Whether you’re just getting started with your art blog or you’ve been showcasing your talent on the web for years, growing your art blog is probably one of your top goals. Successful blogging is easier said than done, however, especially in a challenging niche like art.
From building backlinks to optimizing your art blog for SEO and mastering social media – particularly visual social media networks like Instagram and Pinterest that are ideal for showcasing your best work – there’s a lot that goes into growing your art blog. To help you get started on the right path, we reached out to a panel of experienced blogging pros and asked them to answer this question:
“What’s the number 1 thing bloggers can do to grow their art blog?”
Meet Our Panel of Blogging Professionals:
Read on to learn what our panel had to say the best practices for growing your art blog that you can start implementing today.
Tom De Spiegelaere
Tom is a digital marketer in Brisbane, Australia. He likes building projects for this whole internet web thing. Collaboration is his secret; working with people that have complementary skills is incredibly powerful!
“Post tutorials on your blog. Along with consistently posting your artwork, give readers some insight into your processes. There’s also a good chance that there are aspiring artists following you, so posting free resources is also helpful. Whether it’s teaching different media applications, stroke techniques, basic art lessons, or tips to generating ideas, it gives readers a look behind the scenes into your work as an artist.”
Brian Robben
Brian Robben is the CEO of the digital marketing agency Robben Media.
“Once you have the basics completed — amazing content around individual keywords for each page — acquiring backlinks for your art blog is the true difference maker between blogs that receive traffic and those lost at sea. How do you get backlinks? You can start by building relationships with other bloggers, journalists, and reporters in the industry through email or a social media message. See how you can offer them value or provide interesting dialogue about your art interests. Then, mention that you’re available to provide a quote anytime they need it. By doing this in a patient and genuine manner, you’ll start securing backlinks.
You can also cold email bloggers and offer guest posts for their audience. Most bloggers are extremely busy, so having a day or week off when someone else is providing content for their audience is a nice benefit. You can also try offering free consulting to companies, non-profits, or people who could use your expertise in exchange for a backlink from their site. I hope you see the main factor here, and that is that you have to go out and give value to get backlinks. Like most good things in life, they don’t come to you out of the blue.”
Joey Randazzo
Joey Randazzo is passionate about content strategy. His content marketing company, Becoming Media, works with large companies (like Fortune 100 companies) and small local businesses (like your local chiropractor). He has a team of 23 writers, most of whom are talented military spouses.
“Here’s the #1 thing that ANY blog should do (especially art blogs) in order to grow their blog. But, before I jump into the answer (based on lots and lots of data that my company has gathered), it’s important to understand the goal of an art blog. The goal is twofold:
1. Ensure your blog is found organically through Google for the queries your ideal audience is searching for. If you can rank well for the high-value keywords that your audience is searching for, then you’re basically guaranteed to grow your blog. According to Search Engine Watch, the number one ranking position in Google gets 33% of traffic. The second-ranking position gets 17.6% of traffic. So, let’s say that there’s an art blog out there that teaches people how to sketch. And, one of their blog posts is about how to sketch portraits. Based on keyword data from Keywords Everywhere, this query has 480 searches per month. That’s quite a lot. And, if the art blogger integrates proper SEO strategies into their blog and they’re able to rank 1st in Google for this keyword, then according to Search Engine Watch, they should get 33% of people coming to their website based on the 480 searches. That’s 158 visitors per month for just ONE keyword. If the art blogger creates a proper SEO strategy based on the content ideas that their target audience is craving, then they have an opportunity to grow their blog by thousands of organic visitors each month.
2. Have people enjoy the content on your blog so much that they’re willing to subscribe, continue reading, and share it on social media (and actually read it). If you’re able to create amazing content that:
- Resonates with your audience
- Adds value to them
- Solves their problem
Then, they’ll likely want to subscribe and continue reading your art blog. And, they might even want to share on their social networks. These results will definitely lead to growth in your art blog.
So, what’s the #1 thing that people can do to grow their art blog? Create socially-shareable content that their audience is craving (that is also optimized for SEO).”
Hung Nguyen
Hung Nguyen is a Marketing Manager at Smallpdf.
“Many artists put their artwork on display online but do not market their work. SEO is a free but powerful method of drawing in visitors to your art blog. While search engines are continuously advancing their technology, they still won’t be able to grasp the content of each piece of artwork fully. Artists have to put in the effort of feeding search algorithms with information about their work on their blogs. A few simple tips to get you started are:
- Always include a page title and meta description on every page of your blog, detailing your work. Stay away from fancy titles with special characters in your page titles.
- Add an alt tag to every uploaded image, which acts as a short description. It doesn’t matter if the photo is a piece of artwork, a picture from a recent exhibition, or even a headshot of the artist for their bio page.
- Add content on each page. Describe the inspiration behind each piece, how you created it, and have a comment section for user-generated content.
- Include social share buttons for followers to share your blog’s content with their network. Popular options include Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.”
Lily Stern
Lily is the Digital Media Director at TheClose.com. She’s been helping business owners grow a variety of blogs throughout the years.
“Make sure that people are seeing your content – that is number one. There is no better platform than Pinterest for sharing your art blog. Art is always a trending topic on Pinterest, which means people are always searching for it. Spend time creating visually appealing pins for all of your blog posts and try out different designs. By using a visual platform like Pinterest, you can get your work in front of people who are already seeking out art content, grow your audience, and increase your blog’s traffic. Plus, unlike other social platforms, Pinterest continues to show your posts in search results years after a post was published, so your content will always be circulating in front of new eyes and potentially new followers.”
Robert Moses
Robert Moses is the founder of The Corporate Con/noisseur. They provide advice to career professionals on effective job search techniques, resume advice, and retirement planning.
“There are a plethora of marketing tactics and other things that bloggers can do to grow their audience. When it comes to art blogs in particular, you need to be mindful of what customers are searching for. In 2020, there are an overwhelming number of art blogs and blogs that discuss various art modalities, styles, and forms. If you would like to grow your blog organically, then you must discuss topics and art interests which other bloggers have not discussed. This can be done by utilizing different keyword evaluators, including Ahrefs and Moz, to focus in on topics that do not have a lot of content devoted to them. Once you are able to identify those topics and search queries, you can formulate good, well-written, and thoughtful content around them. This will help you to grow your art blog organically and reach users by their search intent.”
Naheed Mir
@RugKnots Naheed Mir is the owner of Rugknots.
“As an art blogger, you should consistently guarantee that you are creating powerful and amazing headlines. Your headline is the thing that gets visitors to your site and catches their interest.
In my experience, your headline is of a higher priority than your actual post! If you have an incredible content piece taking cover behind a shabby headline, it will not attract anyone. Don’t hesitate to try different things and experiment with various headlines. Conduct A/B testing to try out multiple headlines and see which style works best.”
Carolin Hinck
Carolin is an Author and Director at ATutor.
“Besides the usual expectation of consistently and constantly posting new blog posts in order to achieve Google’s necessary expectations to be active, you need to market yourself correctly. For a blog, I don’t think you are really going to achieve the elusive Google page one unless you are willing to invest in paid advertisements. However, I will happily eat my words on some occasions, especially if your location is remote and you chose some extremely specific keywords so that competition is none too high.
I would go out on forums, beyond Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and push your art this way. The beauty of art is that it is appreciated everywhere, so you have a great base in which to market yourself. Thinking outside the box is critical so that you can develop your own niche and not compete with the many others who are working on the traditional routes.”
Rob Powell
Rob Powell is the CEO and founder of Rob Powell Biz Blog. He is an online entrepreneur who shows beginning bloggers who to use SEO to get traffic to their website and build their online presence.
“The most powerful technique art bloggers can use to grow their art blog quickly is influencer outreach. This involves publishing either expert roundup posts or top list posts. Both kinds of articles generate backlinks from high authority websites, as well as social media shares. They also help you to build strategic relationships with key players in your niche.
For a roundup post, ask other art bloggers a simple question, preferably one they can answer in about 5 minutes. For a top list post, compile a list of the top art bloggers on a particular platform (e.g., ‘Top 25 Art Bloggers to Follow on Pinterest’). In both cases, contact the people you featured in your article once the article is live. These two kinds of articles (expert roundups and top list posts) get shared like crazy, so you’ll get backlinks and social media shares.”
Anh Trinh
Anh Trinh is a Managing Editor of GeekWithLaptop. Anh built his first desktop at the age of 10, and he started coding when he was 14 years old. He knows a thing or two when it comes to finding a good laptop and he aims to share everything he knows through his websites online.
“Create a collage of your work. One of the most effective tips I gave my friend who’s into art is to create a collage of his works. A collage is a good way to get people interested in your work. Showcase your best work in it and put it on display for people to see and judge. If people like your work, you’ll receive tons of traffic to your blog. You can share a collage of your work on social media, on your blog’s home page, and even on guest posts on other blogs. The best way to improve an art blog is to show a lot of your work to as many people as you can. A collage is a good way to do that.”
Melissa Teng
Melissa Teng is a Seattle-based travel blogger and creative who is passionate about seeing as much of the world as possible while helping others do the same on her blog, Wit and Folly.
“The #1 thing bloggers can do to grow their art blog is to create content around DIY projects readers can do at home. Since we are living in this unique time, many people are looking for activities to do at home, whether that be chalk art, origami, or small painting projects. Most people are taking on these activities for the first time, so they will be looking for unique information around this topic. If you as the blogger can create good content and rank it on the first page of the Google SERPs, there is a good chance you will increase your readership and grow your art blog. The best part is that there are many different keywords that you can target for these types of articles.”
Sadi Khan
Sadi Khan is the Content Marketing Manager at RunRepeat.com.
“Visual storytelling. Two things that can really fuel the growth of a blog are backlinks and social shares. You can get them both by using your art to create some visual stories. Data visualizations are one of the hottest commodities on the internet. Giving them an artistic touch can be the icing on the cake. You can look at some big moments from around the world in the recent past or an existing set of data for inspiration.”
Syed Irfan Ajmal
Syed Irfan Ajmal is a digital marketing agency owner, international speaker, syndicated columnist, and podcast host. His bylines & citations include Forbes, the World Bank, SEMrush, Reader’s Digest, Entrepreneur, and several others. He is widely respected for his insights on content marketing, organic search, and publicity.
“Here are my top tips for bloggers to grow their art blog:
1. Make sure that you are providing relevant content in your blog posts. When your content is relevant, the search engines will rank you accordingly and make sure that you get traffic towards your website.
2. Optimize your website to the fullest and make sure that your website images and posts are SEO friendly. Try to speed test it. According to Google, the site speed is one of the their elements on ranking algorithms. So make sure to check the site speed.
3. Make your site navigation easy for the audience. The last thing you want on your table is the bounce rate. If your website is too much confusion for first-time visitors, then they won’t get to the next page. Make it smooth and easy to understand.”
Shawna Newman
Shawna Newman is a digital marketing consultant with an emphasis on site building. She has sold several successful web-based businesses.
“Focusing on building up a following is the best way for bloggers to grow traffic to their art blog. This can be accomplished a few different ways. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are great for showcasing images of completed art. Those same platforms can also be used with video, such as art tutorials and work-in-progress videos. Additionally, videos can be uploaded to YouTube so that art bloggers can build up a following there. By building up a following on social platforms, you end up with a traffic stream that’s not reliant on Google search. With frequent posting on the social platforms, you build an audience that naturally funnels to your blog.”
Trishan Mehta
Trishan Mehta is the Co-Founder of PassionWP.
“Art is a creative niche. To grow your art blog, you need to get your creative ideas out in front of art lovers. I suggest you leverage the power of Facebook groups to grow your blog. You should join niche art groups like Art & Craft Incredible Ideas, Art and Craft Ideas, and others that have thousands of members to promote your blog posts.
Also, consider starting your own Facebook group and promote it on your blog, to your email list, on Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You can then do strategic promotion in your group.
Pinterest is also a very powerful medium for promoting your art ideas since creative niches like art are quite popular on Pinterest. Make sure you link to your blog posts whenever you create Pins.”
Norhanie Pangulima
Norhanie Pangulima is a Content Ambassador at Hernorm.
“As one study says, 77% of internet users visit and read blogs regularly. For your art blog to be successful, you must earn your customers’ loyalty. It is the main factor that keeps visitors coming back to your website, no matter what your blog is all about. In this case, you should always give your readers something new, interesting, and somewhat relatable. You should be very honest and open with them about what you want them to understand through your art. You can also add a chat box so that you can have meaningful and in-depth conversations with your readers and constantly keep them exposed to the great things you have going on.”
Samantha Moss
Samantha Moss is an Editor & Content Ambassador at Romantific.
“My #1 tip for art bloggers to grow their blog is to tell their story. Post artwork to gather attention, but get your visitors stay on your website by letting them into your brain and showing them your unique perspective. I am sure that every piece of art has a backstory, whether real or imaginary, that led to its creation. Use your blog to give readers details and get them interested in coming into your world. That way, you will not only attract visitors, but you’ll also turn them into regular readers.”
David Lynch
David Lynch is the Content Lead for Payette Forward, Inc., a digital publishing company with a focus on cell phones and cell phone plans.
“Art bloggers should focus on making their website fast and responsive. Art blogs naturally contain a lot of images. Image files can be quite large and may take awhile to load if your website isn’t set up correctly. If your blog or images don’t load quickly, a user is more likely to abandon your website. I recommend setting up a content delivery network (CDN) like CloudFlare to help with your blog’s page speed. A CDN saves a cached version of your website and delivers it to users who visit your website. This will help with your website’s speed and improve the user’s experience.”
Scot J Chrisman
Scot J Chrisman is the founder and CEO at THE MEDIA HOUSE. The Media House is in the business of execution. They partner with their clients to strategize, design, implement, and acquire customers using tactics that work.
“Usually, blogs are for writers who discuss anything under the sun. Art blogs, on the other hand, are made by artists or enthusiasts to discuss art or promote their own. 77% of people regularly read a blog online. With this great number of people, it can be a great opportunity to endorse and nurture your craft. Having helped my clients make their businesses rank on search engines, I make sure that every time they publish an article, it expresses who they really are to their audience. One thing that bloggers can do to grow their art blog is to practice originality. Keep creating your own content instead of recycling what is trending. Many bloggers are already doing this, and it will not make you stand out. Once people notice how unique, interesting, and valuable your content is, you will not need to beg for their attention. They will come to you organically.”
Khris Steven
Khris Steven is a sales funnel and content marketing expert who derives passion in helping people serve more and make an impact online.
“Starting your blog is one thing, but growing your blog is another thing entirely. It takes a lot to get your art blog off the ground and drive targeted traffic to it. Imagine having to compete with millions of other blog posts cranked out on a daily basis. As an art blogger, you need to stand out with your content marketing game by taking a route most art bloggers won’t consider reasonable. Focus on long-tail keywords. Targeting long-tail keywords is one underrated tactic a lot of bloggers take for granted. They blindly focus on the main, short-tail keywords that are super-competitive and hard to rank for.
There’s no doubt that short keyword phrases or terms may look bright and shiny with hundreds and thousands of monthly searches, but they’re usually hard to dominate because millions of other bloggers are attempting to rank for those same terms. Going for those question-and-response-based phrases, or any keywords with three or more words, is where you win. You can use free SEO keyword research tools like AnswerThePublic, KeywordTool.io, Ubbersuggest, or Google’s own autosuggest to dig out these long-tail keywords.
Another trick you can use is going to places like Quora and Reddit, then sorting by category (in this case, art). There you’ll find questions, topics, and threads to see what your target audience is discussing and looking for. By writing on these low-hanging opportunities, you’ll address more precise queries, attract narrowed traffic and more links, and increase your blog’s authority over time.”
Oksana Chyketa
Oksana Chyketa is the Marketing Specialist at BreatheWeb.com.
“Repurposing content is a powerful way to grow your art blog. By giving a previously published post a new look, you’ll be able to not only reach the maximum target audience but also drive more traffic to your website. Turning a blog post into a slide show and then sharing it on SlideShare will help you build new backlinks and increase brand awareness. What’s more, each slide is a separate image that represents a complete thought and can stand alone. This means that any of those slides can be used separately anywhere – on social media platforms, blog posts, as a part of a video, etc.
If you have a lot of data in your story, infographics are a super way to relate data. You don’t have to be a designer or have experience with Photoshop to create an infographic. Programs like Piktochart and Visually provide the means for non-designers to create their own infographics. You can embed your infographics in a blog or post them as stand-alone images on your Pinterest account, for example. Infographics can be also divided into small pieces, and you can share them on your Twitter account as separate posts.”
Growing your art blog requires long-term effort, but it doesn’t all have to be difficult. Install our image share buttons to make it easy for your blog visitors to share your most powerful visual content – along with a link back to your blog to ensure you always get credit for your work – across their favorite social media networks with a single click. They’re easy to install in just minutes, and they’re totally free to use!
