Becoming a website is usually one of the items on the to-do list of most artists and other independent creators.
In other words, there is a certain notion that you “have to have” your own website but it requires a fairly high level of money and/or technical complications.
However, none of this is entirely true: it is not always necessary, nor so expensive, nor so difficult.
In fact, in this guide I show you how to make an artist’s website, also with a shop.
I have accompanied each step with screenshots and I share with you the tricks I have learned to create a website.
But first you must decide if you really need your own online site.
In this guide we are going to review the main decisions you have to make and the most important issues to create the website of your creative project.
Having your own website is not that expensive but it does require an investment.
And it is not so complicated although there is a learning curve to overcome and time to devote to it.
Evaluate the pros and cons, make your own balance and choose what suits you best.
Do you need to have a website?
There is no single answer to this question.
Some of the more obvious advantages are:
- having a digital showcase (or portfolio, or reel, or whatever you want to call it) where people can see what you do,
- know your audience and communicate with them.
And while it is true that having a website gives you these possibilities and that both issues are very important, it is also true that today you can already achieve a lot of this with a Facebook page.
So (and taking into account that you probably already have a Facebook page), why complicate your life, besides, with a website?
Well, it’s so that you can take it to the next level. Even more so if you want to sell your work.
Having a website allows you:
- give a more professional image,
- to have a design that reflects what you do,
- differentiate yourself from other creatives in your field,
- get to know your audience and their behavior better,
- be able to appear in the first results of Google for certain searches,
- sell and collect directly through this platform 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
In this case your website will become your professional “operations center”.
The downside is that all this you can get requires at least some time or money or both.
That’s why there are usually two trends:
If you’re just starting out, you might want to put that energy into your creative work and a well-made Facebook page.
This will allow you to have a first contact with the public, expose yourself and see the reactions. And once the project is more solid you can take the next step and grow with a website.
Or you may prefer to have your own website from the beginning.
It is a good option for initiatives with a future projection. If you know that it will have a path (because it is viable, because you are passionate about it, etc.) and it is already decided that, sooner or later, you will end up having your own website.
So from the first moment you will show yourself in a professional way and you will be able to take advantage of having your own space on the Internet.
Now think about how you think these advantages and disadvantages would affect you (in the short, medium and long term) and evaluate whether or not it is convenient for you to have a website where you can show your creative work.