Why Do I Need A Showcase?

What differentiates us from other Art selling sites?

All our subscribed creatives have the facility to correspond (in private) with any interested party and can, with no input from us, negotiate a sale of their work.

What stands us apart from many other art sites is the fact that:-

WE TAKE NO COMMISSION
THERE IS NO OBLIGATION
NO CONTRACT – CANCEL ANYTIME YOU WISH – FOR ANY REASON

As creatives ourselves, we understand it can be hard to part with cash upfront to display your work, with an average commission rate of 25% on top of this for any sales! We totally understand the fact that exhibitions, galleries etc. have to stand high operating costs which are passed on to us, the creatives. Even though that’s fair enough, it still hurts especially when finances are tight!

Many ‘selling sites’ rely on the fact they’ve been around a long time and consequently are well ranked by Google. However, if your page, or gallery hosted by them is one of hundreds, or even thousands, then the chances of being ‘found’ by a potential buyer are minimal. So even though the site itself may be very popular, your presence could be extremely limited!

What about sites such as Wix, Shopify, bigcartel etc?

What some of these sites offer is for you to have your own ‘website’, hosted by them. This may seem an ideal situation but it does throw up some concerns, which are not often considered when signing up.

Firstly, you will have to construct (using excellent page builder tools) the website yourself. This is no big thing as you would need to supply images and text wherever you featured online.

Secondly, there’s the ongoing costs. £20 a month will get you a stock website template that you populate with your images and details however, and here’s the rub, you will have to do all the website promotion yourself! Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) of the site will all be down to you!

See here to learn a little more about what SEO means for your site – SEO

If you don’t know how, or don’t have the inclination to get to grips with the above, then your site will just sit there along with thousands of others.

Speak to any experienced website designer/developer and they will tell you exactly the same – you can have the best looking site in the world, but if no one can find it, then it’s useless!

It is so, so important to constantly promote your site and also build it in a way that the search engines (Google, Bing etc.) can easily read and index your pages. Many books have been written on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as it’s such a huge subject, so the complexities fall outside the understanding of the average website owner. There are companies out there that do nothing else other than specialise in SEO, and charge huge fees to get your site in front of as many people as possible.

Should I build my own website? There can’t be much to it.

I’ve written a separate article on this subject here: Should I Build My Own Website

Do I need a Showcase?

If you are a creative person and you don’t already have a presence online you really are missing a trick, now more than ever. We probably don’t need to tell you that people spend an enormous amount of time online, either searching for specific things on their phones, tablets or computers or browsing through images of interest, and if your work isn’t visible online, they certainly won’t be able to discover you!

For the price of a couple of coffees a month we can give you that presence you need so next time someone asks to see your work, just flip out your phone or tablet and show them your professional gallery!

What can you do for me?

Ok, let’s be realistic! We’re not going to make crazy comments like ‘we will get your page to the top of Google’ etc. This is just not feasible. What we will do however, is use our knowledge to build your Showcase in a way that will be readable by search engines, and will consequently get your Showcase page included in the search indexes. We know many legitimate ways to promote your site in and around the ArtShowcase website and we will be helping you by promoting Showcases on Social Media.

Realistic Expectations?

Many people think that once their shiny new website has gone online that their fortunes will suddenly change. Unfortunately, this is being a little unrealistic. Your site will be in competition with a lot of others however there’s no need to despair as only a fraction of sites online today have seriously taken onboard the benefits of online marketing (social media, SEO, cross linking with other sites etc.) so with a little effort on your part, and our help, good results are achievable.

As a subscriber what can I do?

It’s in your best interest to promote your own webpage (Showcase) and the quickest and easiest thing you can do once your Showcase is online is to copy your web address and share this wherever possible. If you already have a website, or know a friend who has one, then link back to your Showcase page.

Here’s an example: Teignmouth Focus is a Photographer whose Showcase is situated here: https://artshowcase.co.uk/teignmouth-focus/ This web address or URL, has been copied from the Showcase page and can now easily be shared around social media, websites etc.

Please note: if posting on someone else’s page or forum etc., always get permission first before posting a link to your Showcase page. This is considered good etiquette and is always appreciated by whoever runs the site.