I’m often asked what is the best way to set up an inexpensive website for artists as many of my friends are artists on a tight budget, etc. I’m going to show you how we’ve accomplished this for some of our friends who have needed an inexpensive but attractive and functional website.
Artist’s Website Requirements
1. Updates/ Social Media/ Blog. Usually the artist, musician, writer, or healer wants to be able to update their website themselves. Sometimes they want a blog, FB and Twitter icons set up so they can promote their website. This is the main reason I recommend WordPress Websites. WordPress is a blogging platform, it’s easy to update, and it’s easy to add links to FB, Twitter and other social media and plugins that allow for sharing.
2. Aesthetics As artists, musicians, healers we usually have some aesthetic requirements! We want the site to look great and be personalized to match our art. There are 1,000’s of WordPress templates, and they are easy to customize so that’s another reason I choose WordPress for artist friends.
Samples of WordPress Websites for Artists, Musicians, Writers & Healers
Asma Salehi – is a painter friend of mine. About a year ago she translated a children’s book she remembered from her childhood in Afghanistan and we set up this WordPress website at that time. The site is flexible so she’ll be able to use it to promote her different art projects moving forward. Under $1000.
Stories of Seniors – This fun blog about seniors and elders is written by my sister. The design isn’t custom like the other samples. It’s actually a free WordPress template she selected. This site needed no design work making it the most inexpensive. Under $500.
Psychotherapy for Pregnancy Loss with Donna Rothert – Donna had an existing site but was ready for a different look and feel. She selected colors and artwork and we discussed the site outline together. She had hosting and a domain already which she sent over. We at Full Orbit Web and Marketing set up the template and designed the header. For her we loaded the content and the links and made some small changes to the existing keywords. Cost about $1000.
Journal of a Moss Enthusiast is my own art blog about moss. Tod, our Senior Programmer & my husband, put this WordPress Website together for me. I picked the font, photo, and wrote the text. It has a blog sign up and social media buttons so people can follow my blog. Under $1000.
Polarity Wellness is a bodywork & tarot (and more) business from Miriam Jacobs. She designed the banner with guidelines from us. We did the WordPress set up and trained her to update the site and blog. See the cool rotating tarot cards. Under $800.00
Prices and Process
I listed the prices above. These projects I do as hourly projects as each client needs different amounts of design work, planning and set up help.
Inexpensive WordPress Website Software Set Up would look something like this:
- Hosting and domain(s) purchased by client
- Client outlines site and writes content
- Client picks a free WordPress Template and any photos they’d like to add
- Client gets .5-1.5 hour(s) of training on WordPress, Blogging (optional) & Use of Keywords
- Installation of relevant plugins, Google Analytics and social media icons and links.
Karen Nierlich is a internet marketing consultant for Full Orbit Web and Marketing. She enjoys consulting with clients about marketing strategies, blogging, keywords and much more. She is also a photographer and you can see her work at www.iheartmoss.com.
Notes about Free or Nearly Free Websites: I don’t recommend the website tonight packages you can find on GoDaddy.com or Yahoo.com. When I do see those websites they usually look canned, very dull and they usually can’t be optimized. Meaning you usually can’t place keywords on the site to help people find your site on search engines.
Update to this post on 5/29/13 – Recently noticed Wix.com and Webbly.com have great templates for those who need a simple, brochure site. No programming needed to set up these sites. Wix.com does have spaces for keywords and can be optimized. I don’t know about Webbly.com.
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