Writing a bio that captures the reader’s attention and drives relevant traffic to the page can be a daunting task. But as the process of educating potential buyers and selling artwork shifts online, and attention spans shrink, it’s more important than ever to get this right. This takes know-how and practice – and a few tips from us.

So, here is our guide to writing an SEO-optimised bio that captures the reader’s attention and encourages them to engage with your gallery further.

1. Focus on the ‘wow’ details

A new artist may present you with a full CV and complete exhibition history. They may share their entire biography, from where they were born and grew up right through to the present day. Most of these biographical details won’t be needed in the artist bio you write for your website and marketing materials.

The skill is to whittle the information down to the most pertinent ‘wow’ details. Step into the artist’s shoes and imagine you’re facing the collector or potential buyer. What would they most want to know?

In answering this question, we recommend you include details of:

• the medium the artist works in
• what techniques do they use
• the styles and qualities inherent in their work
• any recurring themes they like to explore
• any influences that have shaped their art or artistic approach
• why they are important and where they sit within the context of the art world

Once you’ve pooled this information, write your opening sentence. This sentence has a lot of heavy lifting to do as it must hook the reader in. What is the single most important/interesting fact about the artist you could reveal? If they are a well-known artist, what are they famous for? If they are not well-known, what is unique about them?

2. Keep it short, but be guided by your audience

Even if you’ve read lengthy artist profiles that you’ve personally found engaging and enlightening, don’t be tempted to write an essay – 140 words is considered about right to hold the reader’s attention until the end.

It’s likely your first draft will run to more words than this, but editing invariably improves copy and you’ll be surprised how many words can be cut. Ask someone else to edit and proofread the copy when you’ve written it to make sure there are no spelling errors – and to bring a little objectivity to the task of reducing word count.

However, if you know your audience and target market well, and know they are happy to consume longer bios online, that gives you more flexibility on word count.

3. Use clear, jargon-free language and write for your audience

Never underestimate the value of good writing. When writing an artist bio, this means writing for your online audience: collectors or potential buyers.

They may know the art world, but they could also be new to the art world and unfamiliar with industry terminology. Use plain English and clear, simple language to reveal why the artist’s work is worthy of further exploration and enquiry. Avoid excessive praise or verbose descriptions – be engaging but be concise.

4. Provide colour with a quotation

A direct quotation can add colour and bring life to the artist’s story. Make sure the quotation works hard for inclusion in the bio. As word count is ideally limited, the quotation should add weight to the bio and complement the overall message. And it should focus on one or more of the ‘wow’ details you’ve included.

5. Optimise for the search engines (SEO)

By optimising the copy you write for your website, you’ll be able to drive more relevant traffic to it, increase conversions and sales and, ultimately, increase revenue for your gallery business. Content optimisation, or SEO, involves making sure the copy you write for your bio contains a few keywords searchers would use to find your content.

When you write an artist bio, remember to:

1. Write a meta title (or title tag) and meta description for the webpage. These tell searchers and search engines what is on a page and encourage searchers to visit the page. You can find out more about meta tags and why they are important here.
   
   
2. Add alt text to each image you include on the page. This is the text that is shown if an image can’t be displayed, such as in an email newsletter. Alt text helps search engine crawlers to index and rank the page in image search engines. This means the page is more likely to be seen by searchers, increasing traffic. You can find out more about alt text and how to write it here.
   
   
3. Use a few intent-focused keywords in your copy and meta tags. Intent reveals the purpose behind the visitor’s search. Your bio will be considered more relevant (a key ranking factor) to a searcher if you’ve focused on intent when sourcing your keywords, and this will help rank the page higher in the search results when someone searches for a keyword you’ve used. You can find out more about user (or search) intent here.
   
   
4. Include links within the copy that take readers to other pages on your website (internal links). However, only include links where relevant and where it improves the visitor experience. Internal links are also important for SEO, as they make it easier for search engines to find and crawl other pages on your website.

The aim when writing anything for your website is to attract your target audience. You should therefore optimise your bios – and your entire website – for keywords your audience will use when searching online. You can use free tools like Google Search Console to learn what keywords or phrases currently bring people to your website, and Google Analytics to see how each bio page performs over time.

Don’t forget about backlinks. If your artist bio page receives links from reputable websites, this tells the search engines that your content is informative and valuable to others and it will rank higher in search results, increasing traffic.

To gain backlinks, encourage the artist you’re writing about to link to the page from their website. As part of backlinking best practices, aim to gain backlinks naturally through the relationships you have with other artists and institutions in the industry.

6. Revisit, update

Revisit your artist bios at least once a year to update each one if necessary. If you’re working with emerging artists, you may need to update their bios more regularly as they grow within the industry and gain more commercial and art recognition.

If you’re working within Cubist Cloud, you can easily update artist bios from the system, and everything will sync with your website. Contact us if you’d like to find out more.

7. Share

Remember, your artist bios shouldn’t just sit on a static page on your gallery’s website. Introduce any new artist you’re working with via social media, email or any other platforms you use for marketing purposes, and place artist bios front and centre of any marketing campaign push you do.