How to Create an Author Website on WordPress

Want to know how to create an author website on WordPress? Every author needs a website to connect with fans, advertise projects, and build a web presence.

Buy a Domain Name

You can either buy a domain name, through your host or purchase it separately. Sometimes, the host will throw in your domain name for free.to see if your pen name domain is available. I would strongly recommend getting a .com website, rather than a .net or some other extension because people are familiar with .coms and it will be easier for fans to find you. Although, other extensions are considerably less expensive, so price may factor into your decision.

If your AuthorName.com domain isn’t available, I’ve seen other authors use AuthorNameAuthor.com. So mine would be CynthiaRayneAuthor.com. If you haven’t chosen a name yet, I would check both Google and Amazon to see if another author shares your pen name. For the sake of your readers, choose a unique pen name, so they can easily find you.

Choose a Host

I currently use SiteGround, but I’ve also hosted with GoDaddy, both are good, inexpensive options for authors. In my opinion, customer service at SiteGround is better. For example, I created a ticket for an issue I had, and it was fixed within the hour. There are a lot of start-up costs for an indie author (stock photos, cover art, ads, etc.) so minimizing expenses whenever possible is important. At SiteGround, the current monthly fee for website hosting is four dollars. That includes one website with 10,000 visitors a month and 4 GB of space. It also comes with WordPress hosting. It’s a bargain, if you ask me.

What is WordPress hosting?

Basically, it allows me to update the website without knowing any computer code. I’m not technologically advanced, but I get by just fine.WordPress hosting gives you a dashboard, where you can do posts, make pages, add plug-ins, etc.

Whenever I’m not sure how to do something on WordPress, I look for instructional videos on YouTube. This is less expensive than hiring someone to manage my website. I typically only spend a few hours a month updating and handling issues.

Choose a Theme

Okay, now we’re getting to the fun stuff. There are plenty of free themes available on WordPress. I wouldn’t pay for one straightaway. If you’re anything like me, your website will change several times before you decide on a look.  Both Fiverr and PicMonkey are inexpensive options to create logos and graphics for your website. I ultimately chose to buy a theme, which cost around $50, because I wasn’t happy with any of the available freebies. You’ll need to decide what’s the best option for your budget. StudioPress is a fantastic and affordable place to get a theme.

 

Create Pages & Add Plug-Ins

Once you’ve chosen a theme, add pages to your website. Some common pages are a bio page, a blog, a contact page, series/book pages, and upcoming releases. While designing mine, I took a look at other author websites for inspiration. Another step is adding useful plug-ins to your site.  Some of my favorites are Wordfence Security, Yoast SEO, MailMunch, and Sumo. Play around with these and find ones that suit your needs.

Customization

There are many ways to customize your website, such as fonts, graphics, color schemes. Consider branding in your decision-making process. Typically, a brand uses one or two fonts and two or three colors. For example, McDonald’s uses red and gold. Starbucks uses green and white. Macy’s uses white, black, and red, along with their signature star logo. I chose red, black, and white, along with a red pair of lips. To me, the lips are all about romance, which makes sense since I write in that genre. What is your niche within romance? For example, sci-fi romance authors use a lot of blue and purple, along with a futuristic font. Once I made some decisions, I used PicMonkey to customize my site.

 

Pulling it Together

I hope this gives you some basic ideas for starting an author website. Once you make the decision, you’ll want to echo these fonts and colors on your social media platforms as well. Why? It gives you a professional, pulled together look.

Happy designing!

 

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