A vibrant, colorful illustration of a whimsical town with varied houses, lush plants, and swirling patterns under a starry sky offers inspiration for 15 top tips on crafting portfolio websites for artists. A large moon dominates the background as shimmering stars and falling meteors complete the scene. Wildcurrant Marketing
|

Portfolio Websites for Artists

My 15 top tips

Creating an impressive portfolio website is essential for artists and gallery owners to showcase their work, attract potential clients, and grow their online presence. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just starting out, your online art portfolio is your digital gallery—where you can share your artistic process and creativity with the world.

But how do you make sure your own website stands out?

The image above is by artist Kerry Shearer and if you would like to see more of her work, click here.

Let’s dive into some top tips that will help you create a stunning and effective portfolio website

1 Understanding Your Target Audience

First things first: know who you’re designing for.

Imagine walking into an art gallery—what kind of people are they? Art enthusiasts, potential buyers, other artists? Your website should cater to these audiences.

Think about which social media accounts bring your website the most traffic. What kind of potential clients are following your there and at what price point?

Are you showing up there consistently with a mixture of recent work and older pieces?

In 2025, I suggest that you post three times a week, 2 carousels and one Reel. Can you commit to a schedule like this?

Tailor your content and design to meet their expectations. If your audience is more contemporary, go for a modern design; a classic layout would be more appealing if they’re traditionalists.

And dont forget how crucial white space is to show off your work both on your website and your social media.

2 User-Friendly Navigation

Imagine walking through a labyrinth without signs—frustrating, right? The same goes for a confusing website. Keep your navigation simple and intuitive for ease of use. Use clear categories and tags so visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly.

If you work in more than different mediums or produce different types of work, make sure your website has separate pages for each.

This is because each page is search engine optimised for one key term – you don’t want to muddy the waters with Google.

A well-organised site encourages visitors to stay longer and explore more of your work.

3 Your Artist Statement

Think of your artist statement as a warm, personal invitation into your creative world. It’s like sitting down with someone and sharing the heart behind your artwork – the passion, the inspiration, and the unique journey that brings your creations to life.

An artist statement is usually written in the first person whereas an artist’s bio is written in the third person.

6 An Engaging About Page

People love stories—what’s yours?

Use your About Page to share your artistic vision, inspirations, creative process and achievements.

Connect on a personal level with your audience by being authentic and transparent.

Let them find the relevant information quickly.

An engaging story can make you memorable and relatable, turning casual visitors into loyal fans

5 High-Quality Images

Your artwork deserves to be seen in the best light possible.

Invest in professional photography to capture high-quality images of your work.

Poor-quality photos can detract from even the most stunning pieces.

Also, remember to optimise these images for the web without losing quality.

Fast-loading images improves user experience and SEO rankings.

How do you make sure your images are fast-loading, which in turn will speed up your website load speed? I have a blog HERE that will tell you all you need to know.

6 Showcasing Your Best Work

When it comes to displaying your artwork, less is often more.

Curate a selection of your most impressive pieces rather than overwhelming visitors with everything you’ve ever created.

Think of your portfolio as a highlight reel.

Quality over quantity is key here. Choose works to display that best represent your style and technical skill level. This not only makes your site look professional but also keeps a strong impression that keeps visitors engaged.

7  Incorporating Testimonials and Reviews

Ever bought something based on a friend’s recommendation? That’s the power of testimonials!

Displaying client feedback prominently on your site builds credibility and trust.

But dont put these all on one page, scatter them throughout your website and cut the fluff – let the viewer see the important parts of that testimonial only.

Positive reviews from satisfied clients can significantly influence potential buyers’ decisions.

8 Including Contact Information

Make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you.

Include multiple contact options such as your email address, a short contact form, social media links, or even a phone number if you’re comfortable with that.

The easier it is to reach you, the more likely you’ll hear from interested parties.

If you sell from your website, then you will need to add your address (you can do this in the website footer).

9 Remember to connect your website with your social media platforms

My advice: only add those social media icons that link out to the platforms in the FOOTER of your website. You want to keep your viewers on your website for as long as possible, not give them the easy opportunity to pop over to Instagram and look at something else…

10 Integrating SEO Best Practices

SEO sound like technical jargon, but it’s crucial for getting noticed online. Here are some basic SEO tips

Use relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, and alt text.

Write compelling meta descriptions. Find out all about Meta descriptions in my blog: What is a meta description in SEO – click here

Ensure fast loading times.

By implementing these practices, you’ll increase your chances of appearing in search results when someone looks for artists or galleries like yours.

A glass sculpture in the shape of a curved wall i yellows, blues and oranges

11 Responsive Design

In today’s mobile-centric world, ensuring your website looks great on all mobile devices is non-negotiable.

A responsive design adjusts seamlessly whether viewed on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.

This enhances user experience and boosts your site’s ranking in search engines and you would not believe the number of websites that I audit only to discover the huge amount of mobile traffic that they achieve, often to artists’ surprise.

12 Regular Updates and Maintenance

Just like art pieces need occasional touch-ups, so does your website.

Regularly update content to keep it fresh and relevant—new works added periodically show you’re active and evolving as an artist or gallery owner.

Routine checks ensure everything runs smoothly; broken links or outdated information can deter visitors.

13 And that crucial question: What’s the Best Website Builder for a Professional Artist to showcase their online portfolio?

Because I am a website designer and an SEO Consultant, I check over a lot of websites. Particularly artist websites, the majority of which are built in Squarespace, and I understand why.

Squarespace provides website design templates that appeal to the fine artist or creator.

They pride themselves on being one of the easier platforms to build with.

What they dont do is imply, nor explain, that website needs TEXT. Lots of text.

Google can’t read images (only the image name, which is why renaming with keywords (and unless you painted the Mona Lisa, not the title you have given the work), only text.

So time and again, I will audit an artist’s website and the basics of search engine optimisation are incorrect (and why would one know how this should be done – you are a brilliant artist, not an SEO Consultant and I am pretty sure it’s not something taught in art schools) even someone like myself who has worked in Marketing for over 20 years finds it clunky and not intuitive to optimise).

Don’t even get me started on Wix. Just, please don’t.

For a professional artist’s personal website, you want to choose WordPress.

And if you would like me to explain in more detail why then do get in touch.

Fundamentally, it is because the website can grow with you as your business grows (you could add an online shop, a membership etc), you actually own the website (not the case with Squarespace and Wix) and mostly because the SEO is more effective.

If your budget doesn’t yet reach to working with a professional website designer, then please be aware that a website without correct SEO means you are relying on pushing visitors to it via social media (which is become increasingly hard as the SM platforms dont want to encourage their viewers to leave their platforms) and word of mouth to grow and sell.

14 My two favourite WordPress themes

If you are able to give the self-build WordPress website a go, perhaps you have a helpful family member or friend, then I would steer you towards Divi from Elegant Themes and Kadence WP as the best and easiest WordPress themes.

15 And for website templates:

check out The Design Space for Divi and Stylecloud for Kadence WP.

Should you fall in love with a template for either I can build you a professional and SEO optimised website to showcase your digital art portfolio in 6 – 8 weeks, you can find out more about my Portfolio Website Design for Artists by clicking HERE

To finish off this blog, here are some artist website examples from Wildcurrant:

If you are looking for a website designer who also has a full understanding of search engine optimisation, then I would love to hear from you. Click HERE to visit my contact page.

Similar Posts