Basic SEO Best Practices for Artist Estates & Trusts
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an effective tool for increasing visibility and generating traffic to a website. Understanding the importance of SEO and its potential impact on the the legacy of an artist is crucial. In this article, we will discuss three basic SEO best practices that artist estates and trusts can use to increase artist visibility and promote their work.
Optimized image alt tags
Alt tags are short descriptions of an image that appear when the image cannot be displayed. Originally designed for screen readers to assist visitors with disabilities, these tags are now crucial for SEO as search engines use them to understand the content of an image. In the case of artist estates and trusts, they can use alt tags to include relevant keywords that describe the artwork or the artist. For example, if the estate represents a painter, they can use alt tags like "Abstract painting by [artist name], showcasing their use of shades of color and oil paints." or "Modern art by [artist name], created in 1953 using both photography and paper cuttings." This way, when someone searches for those keywords, the estate's website will appear higher in the search results.
It is important to note that alt tags should be descriptive but not spammy. Using too many keywords or irrelevant information can hurt the website's ranking. Therefore, artist estates and trusts should use alt tags carefully and only include relevant information.
Create a resource that highlights news about the artist
Creating a resource that highlights news about your artist is an excellent way to promote their work and increase visibility. This resource can include:
Information about exhibitions (both past and present)
Artwork highlights and discoveries
Collaborations with other organizations or artists
Relevant news related to the artist.
Creating this artist resource, the estate or trust can establish themselves as an authority on all information related to the artist, their work, and news.
Moreover, this resource can also be used to generate backlinks, which are links from other websites to your website. Backlinks are crucial for SEO as they indicate to search engines that your website is authoritative and relevant. Therefore, they should reach out to art critics, journalists, or other relevant websites to promote their resource and encourage them to link back to it.
Provide easy-to-find outreach opportunities for licensing
Organizations can also use SEO to promote artwork licensing. Licensees are individuals or organizations that pay for the right to use the artist's work for commercial purposes, such as publishing, merchandising, or advertising. By making it easy for potential licensees to discover how to contact the artist estates and trusts can increase an organization's chances of attracting potential licensees and generating more revenue.
One way to do this is by creating a dedicated page or section on the website that outlines the terms and conditions of licensing the artist's work. This page should include:
information about the artwork available for licensing
pricing information
contact information
examples of licensing
Additionally, artist estates and trusts should use keywords related to licensing and commercial use of their artists’ artwork to optimize the page for search engines.
Final thoughts
Organizations that promote artist estates and trusts can use basic SEO best practices to increase artist visibility and promote their work. By optimizing alt tags on all images, creating a resource that highlights news about the artist, and providing easy-to-find outreach opportunities for potential licensees, artist estates and trusts can improve their website's ranking and attract more visitors. Moreover, SEO can also help artist estates and trusts establish themselves as an authority on the artist's work and increase the value of their legacy.
If you need assistance with SEO work for artist estates and trusts, Bend is the go-to resource that can help you achieve your digital marketing goals.