You Only Look as Good as Your Website
Posted By 1st Turning Point Guest Columnist on March 25, 2010
Vijaya Schartz, Author
by Vijaya Schartz
1st Turning Point Guest Columnist
Copyright © 2010 Vijaya Schartz
I can never stress this enough. First impressions are everything. And the first thing your readers will see of you and judge you by, if they’ve never read your books, is your website. Is it attractive? Dull? Too busy? Insufficient? All the good and bad qualities of your site will reflect on you as an author. It’s not fair, I know, but it’s a fact, and you can turn it to your advantage.
Whether you do it yourself, use templates, or can afford a fancy website designer, the dangers and benefits are the same. Do not believe for a minute that a professional will know what you need as an author, unless he or she specializes exclusively in author websites. Only an author knows the business of writing. Here are a few pointers:
Secure your domain name. YourName.com is the most desirable. If it’s a common name, YourNameAuthor.com will differentiate you from non-writing homonyms. If another author has your name, you may want to consider a pen name.
Unless you write erotica, do not use an introduction page—you know, where it says “Welcome” and “Click here to enter.” This confuses the search engines looking for links and content on your first page and will decrease your traffic. But if your website is X-rated, it should contain a warning and be restricted to ages eighteen and older.
Portraits are not absolutely necessary, but if you have one, make sure it’s professional quality. Touched up photos are acceptable. Just make sure you still look like yourself. Many NYT best-selling authors these days use full body photos if they have the figure for it. It takes the attention away from an aging face.
Website styles vary by genre and change with time. Visit the sites of successful authors in your genre to get a feel for color and design. A Regency author’s site will look very different from an Erotica, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, or Thriller author site. Every year or so, I change the look of my site to follow the trends and create interest. A reader who hasn’t visited your site in a while and finds it totally changed will browse it all over again.
If you are published, at least your latest book cover should be on the first page. That’s what you are promoting. It should include a short blurb of that book, a review excerpt if you have one, the name of the publisher, the ISBN number, a buying link, and all the pertinent information.
Respect the buy-in-three-clicks rule. Visitors are impatient by nature. Your website should have links, lots of links. It should only take three clicks to get to the shopping cart where the visitor can buy your book, whether it’s an online bookstore, the publisher, etc. And never send them to the main page of Amazon, Borders, or B&N. Bother to give them the direct link to your book page on that particular site, or to your personal page on Amazon. If a visitor needs to search for your book to buy it, they’ll likely get distracted, misspell a word, get lost in these huge sites, and you’ll lose a potential reader. Also, make sure the links open in another window, so when they are done shopping, they’ll come right back to your site.
Don’t forget the all important key words for the search engines. Add as many as you can think of in the properties section, all related to what you write, so your site will pop up when people search with these words.
Bring traffic to your site. Not one piece of email should leave your computer without a signature line including your website as a live link. Not just the www.yourname.com address, but the full http:// link, so that no matter what email program they use, your recipients only have to click on the blue underlined link to visit your site. Advertise your site on every piece of promotional material, business cards, bookmarks, flyers, postcards, mail, submissions, etc. Mention your website in chats, on the readers loops, press releases. Everywhere your name is mentioned, your website address should follow.
Hold a contest on your site. If you are published, offer a book, not a trinket. Ask for their email address so you can contact them directly when your next book is released. This is the best way to build your reader list. These people want to read your books.
Use a counter on your site, to keep track of the number of visitors. Whether the counter is visible to the public or not, you need to know if your marketing efforts are working. Counters are free.
Deliver content. The more interesting information is on your site, the longer the visitors will stay, and they will return often to learn more about you. Make sure you have all the basic pages: bio, books, links, contest, calendar of events, news, new projects, blog, contact, etc. The number of pages on a site can vary greatly. Make your bio interesting. Readers don’t want to read about your grandchildren, unless that’s who you are writing about. Free reads, like short stories, are always popular. Excerpts can sell a book. Never mention your phone number or personal address on your site. There are strange people out there. Email and PO boxes are the safest for contact information.
If you respect all these unofficial rules, you will be off to a good start. Then, you can expand your site, open another website for a specific series, etc. Once you have a good working site, link with many blogs and networking sites, like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. The more links from the outside to your website will secure a better place in the search engines and bring more traffic.
Good luck.
Vijaya Schartz
Guns, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Bio:
Born in France, award-winning author Vijaya Schartz never conformed to anything and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims she comes from the future. Her published books collected many five star reviews and literary awards. Her books have been compared to Indiana Jones Adventures with sizzling romance. Since her first release in 2000, Vijaya had a dozen books published in Sci Fi, mainstream and romance, in print, audiobooks, and electronic format, often mixing genres. With four different publishers, her early experiences with small press forced her to quickly learn the art of promotion in ways she never thought possible. Vijaya speaks at conferences, and spearheaded the Write Path Seminars.
Current and upcoming releases:
Red Leopard, by Vijaya Schartz
Her latest romantic science-fiction series, The Chronicles of Kassouk, from Desert Breeze Publishing, started with White Tiger in August 2009. Red Leopard will be out in April 2010, and Black Jaguar is scheduled for November 2010. Her latest Novella from Sapphire Blue Publishing is a contemporary shapeshifter romance featuring a girl with a gun in ranger uniform and a Native American hero, set in Arizona, and titled Coyote Gorgeous.
April 1, 2010 release: Chronicles of Kassouk, Book Two - Red Leopard
In charge of the fortress of Kassouk in the King’s absence, what is Terek to do when a Goddian spacecraft lands in his medieval backyard, and the striking woman leading the galactic party insists on colonization?
Galya, the Goddian Princess commanding the geological vessel, is bent on finding a crystal with unusual hyperconductor properties. And the futile resistance of the local population isn’t going to stop her. Not even that defiant tribal chief nicknamed Red Leopard, like the infernal feline that follows him everywhere.
Terek and his band of swordsmen and felines must defend their people’s freedom, no matter the cost. But with this unexpected arrival, an old prophecy surfaces, taking new meaning and carrying a new threat…
When political intrigues, greed, murder and betrayal tip the scales, whom can Galya really trust? Her fellow Goddians? the Mutants bred to serve her race? or her primitive Human enemy?
About the author
These are all worthwhile and good suggestions. It is a lot of work to remodel your Web site, but your rationale is excellent. I guess I’ll add that to my “to do” list. Great article.
Vijaya:
I really appreciate your article and its totally new information. You pointed out several things I now know I need to do. Thank you.
I’ll add: Keep it up to date. It’s a turn-off when I read someone’s Web site and it says they have a book coming out in 2009 (or even earlier).
I like your emphasis on creating a website that’s appropriate for your brand. For some, it’s a struggle to get a site up and going and they “settle.” Although sometimes it’s hard, it’s so important to hold out for the right fit.
I really like your article, it has a lot of very good points.
Excellent advice!
Thanks for sharing
Great article, Vijaya! Thanks for the excellent tips!
Wow, thanks, Vijaya. I always learn from you. I hope to begin designing a website soon so this advice is very timely. Great article.
Vijaya,
Good Article. You’ve inspired me to get going on my website update.
Ann
Thank you for reminding me about the counter, Vijaya. My site’s almost up & running, & I had totally forgotten about the counter.