Friday, March 19, 2010

A Pretty UR What??


by: Maria Montano - webmaster for Art for Conservation

A “pretty url” is a way for you as an artist on AFC to send people directly to your collection of work for sale on Art for Conservation. It is short, and easy to remember – it helps you tell people how to support you as an artist, as well as the conservation cause that you are supporting with your work.

Your URL on Art for Conservation is picked by you when you sign up for your account. Your “username” that you use to login becomes your URL. For example, my username is “mariamontano” so my URL is:
http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/mariamontano. When you type this into your favorite web browser (internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox etc.) you will be sent to a webpage that is just yours! It features one of your images, your artist’s bio/statement – and tells the world what organization you choose to support with your print sales!



So this is wonderful right? But how do you use it to drive traffic to your work on AFC? Here are 5 easy ways to use this tool to help raise awareness about your work.


  1. Put a link in your e-mail signature.
    You should always have a link to your website and your work on Art for Conservation in your e-mails.
    Mine looks like this:

    Maria Montano Photography
    Fan me on facebook
    Support Conservation – Buy My Prints on Art for Conservation
    (I have used an “embedded link” here instead of just my URL)

  2. Do you have a website?
    If you do you should put a link to your work for sale on Art for Conservation!
    You can do this by using a bit of html code (simply copy/paste the code below and replace my username with yours!)

    <a href="http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/mariamontano">Prints for sale on Art for Conservation</a>

    Your viewers will see the following on your website:
    Prints for sale on Art for Conservation

  3. Are you on facebook or twitter?
    If so, do what I do, and post links to your work on AFC! You can even do a “featured” image of the week – use this space to sell your art and promote your work on AFC at the same time!




  4. Link from your e-newsletter
    While talking about what shows you got into, and showing off your latest new work – take the time to talk about Art for Conservation and always (and I mean always!) provide a link to your work on Art for Conservation. I do this with all of my e-newsletters – see what I did on my newsletter - click here


  5. Business Cards!
    Do you have a business card? If so, providing a link to view your work online is important!
    Don’t have a website? Use your pretty URL and send people to your work on Art for Conservation.

Remember your pretty URL on Art for Conservation is like having your own mini-website on our site! Use it to send people to your work, learn about you as an artist and purchase prints of your art. Hopefully these 5 tips will help you increase traffic….and SALES on Art for Conservation!

Maria Montano is the webmaster for Art for Conservation as well as a photographer.

She is passionate about using her images to create social change, be it conserving our natural resources or raising awareness about social justice issues.

Learn more about Maria - and her work - click here

No comments: