3 Things Author Websites Must Have
How to Make Your Authors Website Work Better
The best author websites are visited by thousands of people weekly and are crucial to successful book marketing. Therefore, making your how to make an author website work well is a significant consideration. If you’re a writer trying to decide what to include on your site (or not), it may seem like a daunting task. With an ever-increasing number of people searching for book and author information authors online, it’s vital to make sure your site is up to par based on the competition.
Read on for three essential content elements to include, all are things you can do yourself. Also, if your budget allows, consider hiring an author publicist, like Smith Publicity, to help you with a coordinated book marketing program. It can include your site content along with media outreach and more to help you and your book succeed.
1.) Your website should list all of your published books
Useful author websites need to connect interested readers with all of the books you have written — and make it easy for them to purchase copies. The optimal approach is to create a page on your website that makes it simple to click through to an online bookseller offering your book. Also, even if you don’t dedicate individual pages to each of your books, having the book cover displayed wherever they are shown is a nice touch. You also can make the cover a clickable link to a site where people can buy your book.
2.) Capture email addresses from visitors to your website
For authors, having a website that collects email addresses is essential. There is no doubt social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are an excellent way to engage with readers. But relationships with readers can be built more strongly through email subscriptions. To get people to subscribe, forms should be easy to find on your site and be quick and easy to fill out.
3.) List your future author and book events on your site
Don’t forget to use your site to promote an upcoming book and author events — and keep your calendar listings up to date. Your website must have a calendar page to list the author events you will be holding or attending in the future. It gives readers and fans a way to save the date for events of interest. Some event types to include are book signings, panels, conferences, workshops, and more.
There is no substitute for an outstanding author website, regardless of the genre of your book (or books). It’s today’s ultra-competitive publishing having one is a requirement, not a choice. Gone are the days when you can write a book and not provide readers a place online to find out more about it directly from you. Following the three tips above will help make your site considerably more effective — and all; are things you can add yourself. Also, if you are looking for help with the related areas of author promotion or ebook marketing, the team at Smith Publicity is here to help. Reach out today and see how we can help grow your online presence.