Your Author Website is the perfect space to show potential readers why they should buy your books, tell current readers more about yourself, and reward your most loyal fans.
People want to know you're a legitimate author before they purchase from you, and a website will show that you're a real writer with high-quality books. It will allow readers to connect with you and learn more about you, and well-written blogs will keep them coming back for more.
When forming your website, it should encapsulate who you are as an author, be a point for making sales, and lead to your other marketing methods such as mailing list and social media. Unlike other platforms, you have complete control over your website and can make sales from it far more easily if you have the traffic.
In this week and next week's blog posts, we'll discuss the different aspects you need to build your basic author website.
Home Page
Your website's Home Page is usually the first page people will see when they enter your site. This means it's the hook of the website - the place to draw people in and convince them to stay long enough to make a purchase.
This page needs to be visually appealing and follow your brand. For example, the website of a children's author will be bright and colourful, but a romance author will use deeper colours like red and black. Good branding will show your audience that you're an expert in your genre. Although this should be across all pages, it's VITAL on your home page.
It should also be visually appealing and draw the eye. Be careful to not go overboard and flood the reader with information and visuals. Instead, stick to a minimalistic approach that shows who you are and encourages readers to click on more pages to learn more.
Your books should be the focus of the Home page, ready for the reader to click on a link to directly buy them. Feature a new release or sale/offer, with a few others shown. If it's your first book, that's okay! Use other aspects to make yourself look like you're already a bestselling author.
You should also include:
Links to your social media
Menu for easy access to all pages
Your logo/a picture of yourself
A short About Me section
Sign-up form for your email newsletter
Blog
Your blog can be anything you want it to be, as long as there's value for readers in it. What might your readers want to see on your blog?
It's likely they're interested enough in you and your writing that they want to see more, so this is the place to give a 'behind the scenes' peek into your writing, as well as teasers and updates. Unlike your social platforms, where text is typically short and sweet, your blog is a great long-form story telling platform.
This might include:
Your writing process
Updates on your writing
Reviews of books you’re reading
Announcing new releases
Announcing promotions and sales
Keep your blog on-brand but conversational. Carry your writing style over to the blog platform, so people can relate it to the books they love so much. However, make sure it stays friendly, casual, and not too long. Make the reader feel like they're talking to a close friend, and at the end of every post, include a call to action to BUY!
Come back next week for Part Two, where we'll discuss the other necessary pages for your Author Website!
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