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eBook Site Structure

by Brendan Carl
8 replies
Hey everyone,

This is my first post, and I was just trying to get some help with my first IM website.

So I plan on setting up a site to sell an ebook (which will be written by me and my friend) about investing in the stock market. Now, I don't need need any help writing the book, I just do not know how to structure my site. I see a lot of one page sites with sales copies. I have also seen a lot of blogs.

So what should my site structure be to sell my one ebook with SEO in mind?

I plan on adding a free opt-in to build my email list (although I am not sure what will be offered, some free bonus - I haven't decided yet), but again I do not know where to place it. Since I've never done internet marketing before, I have no idea how to set up the site. I am very good with computers (I am a coder), so the technical aspect of creating the site should be no problem. I would just like some helpful tips on how many pages I should have, what they should contain, links, etc. Also, whenever I read about micro niche sites vs authority sites, they're income streams are usually based off of adsense. So, what model for a site should I use to sell an ebook (not an affiliate ebook, if that makes a difference).

Thanks! Also, if you want to link me to somewhere else for me to read, that is fine as well!
#ebook #site #structure
  • Profile picture of the author Christophe Young
    Well, when I first put my ebook out there I set it up on a sales page which is my home page for my website.

    I also have all the usual pages such as a FAQ, Videos page, Privacy Policy page etc. It's really that simple. It can all be done with Wordpress using a simple theme.

    Promoting your ebook is something else and it's just a matter of putting your ebook in front of targeted leads.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
    Ok thank you for your fast response. I like your idea of using Wordpress for your site because that will be easily customizable with themes and plugins.

    What has worked for everyone else?

    And not to throw too many questions out there, but on the site should I try to set up a sales page to presell the ebook directly from the site, or should I set up a squeeze page to build an email list and try to market the book through autoresponder messages? Or both?

    Thanks a lot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaarrrggghhh
    Here is a sample of a website using WordPress both as blog and sales platform. He is an ebook publisher who has had great on-line success and I love the fact he is using one of the standard default themes that comes pre-packaged with your WordPress installation.

    JOHN LOCKE BOOKS | Author of the Best Selling Donovan Creed Series of Books, Emmett Love Westerns, and Dani Ripper Novels.

    I actually purchased his ebook on how he sold $1M ebooks in 5 months and it did a really good job at explaining what he did for creating his websites to promote his ebooks and how he did it, really great read.

    Hope this helps...all the best, Leah

    P.S. Welcome to the WarriorForum!
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    • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
      @Aaarrrggghhh (I can't quote people yet - I only have 3 posts lol):

      Thank you for the great example. His model seems to be having one blog advertising all of his books. And, that has clearly made John Locke extremely successful.

      However, is this model of an comprehensive, brand-based blog feasible for selling one ebook? (But thanks for the suggestion to read his book, I will definitely consider picking it up as I am very interested in his selling strategy).

      @Randall - Your model is more along that lines of what I was thinking. I am assuming that the squeeze page is offering some free bonus in exchange for an email address, and subsequent emails made will be promoting the ebook (by linking to the ebook sales page), as well as other potential bonuses. So, should the site's main purpose be promoting the squeeze page offering the free bonus to capture emails and build my list, or should it be promoting the sales page for the ebook itself? I wonder if there is a good way to implement both in one site?

      How should I structure my site so I can build a list, but also promote the sales page for my ebook (if that's what I should be doing - if not, please let me know).

      Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance!
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Set up a squeeze page, build a list, email them every 3 days, promote your ebook sales letter link, then profit. Oh... and get LOTS of subscribers to see sales on a daily basis. You may even get your first sale off of the first 10 subscribers that you get.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
    I guess I'm trying to ask if I should either set up:
    1.) A site whose home page is the sales page for my ebook (like Yanik Silver's instantsalesletter.com) (that was the first example that came to mind after reading his book - "Moonlighting on the Internet", which I found to be a great read by the way)

    OR

    2.) A blog based site, maybe with keyword based blog posts to drive SEO traffic?

    And, either one of these could either be promoting the sales page for my ebook, and/or the squeeze page offering a free bonus to capture emails.

    I am just not sure which works best, and how to implement the sales page/squeeze page. Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    If I were you, I would build an authority site around the book's topic and post new blog posts at least a few times per week. You can have a squeeze page for 1 free chapter and do lots of things with your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
    @Paul Gram:
    I like the idea of giving away 1 free chapter. That way I do not need to come up with another free bonus to give if I have already written the ebook.
    If I did make an authority site, I was thinking I could have a box below the title of the site, but above the blog posts, that had a couple sentences either:

    1.) Preselling the ebook with a link to the ebook sales page (but only a couple sentences in the box).

    or

    2.) Offering the free sample with a text box for visitors to enter in their email addresses to receive the free chapter (or whatever I am offering).

    So, if I build an authority site, should I focus on offering the free chapter to build my email list, or should I focus on preselling the ebook and putting a bunch of links to the ebook sales page?

    Also, to be completely honest, I do not know if I have the time and dedication to continually publish new blog posts. Sure, I can make 10 to 15 posts all dedicated to long tail keywords that will drive traffic, but I do not know if I could offer meaningful content on a daily to weekly basis. If authority sites all work MUCH better than more automated sites, then I will manage building an authority blog. However, I was looking for something more automated.
    Would the blog I described above with 10 to 15 keyword-based blog posts work as a compromise?

    EDIT: It seems like the general consensus is that my site should focus more on building my list and offering a free sample or bonus rather than preselling my ebook and risk having lower conversions.
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