How to build a website

To build a website was the furthest thing from my mind. Yet it is unavoidable for any serious artist.

I am not computer savvy and in my almost exclusively (except for me) male family, I am the most technically challenged! This is the tool that I used to build this site.

I have created and sold art for about 25 years now. A couple of years ago, I was aware that almost every artist I knew, was building their own personal website. It seemed like a wonderful way to take art to a worldwide audience.

I procrastinated for a while because of the cost of getting someone else to build a website, update and maintain it. Then my father kindly gifted it all to me. I sent him my art images and text, and he instructed the web designers that his company was using. They had extra space on their server to host my site as well.

Soon I had a beautiful site showcasing my work. That should have ended my interest in the Internet altogether. However, I started reading other artist blogs and thought that the whole interactive nature of a blog format might be interesting.

Remember that I had no knowledge of how to build a website in a blog format or how to maintain it. If you are thinking about creating your own blog, I would like you to read this before you venture there.
Intuitively I understood that traffic would be the lifeblood of a successful site. What use is it to build a website that was terrific, if it was never visited? Mine was like that, lost somewhere in cyberspace.

I consoled myself by considering it an online portfolio. When someone saw my work at one of the galleries, they could view more online. That was the only function that my website served, since that is the only traffic that I got!

But I sensed that the Lord had more for me. There are countless offers online that will take your money and allow you to have a website. But I needed something that would assure me traffic and success.
One day I stumbled upon a company that astonished me with its concepts. SBI made claims to success that completely intrigued me. I spent the next couple of months researching them.

Quite frankly, I was leery of their case studies and outstanding record of success. While inspiring, they almost seemed too good to be true.

SBI seemed to understand the challenges that face anyone attempting to build a website that was successful.

They promised me (a computer ignoramus) the tools to do the following.

• Build a website from scratch

• Allow me the ability to tweak it endlessly to my satisfaction

• Guarantee me visibility and traffic, if I followed their system

• The ability to grow a business with an unmistakable web presence.

The idea that there might be a method, which would keep what I had to say from being lost in cyber space, was new to me. They had a system available that would set me apart from countless other undifferentiated sites.

I read about the SBI businesses that followed the system and reached the 'top viewed sites' status. It was an exciting thought!

I was cautious about spending too much money on pie–in-the-sky dreams! As artists, we are sometimes gullible tending to fall for ridiculous schemes. Its something about our overactive imaginations, I guess!

SBI’s cost was minuscule compared to any other web-hosting program. Take further advantage of this even more generous offer!

In comparison, it offered so much more - all sorts of tools for a rather small fee and a proven track record of success.

What finally sold me was the 30 day money back guarantee. How could I lose? It would be worth a shot.

Needless to say, I am completely delighted with my decision. If anything, SBI has exceeded my expectations. There are many tools that I have yet to explore.

The Action Guide was easy to understand and my ignorance of computer skills was no limitation at all. SBI made the process easy and uncomplicated.

Although my site is still in its infancy, the traffic has steadily grown, as promised.

I have received enough feedback to know that this site is being viewed in a day, far more than my other one was in 3 months!

As a Christian artist, you have much that you can contribute to the world. Your medium of art, whether mixed media, painting, collage, sculpture… needs to be showcased somewhere online. To be limited to brick and mortar galleries is a narrow option.

The Internet has opened up the world in ways that are both thrilling and challenging. From talking to artists, I know that the web intimidates them, even as they enjoy searching the sites of their friends, or artists they stumble upon.

These are the options that I notice them take, just as I did earlier.

• They pay a couple of bucks a month and put up a simple site, on one of those do-it-yourself web hosting sites, or

• They pay a lot and have a web designer build a website site with all the moving graphics, bells and whistles

But both of those options are futile, if anyone hardly ever visits the sites.

Instead, I would recommend the one that I chose – SBI. They will give you all the tools necessary to build a website yourself.

More questions? Have them answered here.