Important Components of Successful Author Websites

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IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR WEBSITES

Author websites are specific and goal driven. Their sole purpose is to offer readily digestible information about a topic that the surfer is interested in. That information can take the form of your book, your expertise, your friendship, or some service you are offering. In any of these cases, the underlying principle is that of communication. The best author websites include several components that have helped to make the author visible and successful in their goals.


• Great author websites keep their websites UPDATED and CURRENT.

Nothing is worse than clicking onto an author’s website only to find that the last post or information on the site is a couple of years old. If you are the one updating the information, make sure that the blog content and the other topics that you offer on your website are not dated, or outdated. Opt for topics that have a longer shelf life.


• Successful websites KNOW their intended audience.

While this sounds trite, and often repeated, it bears saying again, and again, and again. IN particular with a website this is important because you will need to determine what your audience enjoys doing and learning. A website devoted to information about aging and Alzheimer’s would offer different components as compared to someone whose book is a young adult teen fiction book.
What is your audience’s goal when they come to your website?
What sort of tech skills do they bring to the cyber-table?
Do they enjoy interactive websites?
Or do they like to breeze in, breeze out, and be done with it?
How much time does your demographic actually prefer to spend on a website?





• Great websites limit the visual saturation. Pictures are lovely…but they also take a LONG time to load on a page, or to update. Using compressed files and web enabled files can help make sure that the pictures you do use are easy to load and don’t freeze up even the slowest of browsers.


• Embrace Social Media. The caveat here is to actually USE it. If you know that you are not likely to update your Facebook, Google Plus or any other social media regularly, then consider outsourcing it to someone who will enjoy doing it.
That being said, if time and budget don’t allow for outsourcing, then consider ONLY using ONE social media option. Better to have one done well, than several that go nowhere.


• Great websites are EASY to use! No matter how ‘simple’ your website seems to you, you must assume that there are people out there that aren’t as ‘savvy’ as you are. Remove all obstacles to usability…which can include resisting the urge to throw background music on the site.
A new author may believe that they need to make their website ‘unique’ and ‘different’ from other websites. This is a huge myth. Readers expect a certain level of information to be readily accessible on your site and if they don’t find it, or see it, or experience it, they will not deem it worth their time or trouble….and they will go away never to be heard from again.


• Be Clear about your intentions. You’re there to sell your book….right? So why would the cover of your book NOT be on your first page?
Don’t fall into the ‘welcome page’ trap. We’ve all seen them….Welcome to my website letters on the first page. Don’t do it. The reader already knows you are happy they’ve landed on your site. Don’t waste precious cyberspace on this. Rather, put a picture of your book, and some interesting information that is plainly there for them to know what your book is about.


• Great websites actually offer a way to purchase the book! If that sounds strange, you’d be surprised at how many author websites don’t actually offer a ‘purchase’ button somewhere near their book’s graphic or on the book’s page.


• The best websites offer communication options. You want to make it easy and even compelling to contact you via email or comment posts. The whole point of the website is to market YOU and your book. Therefore, you want people to get in touch with you and to ask for additional information about your book and speaking engagements.


• The best websites think about the bigger picture. When you buy a home, you buy it with the idea of having the space to expand if needed. This is the same concept where websites are concerned. Make sure that the software or pages that you purchase have enough space for you to offer additional books when they come along. Keeping your ‘brand’ consistent throughout all of your books is important.


• Awesome websites cover the basics effortlessly. In other words, attention to grammar, punctuation, forms and formatting must be triple checked. Misspelled words and poor grammar will make a poor impression on a first time visitor.


If looking for a website designer company that does a nice job for a site, look into Outbox Online.