As an artist, it is essential to have your own portfolio. You need a place to showcase your work to the world, and in today’s time, that means having a website.
The last time I created a website, I used Dreamweaver and Flash 😆 Those technologies are now obsolete. So, how can I create my own website? What do I do? Where do I start? Well, in this blog, I will share with you the lessons I learned while creating my own website.
I need a goal
Before I start doing things, I need to have a clear path. I need to have a goal. So, I asked myself these questions:
- What is the purpose of this website?
- What do I want to achieve?
- Do I want to showcase my artwork? Do I want to sell it? Both?
- Who is my audience?
- Am I willing to pay?”
These questions are difficult to answer. I want my website to be excellent, but I am limited by my knowledge, time, and resources. So, I broke down my goals into smaller, achievable ones. It came down to five items that I want.
- I want to have a simple website that can showcase my portfolio.
- I want the option for users to subscribe.
- I want a page to show my upcoming events.
- I want a page where people can contact me.
- I want the website to be available this week.
WordPress
I am starting out, so I want to minimize my expenses as much as possible. I already renewed my domain and hosting subscription, and I want to stop spending there. I want to create the website for free. 😫
So, I went to YouTube and started researching how to create a website using WordPress. I am happy to discover that there are a lot of people who are willing to help others.
I started by downloading the ArtsyLens theme and using the WordPress editor to change the UI of the front page. I was reading about landing pages and how they are better than a website, but it was really confusing.
So, I decided that my front page would be simple and minimalistic, with a clear call to action that highlights my goal. And what is my goal for this website? I want my readers to check out my artworks.
After that, I added the pages that I wanted: a page for my featured artworks, a page for my past artworks, an events page, an artist page, and a contact page. I also wanted a way to connect to my social media.
To be honest, it was not hard to edit the theme. It was already beautiful, and I only needed to tweak it a little to conform to the style that I wanted.
WordPress Plugins
The beauty of using WordPress is that there are many free plugins available for you to use. Some of the plugins that I used are:
- Modula — A plugin that allows you to create an elegant image and video gallery to showcase your portfolio.
- Jetpack — A plugin that provides a suite of tools and features for WordPress websites, including security, performance, backup, and more.
- UpdraftPlus — A plugin that allows you to schedule automatic backups of your WordPress website.
- Elementor — A plugin that allows you to use a drag and drop interface to build and customize your WordPress website. It also includes tools for setting your website in maintenance mode.
- Smash Balloon Instagram Feed — A plugin that allows you to display an Instagram feed on your WordPress website.
- Feeds for YouTube — A plugin that allows you to display a YouTube feed on your WordPress website.
- Really Simple SSL — A plugin that enables SSL (a security protocol) on your WordPress website.
- Yoast SEO — A plugin that helps you optimize your WordPress website for search engines.
- WP Content Copy Protect & No Right Click — A plugin that protects your content from being copied and prevents users from right clicking on your website.
- MailPoet — A plugin that allows you to create and send newsletters and email marketing blasts from your WordPress website.
- Hustle — A plugin that allows you to create pop-ups and embed newsletter forms on your WordPress website.
- Akismet Anti-Spam — A plugin that helps protect your WordPress blog from spam comments.
Proof Reading my contents
I am quite happy with how my website turned out. It is clean and easy on the eyes. My next step is to proofread my content, and I am seeking the help of an AI for this task. Thank you for your assistance chatGPT! 🤖
I even asked for help in creating SEO-friendly descriptions to improve the search engine ranking of my website. 😉
My website is done!
After approximately three days of work, including research and actual work, my website is complete! I am ready to launch it. 🚀 🚀 🚀
In conclusion, I realize that web development has improved significantly compared to what I knew before. It is much easier to create a website now, and there is a wealth of information available that allows you to create a decent website for free.
Of course, as time goes on you may need more features and may need to pay for upgrades, but this is sufficient for now.
I truly enjoyed the experience of creating my own website, and I hope that reading this has inspired you to try it out and create your own.
Without further ado, here is my new website!
>>>> www.jittycreativestudio.com <<<<
If you enjoyed reading this blog, please subscribe to receive the latest updates on my career and receive exclusive offers for my artwork!
In my future blogs, I plan to write more about art and technology, as well as my experiences as both an artist and a software engineer.
Please look forward to that. Until next time!
This article is also posted on my Medium page: https://medium.com/@jessielaine.punongbayan
