I have been sharing art online and teaching people how to do it for a couple of years now. From print-on-demand platforms to Etsy stores to Shopify and social media, and even blogging (the blog you are reading this on :D). I have personally noticed that artists suck with SEO. An artist with bad art and good SEO can easily shadow a great artist who knows nothing about SEO. For that reason, I decided to write this article and share with you the knowledge you need about SEO for artists.
What is SEO for artists?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and I know it sounds complex and scary, but keep on reading, and I will help you figure it out.
Think about this: you have to type certain words into a search engine to find an image (Google, for example, is a search engine). So, to find a dog picture, you need to type the word “dog,” and to find the picture of a dog in a Christmas outfit, you need to type that into the search engine.
That means that every picture on the internet is associated with a word or a bunch of words. Those words exist in the title of the image, its description, the image file name, etc.
As an artist, having your art optimized for a search engine means that you can find the right keywords to use with the images of your art before you put them up on a platform.
Let’s analyze SEO for artists further
I went on Pinterest, and I picked this illustration that we can work on analyzing together to understand SEO for artists a little bit better.
If you were looking for something like this, what would you write in the search bar? It could be a combination of some of these words:
- Cat
- Lady
- Woman
- Cat lady
- Sunglasses
- Illustration
- Art print
- Cat illustration
- Cat lady illustration
We could go on, but you get the point! The key to getting found online is to make sure you include a similar list of words with the art you make. Putting those words in the name of your file, the description of your image on a social media platform, as a tag, or in an image alt text for bloggers is how people are going to find your art online.
If you find it particularly hard to describe your artwork in specific words because you’re perhaps an abstract artist, then go ahead and use the dominant colors of your artwork, the style, or specify that it is abstract, etc.
Start with SEO while you brainstorm your work
This is valid if you are creating to sell (aka on a print-on-demand platform). When you are brainstorming your next sketch, illustration, or design, think of who the people looking for your design are and what words could be used to find your work.
Can you make a list of words related to the theme you want to cover? Can you write a little description of your artwork? If it’s a dog illustration, it might be difficult to find in a sea of other dog illustrations, so make sure you add key elements that would make your illustration stand out.
What I want you to remember is that someone is going to have to type words into a search bar to find your art, so if you don’t know what they will type, they probably won’t either.
3 things to keep in mind that SEO won’t fix
First, if you want to sell, make sure you are creating something that not so many people have created. A saturated market can’t be helped with SEO. Think of the number of artists making dog illustrations; a good couple thousand of them know how to SEO, and they have posted their art out there with the same words you’re about to use; plus, they already have a fan base, and they promote their art on their YouTube channel, blog, Instagram, or TikTok. What are your chances of standing out against them? And do you even want to compete with these artists? In some cases, SEO will not be helpful, so make sure you are competing in a less-covered niche.
Second, it’s not enough to be found. You need to be found for the right words, and you need to convert the people who found you online into buyers. So make sure you are equally improving your art and your internet knowledge.
Last but not least, the algorithms are pushing those who create art, optimize their creations, are found by buyers, and did sell something.
You can use AI to help establish an effective SEO for artists’ strategy
This is one of the times when I am fine with using AI as an artist. Go to chatgpt, and ask it something like, “Make me a list of search terms related to a dog illustration, and make the list huge and specific so I can use them as drawing prompts too.”
Conclusion
Next time you’re tempted to think, “What’s wrong with my art?” When you can’t sell an art piece or be found by potential customers, think, “What’s wrong with my SEO?” because I know many creatives are on the edge of giving up art for good because they can’t seem to make sales or secure licensing contracts, leading them to believe that their art is just plain terrible. Enjoy creating <3
