CURATING THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY FOR OLIVER MURDOCK CONTEMPORARY ART.
We worked with Oliver Murdock Contemporary Art to reshape the website into a platform that actively supports discovery and sales. The focus was on improving the consumer journey and making it easier for visitors to explore the work. We wanted consumers to understand the story behind each piece and feel confident enough to enquire or purchase. By refining structure, content, and flow, the website became a tool for sustainable growth, supporting Oliver’s goal of turning his practice into a full-time living.
OUR INTRODUCTION TO OLIVER MURDOCK CONTEMPORARY ART.
Oliver Murdock is a contemporary abstract artist whose work has already gained strong interest offline. With several successful art shows under his belt across the country, he was on track to become a huge contemporary artist. However, his website wasn’t supporting that momentum. While visitors were discovering the work, the site didn’t do much to convert interest into sales.
Oliver approached Grid Digital Marketing with a clear goal: to turn his website into a platform that could support regular sales and allow him to focus on his art full-time. Our role was to assess how users were interacting with the site, identify friction points, and restructure the experience to make browsing, understanding, and buying artwork feel intuitive and natural.
Rather than treating the website as a static portfolio, we positioned it as an active sales channel. One that balanced artistic integrity with clarity, confidence, and commercial intent.
THEIR SEO REQUIREMENTS.
01
AUDIT THE CONSUMER JOURNEY.
When we began, a full audit of how users moved through the website was required. We needed to research every step of the consumer's journey, from first discovery through to purchase. This helped us identify friction in the journey, where users were dropping off, and where clearer signposting was needed to guide visitors confidently towards buying artwork.
02
OPTIMISE PRODUCT PAGES.
Product landing pages for Oliver's artwork were essential to our initial briefing conversations. Individual artwork pages needed to work harder, giving potential buyers the information and confidence needed to enquire or purchase. This included improving page structure and clarity of information to help users understand the work.
03
OPTIMISE IMAGES.
As a visual-first brand, Discussions around imagery were central to the briefing conversations. We wanted the images on the website to balance quality and performance. It was essential to maintain good loading speeds while ensuring artwork was displayed clearly and consistently. We also wanted to make sure the alt text was properly taken into consideration.
04
SET UP THE GOOGLE SUITE.
Oliver had no Google applications set up when beginning briefing discussions. It was essential for tracking campaign performance and allowing decisions to be driven by data rather than assumptions.
THE KEY CHALLENGES.
Translating a Physical Gallery Into a Digital Space:
The website needed to reflect the gallery's experience: considered, curated, and confident. All while functioning effectively as a digital platform. We wanted the website to feel like an extension of the contemporary art Oliver was creating.
Maintaining Editorial Restraint Without Losing Clarity:
Minimalist web design is central to the brand identity to let the artwork stand out. However, information still needs to be clear enough for new audiences to navigate exhibitions and artists with ease.
A Website That Didn’t Support Sales:
While the work itself was strong, the website didn’t clearly guide users from discovery to purchase. Key information was either hard to find or missing altogether, creating friction at the point where interest should convert into sales.
Building a Platform for Future Growth:
The site needed to be flexible enough to support future exhibitions, artists, and content, without requiring constant structural changes.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SEO IMPROVEMENT.
Clear Buyer-Led Site Structure:
We identified opportunities to restructure the website around how users explore and purchase art, creating clearer pathways between discovery, artwork pages, and enquiries or sales.
Context-Rich Artwork Content:
By enhancing artwork pages with supporting context (such as themes, availability cues, and narrative detail), the website could build buyer confidence and encourage meaningful engagement.
Improved Navigation and Flow:
Refining internal linking and page hierarchy created a smoother journey through the site, reducing friction and helping users naturally progress from browsing to purchase.
Foundations for Sustainable Sales Growth:
Subtle SEO and structural improvements created a platform that could support ongoing discoverability and consistent sales without compromising the site's artistic integrity.
THE SEO STRATEGY
CONSUMER JOURNEY AUDIT.
If we were to help Oliver Murdock Contemporary Art improve their consumer journey, we first needed to audit how customers found the site and their experience once they arrived. We audited how users moved through the site, identifying friction points between discovery, artwork pages and enquiries or purchases. This meant we could fix any blockers to purchase and ensure information about the products was clear to both consumers and search engines.
SITE STRUCTURE REFINEMENT.
When we first started working on the website, there was no clear structure, and navigating it wasn't intuitive. The website was restructured to create clearer pathways between information about exhibitions, individual artworks and buying actions, improving flow and usability.
PRODUCT PAGE OPTIMISATION.
Getting artwork noticed online isn't easy. The market is oversaturated with SEO-optimised artwork pages. It's also difficult for consumers to find original artworks by artists amid a sea of AI-generated art. We optimised the product pages so consumers knew they were getting an original, high-quality product made by humans. Artwork pages were optimised to support decision-making, with clearer context, structure and navigation to build buyer confidence.
IMAGE OPTIMISATION.
Clear images of Oliver's artwork were integral to the success of our SEO strategy. We were eager to strike a balance between optimising for SEO performance and quality. We aimed to maintain load time and the artwork's visual integrity. Furthermore, we wanted to ensure that all the artwork had optimised Alt-text to improve the site's accessibility, so anyone could use the site effectively.
TECH SEO FOUNDATIONS
Oliver Murdock Contemporary Art's website had little to no technical SEO when it launched. Tech SEO is always foundational to our strategies, and we implemented it to enhance the consumer journey and ensure a smooth user experience. We fixed broken links and pages, improved internal linking and got the site indexed.
SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE SALES.
Our ultimate aim was to get the website into a place where Oliver could make a living from his art. Not just from people discovering him through the website for exhibitions, but also from regular sales. The strategy focused on turning the website into an active sales platform, supporting consistent enquiries and helping Oliver move towards living off his art full-time.
OUR RESULTS SO FAR.
OPTIMISED PRODUCT PAGES.
Stylish and Optimised Product Pages
Oliver Murdock Contemporary Art now has stylish, optimised product pages that clearly outline the context of each artwork, including quality, dimensions and the story behind it.
CLEAR CONSUMER JOURNEY
No Blockers to Purchase
We have ensured there are no blockers to purchasing Oliver's artwork, making the process smooth and intuitive for consumers.
'Grid. Digital Marketing were instrumental in helping me gain sales through the website. They helped to fix my customer journey whilst also maintaining my brand identity. I would recommend this team to anyone who is looking for their website to start bringing in sales and queries.'
Oliver Murdock - Oliver Murdock Contemporary Art
