How to Make an Artist Website: A Step-by-Step Guide

Imagine if Picasso were among us today. What would he do to showcase his fantastic artwork to the world? Would he arrange only an art exhibition and expect people worldwide to fly to the venue?

I don't think so. He would not miss the opportunity to use a website to showcase his artwork. On this prospect, no-code web builders are making it easier and more effective for you to exhibit and sell artwork online. 

In this post, I will discuss how to make an artist website the easy way. I will cover everything from choosing a domain to publishing your own website.

So, let's take your passion and career to the next level!

How to Make an Artist Website in Easy Steps

Here are the eight steps you need to take to create a professional-looking website as an artist:

[Note: You can create any website, including an artist website, with Dorik in just 4 steps. However, to perfectly optimize and personalize your artist website, follow all the steps we discuss here.]

From designing your own website's layout, creating a domain name, and finding the right website builder, making a portfolio website requires a deep run on the go.

Today, I tried to compile all of these sticky and poking tasks more simply so you can make your art shine brighter. So, here it comes-

Step 1: Get a Domain Name

A domain name is your online identity; it is the first thing visitors see when they arrive at your website. It acts as your virtual address and aids in establishing credibility and memorability.

Getting a domain name does not mean you need to have it only for an artist website portfolio. However, websites for every type of business can't avoid this step if they want to create an online presence.

Here are some primary stages you should not miss out on while choosing a domain name-

Search Online for Ideas

You can give your eyes thorough research to brainstorm ideas from other artist websites. Think of something unique, something that would reflect your artwork. 

Avoid Numbering and Keep It Memorable

Avoid names that are hard to pronounce. Usually, having foreign words, symbols, and numbers on your domain name may confuse your potential clients and make spelling mistakes. As a result, they may end up landing on other websites instead of yours.

Get the Perfect Domain Name Extensions

Domain name extensions are also known as the top-level domain(TLD). Domain name extensions stand for the final component of a domain name. Some examples of domain name extensions are .com, .mail and .org.

Avoid using domain name extensions like - .gov, .edu, and .info for your artist website. Specifically, avoid those extensions that are used for a particular purpose. Instead, you can go for .com for your artist's website. 

Check Availability 

The domain name you have chosen also can be taken by others before you. I know it's heartbreaking, but I want to save you from this pain!!  

So, before you start seeing sweet dreams with your desired domain name in the daytime, please give it a check on a domain name generator to see if it is available or not. 

If you end up as the third one, don't get depressed. There's always more fish in the sea. You can still find better suggestions from domain name generators.

Register Your Domain Name

Once you unearth an available domain name, you are ready to register it from domain name registrar sites like- Namecheap or GoDaddy.

👉 You can also read our more comprehensive blog about how you can choose a domain name.  

Step 2: Choose the Best Hosting Provider

After selecting your preferred domain, you need to select an appropriate hosting provider and connect your domain with that provider. Here are some key factors you should consider while picking a hosting provider to make your artist website.

Next, move on to selecting the best website builder for your artist website. We’ll choose a website builder that comes with hosting so that we no longer need to deal with hosting-related tasks. Let’s see which builder is best for creating an artist website.

Step 3: Select the Best Website Builder 

Instead of breaking your knuckles and writing codes to build an artist website, you can create a site using a website builder within minutes.

With a proper website builder, your site will be optimized for SEO when you create it. You can find the best website builder among the top website builders on the market from our comprehensive guide. 

No-code website builders make it easier and faster for artists to make an artist portfolio.

Features to Look for in an Artist Website Builder

Would you mind if I shared some factors you should not miss out on while choosing a website builder? I bet you will not regret reading it.

Ease of Use: Suppose you have found a website builder offering a bundle of features to make an artist website portfolio. But the learning curve is very high!! 

Believe me. You will find yourself shooting your hands and legs together in the middle of the sea with these types of web builders.

Choose a website builder with a low learning curve that offers advantages like a drag-and-drop interface or an easy-to-use site editor.

Pre-made Templates: Opt for a website builder with a broad collection of templates that will open a vast opportunity to brush your aestheticism on your website without any struggle.

Customization Opportunity: Customizing your templates helps you stand out from the crowd and lets you build your brand identity.

Artwork Protection: As an artist, you don’t want others to steal your work. Therefore, choose a builder that provides you with artwork protection. 

E-commerce Integration: Select a website builder that lets your website integrate with popular e-commerce platforms. Consequently, you can easily present your artwork to wider potential customers. 

Gated Content: Make sure your chosen website builder enables you to create gated content. As a result, you can only show premium content to paid members. 

SEO Features: SEO is a vital part of any website if it wants to gain organic traffic. That’s why it’ll be great if your preferred builder has built-in SEO tools. 

Booking & Scheduling Features: Ensure the builder has features to help you make bookings and schedule appointments with your potential clients. Why? It’s because you never know when someone wants to hire you.

Affordability: There are a lot of builders that cost more than they are worth. Go for the builder that swiftly matches both your budget and needs.

Device Responsive Option: According to Statcounter GlobalStats, 59.81% of traffic comes online from mobile devices. So, don't make your artist website split out from the competition for not having a device-responsive site!!

Customer Support: If you face any issues while creating your artist website or after publishing, it's vital to have technical support on the go. So, ensure the builder you are choosing is always there for you to provide their support.

What Dorik Website Builder is Providing You

Besides the features I have mentioned above, you will get many more features to create your artist website with the Dorik website builder. 

I have been using it to build websites for the last couple of years, and I can confidently recommend it.

Swipe your glance at some of the features you can enjoy with this site builder, a top website builder for artists.

Collections- Create your own collections of items and use them whenever, anywhere, on any section of your site while creating them.

Native SEO- You don't need to make yourself sweat to make your website search engine optimized. It's all set up on Dorik.

Strong Integrations- Make your site stand bolder with integrations for analytics, social media connection, payment methods to sell art online and other products, and many more. 

Free SSL/ HTTPS- Dorik provides free SSL/ HTTPS certification to build your client's trust and make them feel safer browsing your site.

Hosting, Global CDN & Unlimited Storage- You need not worry about the web hosting plan because Dorik takes care of it. Once you create a site, it will be automatically hosted. 

The platform uses AWS (Amazon Web Services) & DigitalOcean web hosting services and serves static content from its Global CDN to provide a flawless experience. Most surprisingly, you will enjoy unlimited storage in every paid plan.

Content Management System (CMS)- Dorik's built-in blogging platform allows every user to write articles and publish them from their website and also serves the power to manage content.

Team Collaboration- You can add multiple team members and collaborate with them for almost every task you need to be done on your artist's website.

Last but not least, Dorik offers a 14-day trial to help you explore all its features free of cost. Therefore, given all these fantastic features, I decided to go with Dorik and will show how to use it to create an artist website. 

Step 4: Create Your Artist Website

Now, I am excited to give you a sleek tour of how to make an artist website using Dorik. Dorik lets you create websites using three methods: with AI, using a template, and from scratch.

Create an Artist Website with AI

First, create an account on this platform. 

Then, visit Sites > CMS.

You might wonder why I chose the CMS option and did not use the Static feature. The CMS site gives me more functionalities and features than a static site, which is why I opted for this CMS option.

Let’s now build an artist website with AI. Here are the primary steps to follow.

1. Click on the “+ Create New Site With AI” button.

2. Write your website name in a pop-up's first/top field.

3. Next, type a well-structured prompt to make an artist website.

If you need to know about the prompt we use to create an artist website, here you go:

I am an artist who creates unique and handcrafted artworks that span various mediums, including painting, sculpture, and digital art. Now, please build me a simple yet modern artist website.

4. Afterward, choose your website language.

5. Finally, click on the “Generate Your Website” button.

Have patience for a while and witness the magic happening before your eyes. Ta-da! Dorik has just built your artist website. Here is a screenshot of the website, which I’ve just made.

Let’s tell you that Dorik also allows you to build a CMS website using a free template rather than creating a site with AI. So, how do you do that? We’ll now figure it out.

Build an Artist Website with a Free Template

To create an artist site with a free template, you need to follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Dorik account and visit Sites > CMS.

2. Click “+ Create New Site” button.

3. Explore all templates and pick one that meets your needs. However, if you need a recommendation, I personally love Lallen - best for photographers  and G - excellent for graphic designers.

These two templates can be ideal for artists. But you are free to choose any template you prefer as Dorik lets you customize any template as you wish.

4. Choose a template and click on the “Create CMS Site” button.

That’s all you have to do to build an artist website portfolio with a template. Once the template is installed, you can edit it according to your preferences using Dorik’s drag-and-drop interface.

Not only this, but you can also create your website from scratch. Here’s how to do it. 

Create an Artist Website from Scratch

You can follow mostly all the steps associated with website creation using a template in Dorik. 

You’ll only follow a different route when you search for a template. Instead of seeking a template, you just hit the “+ Create From Scratch” button.

You’ll then notice a pop-up where you need to put your website name and domain.

After that, hit the ‘Create’ button. 

You’ll now visit Dorik’s editor.

Explore it, add a new section to your website, create new containers, write section copies with AI Text Generator, and more. 

Also, don’t forget to read the documentation to familiarize yourself with Dorik’s website customization process. 

Step 5: Add Essential Pages and Features to the Website 

Here are some pro tips you can use as a magic wand to make your artist website perform faster and better!!

Customize Your Homepage 

A homepage is the first page your targeted audience directly visits. Although you’ll get the homepage ready if you create the website with AI or use a template, you need to design it to make a solid and lasting impression carefully.

Your artist website homepage needs a few essential elements to engage visitors and showcase your work.

Start with high-quality images highlighting your art, followed by clear, compelling text telling your story. Add easy-to-use navigation to guide visitors through your site. Don’t forget to include a contact form, social media links, and CTAs to keep them connected and engaged.

Before developing your site, you can take design ideas from all the artist website examples we listed in this article. 

Add an Artwork Gallery Section

Ensure your artist website portfolio is art-focused. You can showcase the best pieces in the portfolio gallery section and keep the rest with the others on a separate page.

Here’s how you can add your artwork gallery to your website:

1. Head to an area of the homepage where you want to add an artwork gallery.

2. Click the “Add New Section” button.

3. Hit the ‘+’ button.

4. Choose a container (I recommend you select a container with 100% width to add to your artist portfolio).

5. Now, again, click the ‘+’ button.

6. At this point, select the ‘Image Gallery’ element.

Afterward, upload your artwork in image format. Add Image captions, categorize images, and work on the section background’s style and color to make your artist portfolio look more professional.

You can read this guide on how to add an image gallery to learn more about image gallery customization.

You can create a separate gallery page for your website as well. Just add a new page and follow the above process to add the gallery. We've provided a step-by-step guide on how to add a page in the later segment.

However, if you want to add one image, you can include the Image element in your artist portfolio gallery section. To do so, follow the steps mentioned above. And add the Image Slider element if you want to showcase multiple pieces at once.

Pro Tip: Use high-quality & optimized images to showcase on your artist website because the website’s images affect its SEO. Poorly optimized images can slow down your site and ruin the user experience.

According to Business Wire, 62% of Gen-Z consumers prefer visual searches over other search types. Google search engine crawlers also crawl for content that provides more relatable and accurate results. Use lightweight and heavy format images.

Besides, 90% of the information our brain can consume is visuals, not texts or any other staff (Source: HubSpot). So, use this opportunity to grab visitors' attention and turn them into consumers simply.

Read our detailed guide on image optimization to ensure your website runs smoothly, ranks higher on search engines, and delivers an excellent user experience that turns visitors into loyal fans.

Oh! Did I mention that Dorik automatically optimizes your images with its built-in image optimizer?

 That’s not all; there are many other features that make Dorik the best platform for SEO.

Add Testimonials

Testimonials are both a seal of approval and a blessing of disguise for your artist website portfolio. The words in a testimonial from your previous customers behold the transparency of your artwork. 

Thus, a testimonial works effectively to gain visitors' trust and assist them in turning their interest into a decision. 

Using Dorik, you can easily build the testimonial section, thanks to Dorik’s pre-made 250+ UI blocks. Here’s how to build a testimonial section on the Homepage with Dorik.

1. Go to the editor and navigate to your chosen homepage area.

2. Click the “Add New Section” button.

3. Pick a container.

4. Go to the left-side panel and click ‘Components’ feature.

5. Then, head to the ‘Library’ tab.

6. You can find two components, Testimonials and Testimonials & clients, at the bottom. Explore these two components, find the best-suited one, and drag and drop it into the container you just created.

Finally, change texts and images and customize the testimonial according to your preferences. 

Add Your Artwork-Descriptions

If you do not know your product's value, no one will pity to invest their time into it. Add some details of your artwork, tell the motto of this artwork, and let visitors fall in love with it!

That said, let’s see how to add artwork descriptions using Dorik effortlessly.

Suppose you want to add a description underneath an image in a container. Here are the steps to follow. 

1. Go to that image section, hover your mouse over the image (not over the container), and you’ll see a few buttons. Click ‘+’ button.

2. Then, select the ‘Text’ element.

3. Finally, write your preferred description. Nonetheless, you can take Dorik’s AI Text Generator’s help to write the description.

Add Your Social Media Links and Contact Form

People will not always search and browse a website until they feel any need for it. So, how do we connect them without sending emails or messages to their inbox?

Add your social media profile links on your artist portfolio and open the opportunity for your visitors to get connected with you. You can follow these steps to add social media icons and insert your social media profile links on the homepage using Dorik.

1. Go to the footer area or anywhere you want to add social media icons. 

2. Hit “Add New Section.”

3. Choose a container with multiple columns to add other essential features such as homepage menus, pages, a newsletter sign-up form/contact form, and social media icons.

4. Click ‘+’ button in order to add the social media element.

5. Choose the ‘Social Icon’ element.

6. Insert your social media profile links using the element editor.

That’s it. Besides adding social media icons, you can add a contact form to collect visitor data and increase leads. 

To do that, follow all these steps: Add a new section > Select a container > Head to the left-side panel of the editor > Click the Components.

Then, go to the Library component and navigate to Contact forms. Finally, drag and drop your chosen contact form into your selected section.

Later on, you can connect and store your potential client's data with third-party integrations like- Pabbly Connect, Zapier, and more if you use Dorik to build your artist website.

Add Essential Pages

Once you create the Homepage, it’s time to build other essential pages, such as an About Me, a Contact Me, a Privacy Policy, a Blog page, etc. Here are the steps to follow to create a page using Dorik.

1. Go to the Dorik editor.

2. Navigate to the left-side panel and hit the Pages icon.

3. You’ll now notice another panel with several options. To create a page, you have two options: Generate with AI or create from scratch. I’ll show you how to build a page from scratch.

That said, click the ‘+’ button. Once you do that, a page named Untitled will automatically be created.

4. Then, hit the vertically positioned three dots to edit the page name and slug.

5. Afterward, click the “Update Slug & Name” option.

7. You’ll now see a pop-up. Enter your page name and slug, and hit the ‘Save’ button.

That’s how you build a page using Dorik. You can now customize it by adding new sections, containers, components, and elements we did earlier in this article. 

Let’s now discuss a little what page your artist website must have below. 

Add Your About Page

It’s an essential page that delivers information about your professional background and practice. You need to develop an About Me page to highlight your education and work experience and build trust among your targeted audience. 

Here’s a checklist to follow while creating an About Me page

Privacy Policy

Your artist website should feature a Privacy Policy page to demonstrate your transparency regarding the data collection, protection, and use. 

You may know that many regions, including the EU (under GDPR) and the US (under CCPA), require websites that collect personal data to have a privacy policy. 

Therefore, create a Privacy Policy page to build trust with potential clients, fans, and collaborators.

Must Read: How to write a Privacy Policy page for your website

Step 6: Protect Your Artwork 

Now, pay attention to applying security measures to your artist website. Indeed, you want to protect your assets and ensure your customers' excellent privacy. You can achieve this with Dorik, as this no-code AI website builder offers three protection types: Right-click protection, password protection, and membership features.

Protect Your Artwork with Right-Click Protection

This stops people from easily downloading or copying your artwork. You can use it on all public pages. It’s useful when you want to show your artwork to everyone but don’t want them to steal it. This is a good way to keep your art safe while still letting people see it.

Let’s discuss how to protect your artwork page with right-click protection to prevent stealing of your artwork:

1. Go to CommonNinja and Sign Up for an account. 

2. Then, click '+ Create Widget'.

3. Search for right click protection on the Widget Catalog and select the 'Right Click Protection' widget.

4. Cutomize the widget according to your preference.

5. Click on 'Save Changes' and a pop up window will appear.

6. Assign your widget to a project and click the 'Save Changes' button.

7. Click on the '</>' icon to access the widget code.

8. Copy the widget code.

9. Go back to Dorik’s site dashboard.

10. Add a Custom Code element to your artwork page that you want to protect.

11. Paste the embed code you copied from CommonNinja into the HTML section.

12.  Publish your changes in order to enable the protection. 

And you're done. Now, whenever users want to copy your content, they'll get the protection message.

Protect Your Artwork with Password

You can protect certain pages with a password. Only people who know the password can view the content. This is great if you want to share special artwork with a specific group.

For example, you can share it with your email list, a group from social media, or subscribers to your YouTube channel. You can also use password protection for limited-time offers, where only people who follow you closely can see your art.

To reap the benefit of password protection, stick to these steps:

1. Go to your site dashboard and head to the Pages section.

2. Choose the page you want to protect and Hit the Page settings.

3. Click the Advanced tab on the page setting editor.

4. Navigate to the Page Access option and choose the “Enable Password Protection.”

5. Enter your password and click ‘Save’ button.

Protect Your Artwork through Membership Gating

This lets you control who can see certain artwork. You can have free members and paid members. Free members can see some extra artwork if they sign up. This helps you collect leads and gives visitors a reason to come back.

Over time, you can encourage these free members to become paid members, where they can see even more of your artwork. You can also control how people join, like allowing anyone to sign up or only inviting certain people.

We have detailed content on how to create a membership website that will guide you through every aspect, from deciding the membership model and setting up the pricing structure to implementing member login and registration functionality. 

Step 7: Sell Your Artwork

With Dorik, you can sell your virtual and physical products using your website. To do so, you need to integrate your digital payment services.  

Here’s how you can add a payment button to your artist website:

1. Go to a section where you want to add a payment button.

2. Click the  '+’ icon to add an element.

3. A new collection of elements will pop up on your screen. Select 'Payment Button' from all the elements.

4. Now, you can integrate your payment with Paypal, Stripe, Gumroad, and Paddle.

You can also change button settings from the style editor, including color, font, style, and all. Read the documentation on how to add a payment button to learn more, or watch videos on how to add a payment gateway to your artist website.

And, yeah, you are all set up to sell your product online and offline.

Step 8: Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

You can follow many strategies to rank your site on Google and its alternative search engines. But, I would like to share some SEO best practices that you can easily follow-

Above all, stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and utilize Dorik SEO to see amazing ranking results with your artist website.

Step 9: Review and Publish Your Website

Before you publish your site, it’s better to check everything thoroughly. Ensure all the landing page copies are well-written and you’ve used the best-quality content across your website, including images, videos, animation, infographics, etc.

If possible, get your website reviewed by friends, family, and experts. Take their feedback and update your site accordingly. After completing the final check, you can publish your site under a custom domain. 

Step 10: Promote Your Artist Website 

Promote your artist website to attract visitors, potential clients, and paying customers worldwide. But how do you market your site? Here are a few strategies to learn about. 

Art Blog: You can create a blog page on your site, start writing educational blog articles, and share tips and tricks related to art to draw the attention of many visitors. You can even apply SEO best practices to reach many people and grow your site organically.

Social Media: You can utilize various social media marketing strategies, such as creating posts related to your work on diverse social media platforms. You can share your blog posts on your social media accounts. 

You can even join various groups and communities to promote your site while helping people with tips, tricks, and essential information they seek.

Email Marketing: You can utilize email marketing to promote your website. Regularly craft well-written emails and send them using a powerful email marketing tool to promote your site, build your mailing list, and track your results. 

Step 11: Maintain Your Website

Once you publish your artist website, you can occasionally follow several website maintenance practices to improve your site over time. Here’s what you can do.

Some Real-life Artist Website Examples

Let's explore some of the top artist websites that will help you gather ideas and inspiration for your website. 

1. Lirona

Straight to the point, Lirona's artist portfolio website has focused on the very beginning of its artist's website design.

The artist's attention to detail in choosing a bold, stylish font with a deep, light tone is attractive. The wide, cluttered photo gallery will help her visitors inhale the artwork's vision. 

She also anchored different landing pages with individual images so visitors could learn about this particular project with clicks. 

2. Maegan Guerette 

Abandoning the website on a soft white canvas, the artist's website of mg photography kept its rhythm with the artwork's theme and overall layout. 

As a photographer, Maegan incorporated her navigation bar menu and separate fine art pages. 

She also attached this navbar at the bottom of the website. As you can see, Maegan paid attention to small details and added essential features to her website to make her blog look professional. You can follow her work strategy of building a website, too!

3. CHARLES BONGERS ILLUSTRATION

Sometimes, the simpler, the smarter. Charles is an award-winning digital artist. Keeping his artist website inherited only three pages- a landing page (where he showcases his artwork), an About, and a Contact page. 

This illustrator and the designer websites' the 'Work' and the 'About' speak louder. 

He used his about page powerfully to win customers' trust and build a relationship with them, so they instantly decide to buy his artwork now and in the future. 

4. SIVERT HÓYEM

Well-organized, focused, and simple — that's what comes to mind on the first look at this artist portfolio. The musician Hoyem's artist website is one page based on multiple sections. 

Visitors can check out his music albums tagged with the album's thumbnail and release date.

He integrated this one-page website with Bandsintown and Songkick to notify his visitors whenever he is around them for concerts. 

He also embedded his YouTube music videos in the 'Video' section and anchored his social media profiles on the 'Follow' page.

Can Anyone Build Their Own Artist Website Without Any Technical Knowledge?

Yes. No-code website builders are a do-it-yourself service that allows every persona, at every stage, to create, customize, and manage their website.

Is a Website Worth It for an Artist?

Indeed, an artist requires a website to display work, attract many visitors and clients, and sell products. A website gives an artist more control over their work and artistic narrative. It helps artists add credibility to their work and create a strong impression among the audience.

How Much Does It Cost to Have an Artist Website?

According to Forbes, to build a standard website, you may yearly spend 0 to $20 for a domain, $30 to $500 for hosting, $0 to $100 for a theme or a template, $100 to $5,000-plus on web design, $100 to $400 per year on DIY website builder, and $0 to $249 on an SSL certificate.

As you can see, the cost of creating a website is huge. However, you can trim the cost down to $18 per month if you use Dorik. 

How to Monetize an Artist Website?

Well, monetizing a website is a deep and broad sector to follow. However, I have conquered a few steps you can follow to get revenue from your artist website-

👉 Get more detailed insights from this blog - 12 proven strategies for monetizing your website. 

Shoot the Last Bullet

Finally, you are at the very last moment of the war. Shoot the last bullet and give the war an end. Taking the first step of how to make an artist’s website is like ending the final part of our idea brainstorming journey.

Now, you are well-versed in every step you need to follow. It's time to begin the game of making an artist's website!!

Good Reads

💡 How to a Create Graphic Design Portfolio Website

💡 How to Create Small Business Website

💡 How to Start a Blog

💡 Best Website Builders for Art Portfolio

💡 Best Website Builders for Personal Portfolio