i-tees

A few years ago, I started another website, so I’d have a vehicle for self-expression. Ideas that just come to me and a place to show them. I already had a portfolio website with a body of work, and as I complete projects, I add more and more to it, but this new site would be different.

This would be for logos, and t-shirt ideas, about conservation, being a “green” person and designer, and assorted other ideas. So I created the site, put the images up there, and waited. Well, 2 years later, it got minimal traffic and after much thought about why, I realized it wasn’t because the imagery wasn’t any good, it was because the site wasn’t content rich, and no one could find it.

This taught me a valuable lesson in not just naming pages or posts, which I’d already known about, since earlier this year, when I took a series of online webinars in SEO content and tagging, but how the pages need to be content rich, and have the right keywords or tags, and categories. The web is a big filing system and it not only files your content by the title of the page, and the tags it has, but the date it was published. So, when your searching for something, it’s going to show you the most current as well as closest match to your query. This is why blogs are usually more effective than regular websites. Most websites are built, but rarely maintained, and just sit there, getting older and more out of date, unless you’re an artist, of course, and updating your work often.

So, I dumped the old site, created a new custom designed, (of course) Wordpress blog in it’s place, and started posting articles, galleries, and made sure everything was linked and tagged. I’ve posted almost 50 times already and have all sorts of galleries from gardens I visit while riding my bicycle, to going to the Yankee Parade in NYC.

I’m also quite good at publicity, so I’ve been pushing the blog’s address, articles and galleries through social media.

Well, I’m now going to report that the new blog, has surpassed what I imagined and now gets comments, has followers, and the traffic has improved by 1,000% or more.

When you put information out there that someone might find useful, it’ll always draw more more traffic than just showing off work. If they find the resource interesting, it may send them to your portfolio site as well. So, when you want to start a new website, consider carefully what the usage is, who’s coming to it and why, and maybe it should be a blog.

No Matter Your Industry, Look Like A Professional!

I was participating in a discussion on LinkedIn, and started to notice a pattern. Someone had posted that they were looking for design help, and of course, I, along with so many others responded. Many designers were sending their brief descriptions and some posted their web address as well. Since I was part of the discussion, until I decide to turn it off, I see everyone’s response. Many of these artists were sending links to their LinkedIn address, or their portfolio on a community art website.

This got me wondering how many artists or professionals in my or other industries do not have a website of their own. How can you look your best and be a working professional, without your own domain and site? Some said they they wished they had the time to learn web design, and some have learned Dreamweaver, etc., so they could build their own site, but that is not the point at all. Although it’s always good to know as much as you can, being able to get the job done is most important and you can always partner up.

I cannot do it all, and would never dream of wanting to. If I need copyrighting, specialized illustration, complicated programming, etc…I hire someone to work with me. I have always done this. Maybe it comes from the many years I worked on staff as an art director, realizing that I had to spread the assignments out, and would match up the designers, photographers, illustrators and more, to the right projects.

I’ve also heard recently, people in different industries, telling me they are building their own sites, and they think it looks great. Trust me, if you didn’t hire a professional, it doesn’t look good. We already have the problem of browsers (Safari, IE, Firefox) and platforms (Mac and PC) displaying the code in different ways, add into the mix someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, and that will look unprofessional.

As designers, we know more than anyone else the importance of branding, quality and professionalism.

There are so many options, and in these tough, economic times, there are ways to have your own domain and website without spending a lot, and still be able to manage it yourself, if you do not know programming.

Many clients have just this type of solution and what I’ve done is install a FREE Wordpress blog right onto their own domain and hosting account. You still have to pay for the domain name and hosting registration but Wordpress, like most blogs, gives you all sorts of wonderful options, galleries, e-commerce, pages, posts, and these blogs are really search engine friendly. You can also customize the design, by choosing a template and then adding your own header image or logo, and then adjusting the color palettes. Another option for originality is to have a designer create a custom look and then load the design into Wordpress, or other CMS (content management systems) systems like, Joomla.

Another way to go if you’re an illustrator or graphic designer, is to work with a website programmer, design the site yourself, which will cut down the cost, and just have the programmer build it.

Some artists and designers choose to build a portfolio and profile on an artist community site. I also have profiles on many of these sites. They’re helpful if we are looking for assignments and can point potential clients to our work, reviews, amount earned, ratings, etc. But what if a client is looking for a designer? How are they going to find you among all the profiles listed? Unfortunately there isn’t criteria that should be listed, such as, how many years experience do they have and in what industries?, what style do they design in? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I’ve also heard some designers say, “But if I have my own website I’ll have to promote it.” Yes, this is somewhat true. I will say that I do not get the same traffic at my portfolio site as I do with this blog. But the important thing is to have a site that’s rich in content, tags, and galleries, and it will help clients find you.

In this cyber age, whether a designer, artist, writer, or other professional, show off your best work, the most professional way.