How to Create a Website as an Artist

[Dmitry-Afremov]

How to Create a Website as an Artist

Now let’s talk about the most important thing.

Where do you even start if you want to sell paintings online?

The answer is very simple:
your own website.

30 years ago, having your own website was science fiction.

20 years ago — possible, but difficult.

10 years ago — realistic, but still complicated.

Today?

It’s nothing.

It’s incredibly easy.

Go to Shopify.

Yes, there are other platforms, but personally I like Shopify.

Why?

Because for about $20 a month, you get a complete website with almost everything an artist actually needs.

And honestly, what do you really need?

Not that much.

What Shopify Gives You

First — analytics.

And that’s wonderful.

You need to understand:

who came to your website,
where they came from,
what they viewed,
what they added to the cart,
what they bought,
and what they didn’t buy.

This is extremely important.

Second — easy integration with:

Facebook,
Google,
Instagram,
Twitter/X,
advertising platforms.

Later I’ll explain why this matters and how to use it properly.

Third — abandoned carts.

And this is super important.

For example:
a customer adds a painting to the cart but doesn’t complete the purchase.

You already have their information.

Now you can:

contact them,
ask if they need help,
offer a discount,
answer questions,
simply remind them about the order.

And yes — this actually works.

Don’t Turn Website Creation Into an Endless Process

This is one of the biggest mistakes artists make.

They start trying to build the “perfect website.”

For months.

They move buttons around.
Change fonts.
Choose colors.
Redesign logos.

And in the end, they sell absolutely nothing.

So my advice is very simple:

Give yourself two days to finish the website.

Maximum.

That’s it.

Today, with Shopify, you do not need to know programming.

At all.

Just:

upload paintings,
upload photos,
write descriptions,
add prices,
connect payment methods.

And start working.

Don’t obsess over perfection.

Don’t become a perfectionist.

You’ll improve the website while it’s already running.

While the site is live, you’ll:

improve the design,
rewrite text,
upgrade photos,
add features.

That’s normal.

But the most important thing is:
start selling immediately.

Because a perfect website with no sales is worthless.

But a simple website with real customers —
that’s already a real business.

Painting Descriptions Are Extremely Important

Descriptions must be honest.

Not “marketing-style.”

Honest.

If it’s:

oil — write oil,
acrylic — write acrylic,
canvas — write canvas,
paper — write paper.

Imagine you are the customer yourself.

Write descriptions the way you would want to read them.

Don’t try to deceive people.

The internet punishes dishonesty very quickly today.

Forget Old SEO

After writing descriptions, stop worrying about:

tags,
meta keywords,
old-school SEO tricks.

That era is mostly over.

Google is changing.

Today, all of that works far less than it used to.

And this is where many artists live in illusions.

Honestly?

Forget it.

You almost have no chance.

And neither do I.

Why?

Because giant aggregators already swallowed almost all important keywords.

That’s their territory.

Their monopoly.

Trying to outrank them for searches like:

“buy oil painting,”
“modern wall art,”
“canvas art online”

is practically impossible.

Your Main SEO Is Your Name

This is very important to understand.

For example, our website is called Afremov.

Why?

Because that’s the artist’s last name.

If your website is called:

Smith Art,
Ivanov Gallery,
Maria Petrova Paintings,

and the entire website is about you —
Google will still rank you highly for your own name.

Whether Google likes it or not doesn’t matter.

If someone searches:
“Mr. Smith paintings,”
they should find you first.

That’s real SEO for artists.

And honestly, today that’s the maximum most artists can realistically achieve without spending millions of dollars.

SEO Agencies Will Sell You Fairy Tales

Of course, SEO agencies will tell you:

“We’ll rank your keywords,”
“We’ll get you to the top of Google,”
“We’ll generate organic traffic.”

I could personally write 50 articles about SEO.

Smart articles. Interesting articles. Beautiful articles.

But for a solo artist, most of that is almost useless.

Because modern SEO means:

huge amounts of money,
large teams,
thousands of pages,
constant technical work,
complicated tools,
years of optimization.

One artist cannot realistically compete with that.

And most importantly:
you don’t need to.

Your Goal Is Much Simpler

Your goal is not:

to beat Amazon,
to beat Etsy,
to beat giant platforms.

Your goal is much simpler:

When somebody searches specifically for you and your paintings —
they should find you.

That’s it.

And for an artist, that’s more than enough.

What Pages Your Website Must Have

You absolutely need:

Shipping Policy,
Refund Policy,
Terms and Conditions,
Cookie Policy.

And please:
don’t write these pages in horrible legal language across 50 pages.

People are not lawyers.

Write like a normal human being.

Explain:

how you ship,
where you ship,
how long it takes,
how refunds work,
how quickly customers receive their money back,
how the refund process works.

People need to understand what happens after payment.

And honestly, this is extremely easy today.

Use ChatGPT.

I personally do.

It can generate all these pages for you in 10 minutes.

Artist Biography

Next — your About Artist page.

And here’s an important piece of advice:

Don’t invent nonsense.

Don’t try to turn yourself into:

a great philosopher,
the next Picasso,
some spiritual guru.

You are an artist.

You paint the world the way you see it.

That’s already enough.

Had exhibitions? Great.

Never had exhibitions? Also fine.

Studied at an art academy? Wonderful.

Self-taught? Totally normal.

Simply explain:

who you are,
why you started painting,
what inspires you,
why you create the type of art you create.

That’s enough.

Honestly — Almost Nobody Reads It

This is simply the truth.

Unfortunately, most people won’t carefully read your biography.

But the page still needs to exist.

It’s a standard part of an artist’s website.

It creates the feeling that there’s a real human being behind the paintings.

But let’s be honest:
a biography rarely decides whether somebody buys your artwork.

About “Investment Art”

Of course, there will always be people thinking:
“What if this painting becomes worth 100 times more in three years?”

Well… maybe.

But let’s be realistic.

Over the last 150 years, how many artists truly became major investment legends?

Maybe:

20,
30,
a few dozen at most.

And during that same time, there were:

thousands,
tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands of artists.

Yes, old paintings often become expensive simply because they are old.

But if we’re talking about true global legends:

Monet,
Van Gogh,
Chagall,
Kandinsky,
Picasso,
Dalí,
Miró —

those are exceptions.

Absolute exceptions.

And honestly, even in Hollywood there are not that many true superstars.

There are thousands of actors.

But only a few legends.

With artists, it’s even harder.

It’s probably one of the cruelest lotteries in the world.

[AmberFields]

The point about building your own website instead of relying entirely on marketplaces really makes sense.

[MrBean]

The article makes a good point that many artists spend too much time chasing perfection instead of actually publishing their work and connecting with potential buyers.

[CoffeeAndRoads]

This is a very grounded and practical breakdown of what it actually takes for an artist to build an online presence today. The emphasis on simplicity over perfection and launching quickly instead of endlessly refining a website really reflects how real creative businesses grow. I also agree that having your own website and direct connection with collectors is far more valuable than relying only on third-party platforms. And one more question: I’m a young female artist — can I sell my paintings through your platform?

[SilverOakDan]

Practical and honest

[QuietHarbor22]

Not gonna lie, this feels a bit too “one-size-fits-all” for how messy the real art world is online. A lot of artists I know don’t have the same traffic, budget, or systems you’re talking about, so Shopify alone doesn’t magically solve that gap. Feels like you’re looking at it through the lens of a pretty established business and assuming everyone can just plug into the same setup.

[BlueJeansMike]

Very practical and realistic.