Authors – Make Your Own Website – Understanding Meta Tags/Data
I am not going into detail to show you how to create your own website, because basically I am a novice in this area. I have some html experience and I was able to design my website through Adobe® Macromedia Dreamweaver®, but not enough to teach you properly.
If you have experience, then you are lucky enough to do this for very little cost. You will first need to brand yourself, another words, what will the name of your website be? In order to find a name, you can go out to any number of “hosting” sites and use their search engine to see if the name you wish to use is available.
The hosting company I use is HyperMart www.hypermart.net. I absolutely love working with them and I think it competes very well with other cost-effective hosting sites I’ve seen around. They can first register your domain name, which is the name you’ve chosen for people to find you (i.e. www.robinmurphyauthor.com). It is a low yearly fee and worth having. They can host your domain name or website for a low monthly cost. They will also walk you through step-by-step in creating your website, if you choose to tackle this task.
I have also seen advertising for a company called www.1and1.com. I suggest you do a search for website hosting and use what best suits you. But I strongly suggest you get a website or at least a blog (later discussed) to get your brand name out there. You need to come across as professional and that you are serious about you as an author. The first thing anyone will do when they hear about you and your book(s) is to check out your website. You know we all do it, so it’s best you have a website to share your product and knowledge.
Now, the next thing I’d like to talk about are Meta tags and metadata, which when I first heard it I said, “Huh”? Here is a Wikipedia definition of a meta tag:
Meta elements are the HTML or XHTMLelement used to provide structured metadata about a Web page. Multiple Meta elements with different attributes are often used on the same page. Meta elements can be used to specify page description, keywords and any other metadata not provided through the other head elements and attributes.
The meta element has two uses: either to emulate the use of an HTTP response header, or to embed additional metadata within the HTML document.
With HTML up to and including HTML 4.01 and XHTML, there were four valid attributes: content, http-equiv, name and scheme. Under HTML 5 there are now five valid attributes, charset having been added. http-equiv is used to emulate an HTTP header, and name to embed metadata. The value of the statement, in either case, is contained in the content attribute, which is the only required attribute unless charset is given. charset is used to indicate the character set of the document, and is available in HTML5.
Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of an HTML or XHTML document.
Metadata is defined as a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.
You still may be saying “huh?”, but if you have someone else creating your website, they will know what is needed to place the Meta tag within the code on your home/index page of your website. This is basically any words and/or phrases pertaining to you, your genre, etc. It’s the art of having these descriptions or phrases placed in your website so it can be found when someone does a search that relates to you and/or your books. If you are writing about paranormal mystery, then this would be a key phrase you would want to include.
In the definition above about Meta tags, it states the use can be in the header (i.e. www.robinmurphyauthor.com) or within the HTML document, which is the index page of your website. If you know code, these are strategically placed within the code, which took me awhile to figure out. If this is too much to take in, then have a website designer do this for you.
Now I know this is a lot to take in and understand what all of this means. I don’t understand everything completely myself, but after I did a great deal of research, I was able to find where to place my words within the coding and where to place it on my index page. It’s hidden and doesn’t show when it’s live out on the internet, but this is one way to have any keyword or phrase that could be searched by someone who doesn’t know who you are in a search engine.
Why do you need Meta tags and metadata? These key words or phrases hidden that are within the code is what will bring your website up within the first three pages of a search. That’s right, once you have these tags placed in your website, after a month or so, go out to a search engine and type in one of the key words or phrases you added and see where your website result lands. You can periodically do that search and see how the results change. This is key on someone who knows nothing about you…find you.
Most people don’t even realize where and what the “header” is, but the next time you go out to a website, roll your mouse over the Internet Explorer tab at the top and see what comes up. A lot of the big name websites only need the domain name there, but for us authors who are seeking to develop a large readership, placing this type of information in the “header” will bring you to the forefront in a search.
The other sections you wish to have on your site can be a page that tells a little bit about you (i.e. Meet Robin), your books, any events you are attending or have attended, a link to your blog, and of course a contact page. You can add anything you like that describes more about you because reader’s love to learn about their new favorite author.
I’ll also include, although I know you savvy writers have great common sense, not to forget to add “all” of the social media you belong to on your index/home page. It’s very important for readers to have the ability to follow or like you in those different venues. I do believe it’s important to have quick buying links to your books, along with any book trailers you’ve done, and awards you’ve won. You may want to include an option to give away the first chapter of your book free for reader’s to get a sample of your writing. From this, you will receive their email to use to contact for future books you publish. But please be mindful and respectful not to spam them with too much information. It will turn them off. It’s important to include anything that will prove your credibility and professionalism. As always, feel free to view my website at: www.robinmurphyauthor.com for any ideas.
