In my last blog post I discussed email signatures and mentioned the importance of building your ‘brand’ (you and your art). Today I want to bring up the subject of Domain Names.
Why is it important that you get a domain name for your art? Well, this all connects up with building the brand and reflecting professionalism. If you have your own domain name i.e. www.lemoigneoriginals.co.uk you own that piece of internet real estate where you can represent your art solely. You can choose the length of your domain name so that it is memorable or descriptive and people can find you easily on the internet without having to click through various layers of pages or options to get to your art.
Additionally if you have a domain name you can also have an email address connected with that domain name i.e info@lemoigneoriginals.co.uk (connected to Barbara Le Moigne’s website above). All these factors build the brand of you and your art. They communicate that you are a professional – that you are established and are taken seriously. Compare these examples with some of the web addresses you have seen that involve free hosting or free email.
Now I’m not saying free email is not good…there are many free email services that are very good and can protect against the dreaded spam. The beauty of your own domain related email address is that it looks more professional AND you can still forward all emails from it to your free email account if you prefer. This is handy when you want to check one email account only. You can still normally email out and receive emails via a webmail interface or Pop3 program for your domain related email though. So things can either run separate or connected.
How do I choose a domain name?
The domain name can be in any format but for artists the preference would be in the format of your name i.e. www.j-vandichele-artist.com or words describing your art i.e. www.artinleather.co.uk .
If you can’t get your name with a .com or .co.uk (or your country ending) then consider tagging a descriptive word i.e. art, artist, gallery, studio, originals, after your name.
What do I do with my domain name?
You let people know about it, of course. You put it in your:
- email signature
- business cards
- headed letter paperwork
- invoices
- signature line in forums
- on a card stuck on the back of your artwork (“Who did that lovely painting on your wall dear?”…”Joe Bloggs dear…Oh wait a minute his contact details are on the back of it”)
- on cards next to your art (if, where you are displaying your art, allows it)
Remember people are getting more accustomed to using the internet as the first port of call for finding the info they need. Make sure you have an easy way for people to find you.
Don’t wait until you are an established artist to find out that your preferred domain name has already been registered by someone speculating. Domain names are cheap. You can register a domain name now, start using the email straight away, redirect your domain name to anywhere you already have your art work exhibited on the Internet i.e. your Artdomain Gallery, and then add a web site solely focused on your art when you are ready.
See www.EscapeGallery.co.uk for an example of an artist who has done this.
If you need any help with your domain name, I’ll shortly have a page on Artdomain letting you know about our registration option for domain names for artists. In the meantime just contact me at art@artdomain.co.uk .
Let me know below what you think about domain names for artists. Does branding help artists or do you think it is not important?
