by Carolyn Edlund
Want to get more visitors to your website, and more eyes on your art?
Your art website is powerful. Beyond being a digital portfolio, it’s the 24/7 global hub of your business, always available. The more visitors you attract, the more opportunities you create for sales, commissions, and long-term collector relationships.
It doesn’t take complicated tech skills to boost your website traffic. With a few smart strategies, you can dramatically increase the number of people discovering your work. Use this article as a resource to help your audience find you online.
Strengthen Your SEO
Traffic begins with being findable. You don’t need to become an SEO master, but you do need to put the right information in the right places.
Start with keywords. Think about the terms someone might use to find art like yours, such as “abstract landscape painter,” “modern botanical prints,” or “coastal watercolor art.” If you’re not sure which phrases make sense, ask an AI tool for suggestions. Incorporate those terms throughout your website, especially on your homepage, About page, artwork descriptions, and blog posts.
Optimize your titles, headers, and meta descriptions. These elements help search engines understand your content and display it accurately. Write descriptive titles and use clear headers. Make sure each page has a thoughtful meta description, and don’t forget your images. Add alt text and keyword-rich file names to every artwork.
Run a website audit. Free tools like Ubersuggest can point out missing metadata, broken links, slow page speed, and other issues that drag down your rankings. Fixing them improves your visibility.
Finally, remember that today’s searches often include AI-driven recommendations. When your website contains targeted, helpful, keyword-rich content, you increase your chances of being suggested to someone searching for exactly what you offer.
Use backlinks to increase authority and reach
Backlinks (links from other sites pointing to yours) are a major trust signal for search engines and a practical way to bring new visitors directly to your art.
Create short, shareable links. Use a tool like bit.ly to make custom, branded links you can place on social media, business cards, or print materials.
Collaborate with other artists. Share each other’s links in blog posts, newsletters, interviews, or resource pages. This expands your reach while building community.
Take advantage of press opportunities. Any podcast appearance, written interview, guest blog, or event listing should include your website link. This is also a core benefit of Artsy Shark features, which direct readers to your site while showcasing your portfolio and story.
Add your URL to your email signature. A clean, professional signature created with HubSpot’s free signature generator makes it easy for contacts to find you.
And remember that internal links within your own website matter too. Link pages to one another to guide visitors deeper into your content and improve your site’s structure.
Put your website link where your audience interacts
If your link isn’t visible, people can’t click it. Traffic grows when your website becomes a natural part of your communications.
Email campaigns. Every newsletter or update should include links leading back to your site. Invite subscribers to forward your emails to friends who might enjoy your art, and capture their traffic, too.
Social media platforms. Add your URL to all bios on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and other places. Use links to your site in captions and posts when appropriate.
Printed materials and marketing collateral. Business cards, postcards, brochures, show signage, studio labels, and booth displays should always include your website address. These make it easy for anyone to visit your website at will.
Use QR codes for effortless access
QR codes are simple to make and easy for visitors to scan. They provide instant access to your website without typing anything.
Use a free tool like qr-code-generator to create them. Then place QR codes on the back of notecards, on product tags, on print bins in your booth, on Certificates of Authenticity, in print advertising, and inside packaging for shipped orders. QR codes can dramatically increase traffic from in-person encounters with your work.
Leverage third-party platforms
Visibility improves when your website appears in more places beyond your own channels, such as:
Artist directories and membership organizations. State arts councils, local arts groups, professional memberships, and online registries often allow you to add a link to their website.
Online exhibitions and juried shows. Platforms like Fusion Art and similar online exhibitions display art with profiles that link directly to your website.
Referral and curated sites. Easily find referral sites listed in Artsy Shark’s Directory of 250+ Places to Sell Art Online. They often attract audiences who may be searching for work like yours, and link directly to you.
Creative communities and discussion groups. When appropriate, add your link to your profile or share it in a conversation where it genuinely contributes value.
Use a diversified approach
Driving traffic to your art website isn’t about one big push. It’s about consistent visibility across search engines, social media, email, print materials, and third-party platforms. When you place your link everywhere your audience naturally interacts with you, traffic grows steadily and reliably. More visitors mean more opportunities to connect, build relationships, and sell your art.
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