Notes from the Field

Painting on wall

Saatchi Art side step.

Lino cut block prints
Etsy Art Shop Website

I’ve been spending a lot of time studying and testing SEO for my Etsy Artist Shop in order to help drive traffic to my Art Prints. And, for the record, there is a lot of really great information out there – but in general most of the information just relates two factors: SEO is super important; SEO algorithms change frequently on sites like Etsy.  I’m going to go into more detail about what I had learned about SEO in another post – but for now, I want to talk about Saatchi Art.

I have had my paintings on Saatchi for several years.

At first, my goal was to build general awareness of my art practice. I posted some paintings and did little else to promote my presence on the site. Then a couple of years later I got a sale. One of my Payphone paintings was spotted by someone in California and they purchased it. I was over the moon. I thought that Saatchi may be the added boost I needed to exposure and sales. I was super motivated and enjoyed my success. I slowly started paying more attention to how my art was doing on Saatchi, but didn’t take any new steps to increase traffic. Years later, I added some work to my Etsy art shop and began studying how to increase traffic. Painting is a difficult, uphill business. You need to carve out time to produce work. But getting people to see your work is a time consuming affair that must be a part of your business plan to some degree – which is why I mentioned SEO and Saatchi Art.

The Art of Marketing Art.

abstract oil painting by Canadian Artist Randy Hryhorczuk

Conquest – 36×48

It’s important to remember that there is a lot of marketing that is required on the artists part in order to drive traffic to sites like Saatchi and Etsy. The more traffic you can drive, the increased chance that someone will like your work, and eventually collect it.

I’ve been thinking about Saatchi for a few reasons, but the main one is that the site itself is already heavily trafficked by people who love art. And, when people love art, some of them are engaged or soon to be engaged in the collecting of art. So – how do I drive more traffic to my Saatchi Art page to see my abstract, payphone or billboard paintings? Building awareness is instrumental. Like I said, art is an uphill business. It’s not all late night studio antics. There is a lot of work to be done beyond painting – and the art appreciators are among artists greatest champions.

For the next few weeks I am going to be increasing my focus on Saatchi Art in an effort to see if I can increase the number of people who view my work there. There’s a lot of work to be done, but the hard work is a part of the job.

As I learn more about how the Saatchi SEO can work – I’ll write a little about it, in the hopes that another artist might find some benefit. We’re all in this together, after all.

Mr Hryhorczuk

Randy Hryhorczuk is an artist based in Whitby, Ontario, specializing in oil painting and linocut printmaking. With over 25 years of experience, Randy creates portraits, abstracts, still life (including pay phones and mall rides), and urban landscapes (featuring billboards and streets) from his art studio. He has participated in community-based arts initiatives, art fairs, and juried art exhibitions both as a participating artist and as part of an organizing team.