when you have created some new works or have an exhibition coming up. You can then link these into your website so that people who are interested can find out more about you.
3) Search Engine Optimisation
Try and get to grips with search engine optimisation (SEO). The more you can do here, the more chance your website has of doing well. We have written some previous blog posts about SEO, including one on
researching your keywords, and also one about
on-site optimisation. We always recommend
Search Engine Optimization for Dummies as a great book for anyone wanting a comprehensive, but straightforward take on things as well.
4) Set up Google Analytics
Make sure that you are able to track how much traffic is coming to your website and where they are coming from. Find out where in the world they are located and what keywords they are using to find your website. All of these things can help you to develop your site and your SEO campaign accordingly.
5) Google Webmaster Tools
Grab yourself an account on Googles webmaster tools and submit your website. This ensures that the Google search bots make the rounds to your website and start listing your pages in the search engines. You can also find information here about any problems that the search bots have with your site, such as if pages can't be crawled for any reason or your site has broken links.
6) Tell Anyone and Everyone
Possibly the easiest thing for you to do. You have a new website, so don't be shy about it; tell people. The more people you tell, the more people that will look at it and the more you might find people recommending you. The more people that know about your website, the better.
These are just a few things that you can do as your launch your website out into the big wide WWW. If you have any other suggestions, or things that worked well for you when you launched your website - let us know!