Marketing & Ranking In Search Engines

I think the strategy of ranking high for highly competitive keywords is going to be tough. But I have done very well ranking high on niche keywords and I am sure you could also. Some of the keywords I have ranked number one on were "peep sandpipers" and "spar rig". And very good money followed from that. Recently I have ranked very high for "offshore oil rig prints" or similar. One of mine here was number one on Google last year and still ranks usually in the top 20. It has 16,000 views from all over. I have to admit the sales are not great on that one but it does sell.

No need to overthink or overdo SEO for a POD site or any site really. You have to do the basics. Those that don't understand the very basics will never be in a search. They make it easy for the rest.

That is right Bradford,
Everyone must learn the basics, but don't spend your whole summer inside behind a computer.

Something a lot of people forget is that the best way to get Google to consider your site above others is to have external links that point to your site. In other words, getting featured on blogs, getting retweeted and reposted and shared. THAT is a critical way to improve your search engine returns. Offer people quality content. Unique content. Get them to link back to you. Don't request links, inspire them. If Google sees a lot of valid return links, it assumes there's quality content there. That improves your ranking

The critical first step to all of this that I see so many people overlook is to have a viable product. You can know everything there is to know about marketing but if you don't have a product it's all for naught. Build a great portfolio of images. Give people something to look at, to talk about, to share. Then worry about marketing. If you turn people off to your name/brand by having an incomplete or unprofessional presentation, they will overlook you in the future. Don't put the cart in front of the horse.

Great advice!
Thank you!

I give a ton of marketing tips. None of them including working directly on SEO. That is losing proposition, imho.

I promote getting your individual images, with links back to your AW where they can be bought, in front of as many buyers as possible through both direct and indirect marketing techniques.

Indirect marking: FB, Twitter, etc.

Direct marketing: Direct mail, specific FB groups, etc.

I have said it over and over and people always get mad when I do but it is a fact. A good salesman can sell the worst art on FAA better then the worst salesman can sell the best art.

Another example. If artist A has ten of the best seascape paintings in the world and can not get them seen, they will not sell. If artists B has just okay and maybe less then okay seascapes but has a knack of for selling and advertising and get's his painting seen by a ton of people. He will probably out sell artist A.

Sure it helps to have great stuff, but sorry, having great stuff and great skills as an artist is just not enough once you enter the retail game. The people that best know how to play the game are the ones that will win it.

I'm not a good salesman. I mainly use social media and have only had 1 FAA sale in a year. It's hard. Some have better luck than others. I agree with Floyd on the good salesman quote. Has anyone tried contacting Interior Designers by direct message on Facebook? That's something I've thought about but haven't yet because I don't like soliciting, but I know we have to, to market our work.

Why doesn't FAA come up first in google photo searches? It's a top site, so I would think it would be first in google search. They did back when I first started here, but the last few image searches I've done there isn't any FAA on the first page. They are other POD site images or personal sites.

Floyd actually said it the best - you have to be a good salesman to sell whether it is crap stuff or great stuff - if you can't sell then it doesn't matter what your product is, it will sit

A couple clichés - "he could sell sawdust to a lumber mill" and "he could sell ice to an Inuit" come to mind and that's when you know you are a great salesperson, the rest of us don't have to be quite that good but we definitely have to be better than mediocre to sell well and sometimes a little lucky LOL

"So many think sitting behind your computer all day seven days a week isn't really work, and don't put an hourly value on it."

I'm happy you brought this up, Kevin. When someone claims to be spending 15 hours a day posting to various social media outlets and making art -- and swears that's what it takes to be successful -- what kind of life is that?

Putting that kind of daily effort into social media *might* be a short term recipe for sales, but it is a more telling sign of addiction and a free fall into poor health.

As I've said many times, marketing is like exercise. You need a little on a regular basis. Go too long without it and you find yourself behind the eight ball. In that respect it's important to pick an exercise you like, otherwise you won't do it. When starting out it's easy to get over-zealous.

When you fill up your days doing every exercise you've ever heard of, you neglect the rest of your life and burn out quickly. Moderation!

The idea that one has to be superstar salesman is also a myth. A basic understanding of how to find buyers (prospecting) and how to close a sale will provide security and feed you for the rest of your life.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

The shortest route to a sale has always been "Hello."

If that scares you, seek therapy. The computer can leverage your "hello" into a beautiful, blossoming business. But if you're using it to avoid relationships and cut out human contact, you have little chance of building anything except a little prison for yourself.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

You are partly right Dan about being a superstar salesman - you do have to have basic understanding on prospecting and closing a sale which just proves my point - if you don't have it, your product will sit, which then in effect means you better be a good salesperson - you can't have one without the other

"if you don't have it, your product will sit, which then in effect means you better be a good salesperson"

There is always the time-honored option of finding someone who will work with you who has skills you don't possess. Most successful businesses are built exactly that way.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

I agree with all, especially Dan and Floyd. Moderation is the key, and understanding why in the first place. Yes Cynthia, I agree 100 percent on the links as well. I think Floyd had a different thread about taking a class, and many thought he was nuts.

I think educating yourself the right way in the beginning will save lots of time and money.

Luckily there is microstock for people like me with 0 salesman talent and bad "artist eye" but with capability to learn about colors, image quality and composition: ))

Yes Dan you are right - if you can't do it then get help from someone who knows what, when ,where and how to do it!

A rule in the world of creative lives in film, painting, sculpture, digital work, performance, etc. and everything is;

"Love and know what you want and make the best of it".

The idea of depending on computers to market art is no good at all I think.

If you are good enough at what you do you can hire a publicist and also a publicity manager for all of your marketing needs. Forget trying a field like computer science since it eats all your artistic time up!

you can be first on the search, if its something someone is looking for. but for a generic thing like - fine art prints - you won't be found directly. usually people look me up by name, and naturally i'm the first one there.

selling direct is nice if you have the talent but not everyone does. you also need the time, and if your always making new art, that will be in the way as well.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I think you Kevin have here a good alternative viewpoint on the current marketing systems people seem to "believe in" religiously since you can see through the BS of much of it.

Kevin is saying what I have often said but not as clearly as he has done.

The idea of poor art selling better than great art is a reality brought on by the sickness of dependence on computer networking to sell art.

Yes Vincent, I think it can become a sickness as well, which can lead to addiction, loneliness, and depression.

Mike, if you have a very uncommon name its very easy to rank for it, but if you didn't already have a following, why would anyone type in your name. You cant build a following with a name nobody searches for.