AllTradeArt Case Study

AllTradeArt was launched as a platform allowing artists to display and promote both themselves and their artwork and ultimately sell art. The original concept was developed to aid my sister, a Fine Art student at Loughborough University, to help promote her work to a much larger audience in a more efficient and cost effective manner than traditional exhibitions. The site grew from there, first attracting local artists from the university and clubs then extending to a larger audience through word of mouth and SEO.

The site allows an artist to upload a profile about themselves along with a maximum of 50 artworks. Each artwork can include a title, description and price, the upload process generates three optimised images (small, medium, large) from an uploaded jpg version of the artwork. Artists are each given a unique site url in the format http://www.alltradeart.co.uk/artist-name.

Statistics are logged against each artwork counting the number of views, comments and ratings. There is also a personal messaging service allowing registered users to communicate via the site.

AllTradeArt was initially promoted via Google Adwords and through local press exposure. Social Networking sites such as MySpace and art forums are now used to expand it’s audience. The sites most recent update saw a massive SEO drive using a range of techniques such as standards compliance, key word strategies and SE friendly urls. The site is currently rated number 5/120 million for the key words ‘sell art’ in the Google World search.

The Sites current income is generated through Google Adsense. The site will soon offer artists the opportunity to purchase customised websites powered by the AllTradeArt upload system, allowing them to display work simultaneously on both their own site as well as AllTradeArt.