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Sarah Arrow

1y ago

I love writing. Back in 2007 I created the 30 Day Business Blogging Challenge. Here, I'm talking about turning your existing content into books.

Building an Author Website: A Step-by-Step Guide
Sarah Arrow

An author website serves as your digital home base, crucial for marketing and reader engagement.

Highlight the Benefits

A well-crafted website increases your visibility, establishes your brand, and connects you directly with readers. It's a platform to showcase your work, share updates, and sell your books directly.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

Decide what you want your website to achieve. Is it mainly for book sales, or do you want to include a blog for regular content? This decision will guide your design and content.

Step 2: Choose a Domain Name

Your domain name should be simple, memorable, and ideally your author name (e.g., www.janesmithbooks.com). This makes it easy for readers to find and remember you.

Step 3: Select a Website Builder

Platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix offer user-friendly tools to build your site without needing to code. They come with various templates which you can use to start. Or, hope over and talk to me about a 99 Quid Website, the link is in the bio.

Step 4: Design Your Site

Design a clean, easy-to-navigate website. Include essential pages: H

ome, About, Books, Blog, and Contact. Ensure your design reflects your genre and writing style.

Step 5: Create Quality Content

Populate your site with engaging content. Include a bio, book descriptions, excerpts, and blog posts. High-quality, relevant content will help attract and retain readers.

Step 6: Optimise for Search Engines

Use SEO strategies to improve your site’s visibility. Include keywords related to your books and genre in your content, titles, and metadata.

Step 7: Regular Updates

Keep your site fresh with regular updates. Post blog entries, news about upcoming books, events, and reader interactions.

Step 8: Analyse and Adapt

Use tools like Google Analytics to track visitors’ behaviour. Analyse the data to understand what works and refine your strategy accordingly.

A well-maintained author website is an invaluable tool in your publishing arsenal, helping to attract new readers and keep existing ones engaged.

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