Creating an Effective Author Website to Sell Books
Posted 4th March 2009 at 01:19 AM by pzmiller
What are the main elements of an effective author website?
·Prominent buy this book button or link on every page
·Top of the home page: Clear statement of the genre of the book and what it’s about (even more important than book title and author name)
·Memorable domain name (not necessarily the book title or author name)
·Sample chapter (or sample pages if children’s picture book)
·Discussion group questions (or children’s activities if children’s picture book)
·Easy-to-read content (black letters on white background, short paragraphs, large type)
·Photo and bio information
·Contact info
Why do I favor blog-based websites for authors?
Because once setup, blog-based websites can be managed by the author so the author can make immediate changes without waiting for a webmaster.
To clarify though, I do not think a blog is enough. I recommend using blogging software to setup a website that can also have a blog on the site.
If an author only has a blog, then someone coming new to the blog and reading a blog post may not immediately know what the book is about or even know there’s a book. By having a website with the home page focused on the book and then a blog elsewhere on the site, an author can make the strongest impact on someone coming to the website for the first time.
What blog platform do I recommend and why?
My company builds book author websites using WordPress.org software. This is not the same as having a WordPress.com blog, which is hosted on WordPress.com just as a blog is hosted on Blogger.com or Typepad.com.
WordPress.org software is downloaded onto your own site (your own domain name and a hosting account of your own) and you need to be able to do the technical steps required to setup the website correctly.
Why bother to have a WordPress.org site when you can have a WordPress.com blog?
Because, as WordPress for Dummies says, WordPress.org “offers much more flexibility than the hosted version.” On WordPress.com, for example, you can’t install plugins, and these plugins are important to help search engines find your website/blog as well as offering a variety of other useful functions.
Warning: And WordPress.com can decide to take down your blog for whatever reason and suddenly your site is gone! This can’t happen with a WordPress.org site because it is your site.
To get the most effective WordPress.org website, you need to know which plugins to add to the software, which plugins are a waste of your site’s “real estate,” etc. Once you have all of this done for you by someone who is committed to building effective book author websites, you can manage your own site from then on. (See the explanation at Why You Want Us to Build Your WordPress Website | Miller Mosaic LLC Call-to-Action Websites for Book Authors of some of the decisions that go into having an effective WordPress.org website.)
Get a free copy of my report “7 Tips for Creating a Call-to-Action Website” at www.CalltoActionWebsites.com .
·Prominent buy this book button or link on every page
·Top of the home page: Clear statement of the genre of the book and what it’s about (even more important than book title and author name)
·Memorable domain name (not necessarily the book title or author name)
·Sample chapter (or sample pages if children’s picture book)
·Discussion group questions (or children’s activities if children’s picture book)
·Easy-to-read content (black letters on white background, short paragraphs, large type)
·Photo and bio information
·Contact info
Why do I favor blog-based websites for authors?
Because once setup, blog-based websites can be managed by the author so the author can make immediate changes without waiting for a webmaster.
To clarify though, I do not think a blog is enough. I recommend using blogging software to setup a website that can also have a blog on the site.
If an author only has a blog, then someone coming new to the blog and reading a blog post may not immediately know what the book is about or even know there’s a book. By having a website with the home page focused on the book and then a blog elsewhere on the site, an author can make the strongest impact on someone coming to the website for the first time.
What blog platform do I recommend and why?
My company builds book author websites using WordPress.org software. This is not the same as having a WordPress.com blog, which is hosted on WordPress.com just as a blog is hosted on Blogger.com or Typepad.com.
WordPress.org software is downloaded onto your own site (your own domain name and a hosting account of your own) and you need to be able to do the technical steps required to setup the website correctly.
Why bother to have a WordPress.org site when you can have a WordPress.com blog?
Because, as WordPress for Dummies says, WordPress.org “offers much more flexibility than the hosted version.” On WordPress.com, for example, you can’t install plugins, and these plugins are important to help search engines find your website/blog as well as offering a variety of other useful functions.
Warning: And WordPress.com can decide to take down your blog for whatever reason and suddenly your site is gone! This can’t happen with a WordPress.org site because it is your site.
To get the most effective WordPress.org website, you need to know which plugins to add to the software, which plugins are a waste of your site’s “real estate,” etc. Once you have all of this done for you by someone who is committed to building effective book author websites, you can manage your own site from then on. (See the explanation at Why You Want Us to Build Your WordPress Website | Miller Mosaic LLC Call-to-Action Websites for Book Authors of some of the decisions that go into having an effective WordPress.org website.)
Get a free copy of my report “7 Tips for Creating a Call-to-Action Website” at www.CalltoActionWebsites.com .
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