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Punkt Digital

Handcrafted websites for artists and the organizations that support them.

Getting Your Art On The Web

December 3, 2019 By Greg Wilder

Getting Your Art On The Web

The internet can be your greatest artistic ally. In a world where people spend an average of three hours a day online, you should seize the opportunity to grab a chunk of that time to show off your latest and greatest projects.

Do I Really Need a Website?


The answer depends on your audience and your long-term artistic goals. For some, social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud) offer a ready-made showcase at little-to-no cost. Social media works well for artists that benefit exclusively from frequent interaction with an existing audience.

For example, a modern wind trio can drive traffic by offering ‘exclusive’ deals to their Facebook followers by announcing special events and offering web-only discounts. The primary advantage of social media is that the audience is ‘built-in’, but considering the incredible number of competing interests on these sites, turning social engagement into a healthy growing audience is extremely challenging.

Orchestra Rehearsal

Most often, social media is an effective part of a broader web strategy. For artists who expect to be searched and discovered via search engines like Google, an effective website is the foundation for everything else.

Can I Build My Own Website?


Building Your Own Artist WebsiteYes, of course you can! Services like wordpress.com, squarespace, and wix exist for this very purpose. However, building an effective website with these services can be technically challenging and extremely time consuming.

While the price of these services is tempting, consider that they come with a step learning curve and often produce sites that are slow, difficult for people to find on search engines, and are forever locked into the vendor’s proprietary technology.

For most professional and aspiring artists, hiring a web professional is well worth the extra cost.

How Should I Approach Web Professionals?


Artist Website ExpertiseWhen selecting and interviewing technology firms and/or consultants, consider the following:

  • Have they demonstrated a reasonable understanding of artistic showcases?
  • Do they offer service after the site launch? (e.g. hosting, maintenance)
  • What do past clients have to say about their experience?
  • Can they provide SEO and traffic monitoring once your site is launched?

While smaller firms may not always appear flashy, they tend to have the bandwidth to provide personal attention and often produce equal (or better!) results. As with many things in life, more expensive doesn’t always mean better!

If the budget for your artist website is in the four-figure range, expect to supply your own photos, copy, logo, and marketing materials. Hiring an experienced and knowledgeable technology consultant can result in a wonderful website, but the message and marketing materials will most likely need to come from you.

Top 3 Considerations When Building Your Artist Website


Just because you hire technology experts to help build your website doesn’t mean you should leave all the decisions up to them. Here are the three most important things to consider when creating (or refreshing) your artist website…

Consideration #1: Who Are Your Website Visitors?

Even though you know quite a bit about your audience, it’s always an eye-opening experience to build a couple of visitor profiles:

  • How old are your website visitors? Will they have trouble reading small text?
  • What’s their average income? Will they be viewing your site on a modern smartphone?
  • How much time are they likely to spend searching for your art portfolio?

It’s critical to keep your design within accessibility standards. Remember that things like fancy script and small screens can make your website unreadable for some people.

Consideration #2: Your Website Must Serve Your Audience

Think very carefully about what your visitors need and how they’ll likely feel once they’re on your new website.

If you’re a composer hoping promote your music to active performing ensembles, visitors will likely arrive at your website looking to sample your catalog. If it takes three clicks to start listening to music for their particular ensemble, they’ll leave your site and you’ll lose that opportunity.

David Biedenbender Front Page

Make your artist showcase instantly available on the front page and keep it easy to navigate. After all, the primary goal of your website is to showcase your work as quickly and clearly as possible.

Consideration #3: How Will Your Audience Find You?

For your artist website to be effective, people must be able to find it easily. Be sure your website is designed to amplify your content for search engines. Good SEO starts with quality content but nothing can replace referrals from trusted sources.

We’ve written extensively about SEO — if this is new territory for you, I’d suggest starting here.


Greg Alison and Zorro
Do you have specific questions about building your new artist website? Want us to take a look at your current site to see if we could make it more effective?
Drop us a line and tell us about it.
We’d love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Artist Web 101, Marketing, SEO, Social Media

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What Our Clients Say

  • Peter Erskine, legendary drummer

    Working with Punkt Digital has been an enjoyable and productive experience. Communication with the design team was timely, fluid and responsive. My website’s design and functionality exceeded my expectations. While the site has a totally professional look and feel, the add-on/editing process is very “hands-on” and easy for me to do whether I am traveling or am at home. And, for those moments when gremlins come to visit, the Punkt Design team deals with them swiftly and effectively. In short, we are 100% happy with Punkt Digital, and I’m very glad that I made the switch to entrusting my website to them.

    Peter Erskine, legendary drummer
  • David Balakrishnan, founding member of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet

    As we enter our thirtieth year of music making, we are well aware how important it is to keep a close eye on the current trends in the wide world of internet media. Working with Punkt Digital has been exactly what we needed to retain our pole position in the forefront of the chamber jazz music scene. We have our sheet music sales going strong, we can do our own updates on our site with ease, it looks great, works great, simple, no fuss, Turtles swimming smooth in the digital sea, thanks Punkt!!!

    David Balakrishnan, founding member of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet
  • Adam Roberts, Composer

    I went to Punkt Digital because I wanted to revamp my site, make it sleeker, more user friendly, and easy to update myself. Alison and Greg surpassed all of my expectations in terms of both product and process. Finally, the price is extremely reasonable. In summary, I couldn't recommend Punkt Digital more highly.

    Adam Roberts, Composer
  • Jeremy Gill, Composer

    I love my new website. Punkt Digital does brilliant, efficient, and sensitive work, and was able to integrate all my needs into a cohesive and aesthetically compelling whole. They also prepared detailed notes to guide me through the process of updating my site — something I have to do regularly. Truly an invaluable product!

    Jeremy Gill, Composer
  • Tamara Roberts, Musician

    I had a great experience working with Punkt Digital. Being not-so-tech-savvy, Alison and Greg were great at talking me through the site building process and thinking creatively about my unique needs. The site is beautiful and perfectly captures my style and personality. And it’s a breeze to update whenever I get new gigs or have media to share. I’d recommend Punkt Digital to anyone, especially artists who have a hard time fitting their work into existing one-size-fits-all platforms.

    Tamara Roberts, Musician
  • Adam Vidiksis, Composer

    Punkt Digital listened to my ideas and incorporated them brilliantly in their design. They are thorough, creative, and consistent. Punkt produced a site that really embodied the artistic vision for my music. I am very happy with the result.

    Adam Vidiksis, Composer
  • Joel Friedman, Composer

    Working with Punkt was a delightful collaboration from start to finish and I couldn't be happier with the result. In a market crowded with designers how many can boast being active artists, serious tech mavens, and have a terrific aesthetic sensibility to boot? This means they have the firepower to imagine, successfully execute, walk in your shoes, and shepherd your design from beginning to end. They earned my trust and appreciation. Wow.

    Joel Friedman, Composer
  • Jon Russell, Clarinetist

    Excellent on all counts. Punkt was always very responsive, in both the speed and thoroughness of their replies to any questions or requests. They also struck just the right balance between aiming to understand and fulfill my vision for the site, while also using their own expertise to offer suggestions for alternatives. They were also very patient and responsive when I (frequently!) changed my mind about what I wanted partway through the process.

    Jon Russell, Clarinetist
  • Deborah Sherr, Executive Director
Avaloch Farm Music Institute

    Let me sing the praises of Punkt Digital! Absolutely every aspect of their work has exceeded my expectations. From the first inquiry they have been extraordinarily responsive, positive, and SO smart. They understand every request, have a great eye for appropriate design, listen and guide with equal patience, and have created tutorials which are easy and intuitive. The platform they have created for adding and editing is terrific, so that even an amateur can maintain the website with ease. I have been extremely impressed with their commitment to an ongoing relationship, even months after they finished creating the actual website. Alison and Greg are the greatest!

    Deborah Sherr, Executive Director Avaloch Farm Music Institute
  • Judith Jennings, Art x Culture x Social Justice Network

    I love working with Punkt Digital! First, Alison and Greg Wilder are thoroughly grounded in the latest technology and constantly upgrading their skills and services. Secondly, they are visual artists with keen aesthetics and strong design talents. Most of all, they are great people who care deeply about the quality of their work and the satisfaction of their client and are willing to take extra time and care for the best possible results.

    Judith Jennings, Art x Culture x Social Justice Network
  • Peter Erskine, legendary drummer

    Working with Punkt Digital has been an enjoyable and productive experience. Communication with the design team was timely, fluid and responsive. My website’s design and functionality exceeded my expectations. While the site has a totally professional look and feel, the add-on/editing process is very “hands-on” and easy for me to do whether I am traveling or am at home. And, for those moments when gremlins come to visit, the Punkt Design team deals with them swiftly and effectively. In short, we are 100% happy with Punkt Digital, and I’m very glad that I made the switch to entrusting my website to them.

    Peter Erskine, legendary drummer
  • David Balakrishnan, founding member of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet

    As we enter our thirtieth year of music making, we are well aware how important it is to keep a close eye on the current trends in the wide world of internet media. Working with Punkt Digital has been exactly what we needed to retain our pole position in the forefront of the chamber jazz music scene. We have our sheet music sales going strong, we can do our own updates on our site with ease, it looks great, works great, simple, no fuss, Turtles swimming smooth in the digital sea, thanks Punkt!!!

    David Balakrishnan, founding member of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet
  • Adam Roberts, Composer

    I went to Punkt Digital because I wanted to revamp my site, make it sleeker, more user friendly, and easy to update myself. Alison and Greg surpassed all of my expectations in terms of both product and process. Finally, the price is extremely reasonable. In summary, I couldn't recommend Punkt Digital more highly.

    Adam Roberts, Composer
  • Jeremy Gill, Composer

    I love my new website. Punkt Digital does brilliant, efficient, and sensitive work, and was able to integrate all my needs into a cohesive and aesthetically compelling whole. They also prepared detailed notes to guide me through the process of updating my site — something I have to do regularly. Truly an invaluable product!

    Jeremy Gill, Composer
  • Tamara Roberts, Musician

    I had a great experience working with Punkt Digital. Being not-so-tech-savvy, Alison and Greg were great at talking me through the site building process and thinking creatively about my unique needs. The site is beautiful and perfectly captures my style and personality. And it’s a breeze to update whenever I get new gigs or have media to share. I’d recommend Punkt Digital to anyone, especially artists who have a hard time fitting their work into existing one-size-fits-all platforms.

    Tamara Roberts, Musician
  • Adam Vidiksis, Composer

    Punkt Digital listened to my ideas and incorporated them brilliantly in their design. They are thorough, creative, and consistent. Punkt produced a site that really embodied the artistic vision for my music. I am very happy with the result.

    Adam Vidiksis, Composer
  • Joel Friedman, Composer

    Working with Punkt was a delightful collaboration from start to finish and I couldn't be happier with the result. In a market crowded with designers how many can boast being active artists, serious tech mavens, and have a terrific aesthetic sensibility to boot? This means they have the firepower to imagine, successfully execute, walk in your shoes, and shepherd your design from beginning to end. They earned my trust and appreciation. Wow.

    Joel Friedman, Composer
  • Jon Russell, Clarinetist

    Excellent on all counts. Punkt was always very responsive, in both the speed and thoroughness of their replies to any questions or requests. They also struck just the right balance between aiming to understand and fulfill my vision for the site, while also using their own expertise to offer suggestions for alternatives. They were also very patient and responsive when I (frequently!) changed my mind about what I wanted partway through the process.

    Jon Russell, Clarinetist
  • Deborah Sherr, Executive Director
Avaloch Farm Music Institute

    Let me sing the praises of Punkt Digital! Absolutely every aspect of their work has exceeded my expectations. From the first inquiry they have been extraordinarily responsive, positive, and SO smart. They understand every request, have a great eye for appropriate design, listen and guide with equal patience, and have created tutorials which are easy and intuitive. The platform they have created for adding and editing is terrific, so that even an amateur can maintain the website with ease. I have been extremely impressed with their commitment to an ongoing relationship, even months after they finished creating the actual website. Alison and Greg are the greatest!

    Deborah Sherr, Executive Director Avaloch Farm Music Institute
  • Judith Jennings, Art x Culture x Social Justice Network

    I love working with Punkt Digital! First, Alison and Greg Wilder are thoroughly grounded in the latest technology and constantly upgrading their skills and services. Secondly, they are visual artists with keen aesthetics and strong design talents. Most of all, they are great people who care deeply about the quality of their work and the satisfaction of their client and are willing to take extra time and care for the best possible results.

    Judith Jennings, Art x Culture x Social Justice Network

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