Effective Websites for Artists and Art Groups!

Errata and Updates - 2/18/08

The following updates and corrections are provided as a free service for purchasers of the book Effective Websites for Artists and Art Groups. If you have not purchased the book, click the picture on the right for complete information.

NEW!

Indicates links that have been added since the publication of the book

Since this section is intended as a resource for purchasers of the book, please don't link directly to this page. However, I would certainly appreciate a link to http://www.artchain.com/effective-websites-for-artists

Please report errors or corrections to ewfa@artchain.com

Appendix A: Links

Internet & Technical

Domain Lookup

Find out who owns an Internet domain name. Most domain registrars also provide domain lookup services, but this service is free to anyone:

whois - http://www.whois.com

betterwhois - http://www.betterwhois.com - another company providing “whois” domain lookup services. Despite the name, it is not necessarilly better than any other.

Keyword Optimization

Word Tracker - http://www.wordtracker.com - an inexpensive though somewhat complicated tool for finding the best keywords for your website

Google Page Rank

Determine your Google Page Rank:

PageRank.net - http://www.pagerank.net/pagerank-checker

PageRank Tool - http://www.pageranktool.net

Site Traffic Rank

Find out how your site traffic compares to other sites worldwide

Alexa - http://pages.alexa.com/associates/sitereport.html - enter your website URL in the “Search Our Site” box at the top of the Alexa page

Site Promotion

Search Engines

Once sites start linking to your site, the search engines will “find” you - but if you want to speed the process, you can submit your site directly to the big 3: Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Don’t bother with the smaller search engines - they either get their data from the big search engines, or nobody uses them. Also, don’t use a “paid submit” service - it’s not necessary.

Google - http://www.google.com/addurl

MSN - http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=WSDD2

Yahoo - http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request

Directories

The two largest directories are Yahoo and the Open Directory Project (DMOZ):

Open Directory Project - http://www.dmoz.org -very slow to process submissions

Yahoo Directory - https://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro - charges an annual fee

Other general directories that are worthwhile include:

A-Free-Directory - http://www.a-free-directory.info

AbiFind - http://www.abifind.com

Land-Of-Links - http://www.landoflinks.com

New Web Directory - http://www.newwebdirectory.com

SearchWarp - http://searchwarp.com

WikiDWeb - http://www.wikidweb.com - a highly recommended, searchable web directory, but kind of complicated to add a link. Get a “techy” friend to help you!

A few art-specific directories include:

ArtChain - http://www.artchain.com - a free, searchable directory for art groups, guilds and galleries

Art Promote - http://www.artpromote.com - free listings and links for artists and galleries - suspends free submissins when they are backed up - just try again in a few days

NEW! Art Resources - http://www.artresources.com - free listings and links for artists and galleries - suspends free submissions when they are backed up - just try again in a few days

NEW! Art Wanted - http://www.artwanted.com - free galleries and links for artists

NEW! Art Web Links - http://www.artweblinks.com - free and paid submissions for artists and art organizations

NEW! ArtXpost - http://www.artxpost.com - free galleries and links for artists

Gallery Sites - http://www.gallerysites.com

NEW! VoodooChilli - http://www.voodoochilli.net - free galleries and links for artists

World Wide Art Resource - http://wwar.com - requires a reciprocal link with a small icon, but this highly-ranked directory is probably worth an exchange

Your Art Links - http://www.yourartlinks.com

Press Release Services

These are free press release distribution services... in general, don't pay for the "upgrades," except for perhaps PRweb, which seems to offer good value for the $30 package. These services do not take the place of sending out traditional press releases to appropriate publications. They are another way to get the word out about your art-business announcements.

24-7 - http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

Absolute Arts - e-mail to: artsnews@absolutearts.com

Article Networks - http://free-press-release.articlenetworks.com

Arrive Net - http://www.arrivenet.com

PR Free - http://www.prfree.com

PR Web - http://www.prweb.com

Article Syndication Services

Post your articles on these sites to increase your visibility and get links. These sites can also be used to find articles you can use on your own website, with appropriate credits.

Article99 - http://www.article99.com

ArticleBlast - http://www.articleblast.com

Articles Base - http://www.articlesbase.com

E-Zine Articles - http://ezinearticles.com

Go Articles - http://www.goarticles.com/

IdeaMarketers - http://www.ideamarketers.com

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Sponsored advertisements that appear alongside search results, and on other web pages.

ExactSeek - http://store.exactseek.com - this is actually not a PPC program; ExactSeek offers inexpensive flat rate sponsor ads on the largest independent network of search engines

Google - http://adwords.google.com

MSN - http://adcenter.msn.com

Yahoo - http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com

Blogging

Your ISP or hosting company may offer blogging software, but there are a number of very good free blogging services.

Blogger (aka Blogspot) - http://www.blogger.com - excellent free service

Live Journal - http://www.livejournal.com - free and paid options

MSN Spaces - http://spaces.msn.com - Microsoft’s free blogging and community site

Typepad - http://www.typepad.com - paid service with lots of advanced features; free trial

Selling Online

Yahoo Stores - http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/merchant

Online Payment Services

Simple services that allow you to accept payments online, in exchange for a service charge. PayPal, which was purchased by eBay in 2002, is by far the best known of these services.

BidPay.com - http://www.bidpay.com - suspended operations in December, 2005

ClickandBuy - http://www.clickandbuy.com

PayPal - http://www.paypal.com - the most widely used and recognized online payment service

StormPay - http://www.stormpay.com/

Website Alternatives

Auctions

eBay - http://www.ebay.com

Communities

EBSQ - http://www.ebsqart.com - tools, resources and online gallery space for self representing artists

Gallery Sites

The following sites offer galleries for artists:

Absolute Arts - http://www.absolutearts.com - a high Page Rank site with free and paid galleries

Art Boomer - http://www.artboomer.com - free and paid galleries

Artist Portfolio - http://www.artistportfolio.net - free and paid galleries

NEW! ArtScuttlebutt - http://www.artscuttlebutt.com - an artist community site with free profiles and gallery pages

Artspan - http://www.artspan.com - paid galleries only

Art Wanted - http://www.artwanted.com - free and paid galleries

FineArtPost - http://fineartpost.com - paid galleries only

FolioLink - http://www.foliolink.com - paid galleries with 7-day free trial

Qfolio - http://www.qfolio.com - site design and paid galleries

Other Online Markets

Etsy - http://www.etsy.com - “Your place to buy and sell all things handmade”

Mailing List Management Services

Free List Services

Your ISP or hosting company may also offer free mailing list management.

Topica - http://lists.topica.com

Yahoo Groups - http://groups.yahoo.com

Commercial Mailing List Services

A-List Hosting - http://www.a-listhosting.com

ConstantContact - http://www.constantcontact.com

MailerMailer - http://www.mailermailer.com

Making Money with your Website

Talking About Art

Online Discussion Forums

Beware! These sites can become a real time-sink if you get too involved.

ArtAffairs - http://www.artaffairs.com/forum.asp - a very active, professional forum

Crafts Report - http://www.craftsreport.com/board - The Crafts Report Forum is a very active and useful discussion board. Most of the people there make their living selling their work, so they have lots of useful information about everything from credit card services to places for buying framing supplies.

Craig’s List - http://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=49 - The CraigsList Art Forum is much less professional, but it can be a good place to get feedback on your work and ideas.

Legal

Copyrights

For information about copyrights and instructions for registering the copyrights on your artwork:

United States Copyright Office - http://www.copyright.gov/

Web Design

Humor

Web Pages that Suck - http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com - a humorous look at many things that can be done wrong when designing a website