How to Design and Build an Engaging Author Website

Guest post by Dean Burgess. Every author needs a website. A website acts as a kind of portfolio, business card, or storefront for your author business. You can use it to build a following, promote a new book, share information about yourself with your fans, or sell copies of your book directly to consumers. Even if you work with a publisher, a website is important for establishing your brand and attracting an audience. Check out the following tips from JD&J Book Cover Design for help getting your author website up and running!

Determine Your Goals
 
Before you get started on your website, take some time to establish your goals. What do you hope to achieve with your author website? Answering this question will help you avoid wasting time and money creating website features that don’t contribute to your goals. Your primary goal is likely to sell books or promote services like editing or coaching. A secondary goal of yours might be to build an email list and create long-term relationships with your readers. Remember, a website is a powerful marketing tool, so you’ll want to pay attention to digital marketing elements like SEO and conversion copywriting when setting up your website.
 
Gather and Create Content
 
While the design of your website is important, it’s the content that will drive visitors to buy your book or sign up for your email list. Assemble a variety of content to place on your website, from images of your book covers to blog posts about your writing process. Look for an online PDF tool to merge PDF​ files and keep all of your design assets in one place. This way, you’ll be able to easily share images and documents with your web designer. Online PDF editing tools also make it easy to reduce the size of large image files without compromising quality, so you can limit the number of emails and attachments you need to keep track of.
 
Choose a Domain Name
 
Next, you’ll need a domain name. The Write Practice stresses the importance of searching for available domain names before getting too far into your web design process. Most authors use their first and last name as their domain, but if this isn’t available, you may want to append a word to the end, such as “writer” or “books”. Avoid using your book title as your domain name as this will be confusing to visitors when you write more books.
 
Build Your Website
 
Once you find an available domain name that you like, register it on the platform you intend to use to build your website. Many web design platforms include website hosting, offering all-in-one website solutions for authors who just want to get a simple website up and running with minimal cost and hassle. According to TechRadar, some of the best website-building tools to consider include Wix, Bluehost, and Squarespace. If you plan to sell your books on your website, make sure the builder you choose offers secure e-commerce functionality.
 
Add Engaging Features
 
Once you get the foundation of your website together, it’s time to add a few features that will help you achieve the goals you set earlier. First and foremost, you’ll need a call to action (CTA) that encourages visitors to do what you want them to do. This might mean buying one of your books, connecting with you on social media, or joining your mailing list. This should be right at the top of your website so visitors can’t miss it. In addition to this, you should also consider including a news or updates section as well as an about page, contact page, portfolio page, and social network links.
 
Building an author website is a great way to establish credibility, provide additional information to your readers, and sell your books online. Get started on your website right away. By taking advantage of online tools like web design platforms and PDF mergers, you can get your website up and running today!
 
Are you working on a new book? JD&J Book Cover Design creates eye-catching book covers for eBooks, paperback, and hardback. Contact us today so we can design a custom cover that sells!