Gallery realities
Galleries spend a significant amount on overhead expenses every year, including rent, employees, and art fairs. However, they often fail to effectively establish a presence on Google, lacking a solid digital foundation. As a result, they rely heavily on continuous mailings, Instagram posts, and other marketing efforts.
The good news is that you can increase visibility to qualified collectors on Google without the need to hire expensive marketing firms. Google is willing to assist you in expanding your collector base, but there may be certain requirements or steps you need to follow.
Art Collector Google use
Art collectors rely on Google to find galleries while traveling, but many local "gallery guides" are not traveler-friendly, making it difficult for people to discover your gallery or exhibition.
When planning an art fair visit, art collectors turn to Google. While galleries often promote their art fair activities through internal marketing emails and Instagram posts, these efforts do not effectively reach the collectors who are seeking information about new works and galleries.
Google is where most new collectors start(and its much lower competition than IG).
In 2023, Google enables new publishers like xzib.com to surpass established art news websites. Within a year, xzib.com outperforms major art publishers on highly competitive terms.
Below is a screenshot showing xzib.com outranking the Frieze website for the search term "New York Art Fairs." This is just one example of xzib.com's success in ranking for significant contemporary art queries.
We can assist you in gaining more visibility for your exhibitions and art fair activities.
Mission
Connecting art collectors searching Google with our partner art galleries
Tactics
#1 Publish captivating and Google-optimized content to reach art collectors exploring new cities. The objective is to attract qualified collectors to visit the gallery or schedule a visit by phone.
#2 Publish optimized content that targets art collectors before the start of an art fair, encouraging them to plan a visit to your booth with the intention of viewing specific available artworks.
Premium tech is "cheap"
Since 2016, electric cars, particularly the Tesla, have become both affordable and reliable, with the Tesla arguably being the fastest car on the road. This technological revolution in the automotive industry has been driven by advancements in electronic technology, as well as significant progress in computer processors and hard drives over the past five years. For example, Apple's M1 chip offers twice the speed, and SSD drives are now five times faster.
It is crucial to upgrade your website hosting to leverage these affordable technologies, especially if you have collectors accessing your website from other countries. If that applies to you, please feel free to reach out, and I would be happy to assess your current setup.
Despite art galleries investing significant sums of money annually in rent and art fairs, their websites often fail Google's objective tests for speed, security, and stability. Don't let your gallery be one of those with a slow mobile website.
Website Speed Summary
In Tribeca, NYC, less than 6% of the top galleries pass Google's speed test. If you haven't tested your website yet, click (LINK) for immediate testing. Alternatively, scroll down for a comprehensive testing guide.
Art Gallery websites heavily rely on images.
Fast servers are essential for images
Mobile phones + images = BAD website performance.
Bad website performance = bad page experience for collectors.
Bad experience = damage to gallery reputation
Bad experience = Google will not send new collectors
Do you have visitors from other countries?
These issues are 2x worse when servers are overseas.
Good News:
Instead of hiring an expensive agency for $20,000-$50,000, my team and I offer a 6-month program priced at $5,000-$10,000.
We specialize in optimizing website speed to the best achievable level. Throughout this period, we closely monitor your website traffic and Google results to ensure improvements in speed and new visitor engagement. We also make necessary optimizations and adjustments along the way.
you will achieve
Passing Google's Page Speed Audit. (Testing guide below)
SSL certificate implementation for enhanced security.
Local and international web visitors will have a good experience
During the 6 month process we assess all the programs running in your site
When finished, your website should be engineered to run fast for many years(5-10 expected)
With an advertising/business background and a track record of national clinical awards as a chiropractor, I also possess a deep-rooted passion for technology. More than that, I like solving complex problems.
In 3rd grade he Radio shack guy began to teach me DOS programming and by the 5th grade I was training the computer teacher!
All the work on xzib was done by myself. To ensure optimal results for your website, I work with specialists to assess and implement the best solution for your site.
Please reach out via Contact form
or call/text: (561) 571-23 seven eight |
email: info at xzib.com
Technical details below.
Impetus & Summary
In 2023, mobile speed and security are essential.
Google conducts pass/fail tests for speed and quality.
Failing these tests results in a poor and slow user experience.
A failed test prevents Google from referring new collectors to your website.
Good Page Experience
Google generates 16 times more traffic than Instagram. Every year, hundreds of thousands of contemporary art queries related to NYC, LAX, and Miami are made on Google.
Having a good page experience ensures that your current website is fast and stable, especially on mobile devices.
A 4 second delay in website load causes a 400% increase in website abandonment
PASS/FAIL Testing your website
Page Experience consists of three components: Mobile Usability, Security, and Core Web Vitals. Resolving the first two is relatively straightforward.
The last one which relates to speed of loading is a challenge with art galleries due to images SLOWING the loading. Interestingly, visual art organizations and galleries have been slow in adapting mobile-first standards.
In April 2023, I conducted a speed audit on 51 Tribeca art galleries. Shockingly, only three galleries passed Google's Page Experience test on both desktop and mobile platforms. Notably, Artsy.net and David Zwirner's platformart.com failed this audit as well. TRIBECA SPEED AUDIT
Core Web Vitals Testing aka Speed and Stability
1. Click the LINK below when ready(opens a new tab)
2. Type in your website address and Click ANALYZE.
3. See example image above. Google will give a FAILED OR PASSED rating.
5. Desktop and mobile each receives their own PASS/FAIL. Click the toggle to view both
- Click the link below to begin (opens in a new tab).
- Enter your website address and click "ANALYZE."
- Refer to the example image above. Google will provide a rating of "FAILED" or "PASSED."
- Separate ratings are given for desktop and mobile. Toggle to view both.*** The rating is based on real user data from the previous 28 days. Disregard other theoretical tests on this page.
CDN's Servers & Speed
Visual art websites that feature high-resolution images require robust technology. However, most of these websites are a decade behind in terms of technology.
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) consist of server groups located in metropolitan areas. They store your website on multiple servers worldwide, ensuring that your visitors can access your high-resolution images quickly. Implementing a well-engineered CDN is essential for visual art websites.
Above The Fold, Size, & Scripts
There is content which your iphone or laptop loads that is visible when your visit a website. And there is MORE content when you scroll down on a website.
The content that loads before you scroll down is called "above the fold."
To make your website load fast, it must be engineered to put all the computer energy into loading the content that is visible "above the fold." And pause the loading of anything that is below.
Core Web Vitals - Details for 3 tests
All 3 above "Core Web Vitals" must PASS, to achieve the "Good Page Experience."
Structured Data
3. "Structured Data"
When your art gallery publishes exhibition or art fair information on a webpage, it typically includes various details such as curator name, artists, galleries, dates, venue, admission, COVID policy, artist resumes, and descriptions.
However, Google's computers read billions of webpages daily, making it impossible to accurately capture all the details for YOUR exhibition. Unless you apply Structured Data, Google will not make an effort to gather and present this information correctly.
Structured data encapsulates exhibition details in hidden code that Google computers can fully comprehend. This empowers Google to promote your exhibition with utmost accuracy to art collectors residing in or visiting your area.
Guide to test website for presence of "structured data"
Testing webpage for "Design Miami"
Test results showing "EVENT"
1. Copy the URL for an exhibition (from your gallery website).
2. Visit the link below and paste it into the blank
3. Click the "RUN TEST."
4. If you have Event Schema Applied, you will see the word "event" under the word "detected."
Click here to test your site for structured data. LINK