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How a different mindset could bring your gallery's site ahead of 99 percent of galleries

 

Let's start this article with a mini survey.

 

Can you answer all these questions?

How much of the responsibility for contact do you leave to the visitor? What information do you make available for your visitors to contact your gallery? Do you only present some super concise info stuffed on a single spot?

We often see a single phone number and a general email address for 'inquiries only'; no personal email addresses, no mobile numbers, no Skype id's, no Vcards to download, no map or directions to reach the gallery, no office hours mentioned... even no opening hours (it does happen!.

What about your artists’ pages?
Do they have a line of text or a button inviting visitors to ask for additional information about a work on display? Not to mention suggestions to download detailed biographies, quality photos of the works on display or previous works of your artists, a preview of a catalogue, etc.

You do have the information, but is it ready for distribution?

 

A lot of gallery sites seem to adopt an attitude of total independence: 'après moi, le déluge'

Visitors can sense this attitude within five seconds of arrival on the site and will act intuitively with a reaction that you could spell as “Oh so they want to be left alone; I’m gone.”

Remaining silent on all fronts certainly strengthens the perception of your gallery as an 'ivory tower'. But on the web, 'Ivory Towers' are not looked upon kindly. The result is … your gallery site appears nearly boycotted.

 

It's all about your attitude

The web is a completely different universe. With its own rules, a particular 'code of conduct'. What works well off-line rarely does online.

What visitors quickly perceive as misplaced arrogance, simply is a missing skill: how to communicate in the open, pro-active way of the web and to establish a rapport with an 'invisible' visitor.

Step into the world of your visitors. What are they looking for? How can you help them pro-actively? How can you make a visit to your gallery's site as fulfilling as possible?

By adopting this open attitude and being at the service of your visitors - even if you are well aware that 95 percent of them are 'flâneurs' - you will automatically reach the 5 percent of visitors who will respond to your multiple personalized invitations.

 

Don't miss out on one of the great opportunities your gallery's site offers

There is a little something just one level deeper that is crucial on the web. It colours your site, giving it that unique flavour, the touch that makes your visitor come back time after time.

It's the 'attitude' that you adopt.

If you remain within the comfort zone of your gallery, never reaching out to your visitors, always waiting until they contact you, you will never discover this greatest of opportunities the web offers.

 

Open your gallery's site to the web

Be open, be personal, 'invite' your visitors to get in touch. Your gallery's site offers an impressive number of opportunities to come in contact.

Look up the survey above, fill it in and add where you miss out on the core mission of your gallery's site: the opportunity to start the 'conversation' and to interact.

 

And by doing so, your site will get well ahead of 99 percent of the gallery sites that still opt for a self-imposed 'splendid isolation'. They simply aren't aware that a genuine 'look inside' approach opens surprising opportunities and is rewarding beyond expectations.

 

 

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