An author website is a must for any author who wants to be taken seriously. It’s the best way to get your work out to the world and an important marketing tool to increase readership and sell more books. Luckily, you don’t need to be a techie to create a beautiful website – anyone can with a little guidance.
How to create an author website in 7 steps:
Reading: How to create a website for an author
1. Buy a domain name
A domain name is your “address” on the web that you can buy, or more specifically rent, to get started. There are many services that you can use to get your own domain for as little as $8 a year such as: B. Namecheap, Google domains and GoDaddy. You can also buy a domain name directly from many website builders, which we’ll cover in the next step, but it will usually cost you more money.
Here are a few ideas for choosing domain names:
- Choose your full author name if available, or something similar (e.g. rupikaur.com).
- If your name is already taken, try “author” (e.g. johncaseyauthor.com).
- If your author name is long or slightly misspelled, choose Keep it as short and simple as possible (i.e. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s website is simply chimamanda.com).
Once you’ve grabbed your domain name, it’s time to Deciding on the tool you want to use to create your digital home.
2. Choose a website builder and hosting service
A website builder is a website where you create the layout and content of your author website and edit while a hosting service provides the servers on which your website is hosted. To use a real estate analogy, if your domain is your address, the hosting server leases the land to you, and the website builder is the builder you can build on it with.
Most website builders Today, hosting is included, saving you the hassle of signing up for another service, connecting them together, and paying for two separate annual bills. But as we said before, this option is more expensive.
Here are some of the most popular options for website builders:
- WordPress.com: the OG website builder and go-to option for most writers looking to launch their first website;
- Squarespace: a popular builder that offers easily customizable themes already optimized for mobile navigation;
- Wix: similar to Squarespace, Wix offers high customization and a user-friendly interface;
- Shopify: Designed for e-commerce websites, Shopify should be your choice if you are planning to open a store for selling books and goods.
You’ll need to spend some time figuring out which service best suits your needs and budget, and then go through the usual account creation process. Now that the boring part is over, it’s finally time to start designing your little corner of the internet.
3. Hire an Author Website Designer
The prospect of designing your website from scratch can be overwhelming, but the good thing is you don’t have to. Each of the website builders above offer plenty of free templates for you to choose from. You can simply browse through the different styles and choose the one that appeals to you the most, then drag and drop and copy your images. But there’s a catch.
If you’re hoping to stand out from the crowd and create a truly unique website, by using pre-made templates you risk creating something that looks too similar to other author websites, which could hurt your brand .
A popular option is to work with a professional author website designer – it will cost you more money (about $1,600 on average) but guarantees a professional result. Working with a designer gives you the creative freedom to customize your website to match your branding. Most web designers will also help you with potential technical challenges, e.g. B. when connecting your domain to your content management system (CMS).
See also: How to Make a Chatbot for a Website in Minutes
Freelance web designers are available all over the internet, but if you want, ones with experience at Building author websites, find them on the Reedsy Marketplace. Browse their profiles by logging in below and contact them for a quote.
Once the layout of your digital home is ready, it’s time to deck it out with quality content.
4. Add content to your homepage
There are a few essential features your website should have, although feel free to play around with them.To see what you would like to include in your own online presence, you can always visit your favorite authors’ websites.
In general, a professional website usually contains:
An ‘About Me’ Page. A dedicated page with your author bio, your professional portrait photo and ideally some fun facts about yourself (e.g. “I swim with sharks in my free time”).
A “Books” page. A neat display of all your books, audiobooks, etc. with links so readers can easily buy them.
A contact form. An easy way to get in touch with you, whether it’s through a form, a simple email address, or a phone contact (if you want to keep living the edge and invite spam calls).
Social Media Links. If you’re not on social media, do you really exist? Jokes aside, if you’re actively building an online following, link to your accounts at the top or bottom of every page.
A Blog: Recommended mainly for non-fiction writers, a blog is useful for keeping your audience informed and sharing your latest thoughts and ideas.
Once the basic functionality has been created, the next step is to set up a newsletter that allows you to communicate directly with your audience.
💡Listen to our world-class web designer, Stuart Grant, as he talks about making your website work for you. He shares his best tips from 6 years of helping writers create amazing websites.
5. Set up an email newsletter
A mailing list is the single most important asset for growing your readership, and it is the cornerstone of any authoring platform. Unlike social media, an email newsletter is a communication channel that you control and can use to turn readers into lifelong supporters.
See also: WordPress Tutorial
We’ve already covered how to create a Author list created, but here are the three main steps:
Select a mailing list provider. Depending on your needs and budget, choose from the most popular options like MailerLite, ConvertKit, Flodesk, and Active Campaign.
Connect it to your website. This step is somewhat technical and involves creating an email form with your email provider and then copying an embed code on your website builder page. Every email provider should offer detailed setup instructions, but always test that the integration works by signing up for your newsletter.
Top Tip: If you have a Gmail account, you can subscribe to your lists multiple times by adding a + to your address. For example, [email protected] can also sign up as [email protected]
Create automated campaigns. The beauty of email is that most can be automated. For example, every time someone subscribes to your list, they should be greeted with a warm welcome email telling them what to expect from you. The more complex your interaction with your audience, the more automations you need to create. Start with the welcome email and scale from there.
Congratulations, you have set up your newsletter! Remember that most visitors won’t subscribe to your email list without an incentive, so your next goal should be to create an enticing lead magnet.
6. Create a free resource for your visitors
A lead magnet is simply a free resource that potential buyers can access by providing you with their email address. The content of the lead magnet can be anything as long as it is valuable to your readers. If you write fiction, it could be a short story or maybe the first book in your series. If you write nonfiction, this could be access to an exclusive online course or a free chapter of your book. Whatever you decide, make it worth your readers’ time (and email).
To set up the lead magnet, you need to create the resource (often a PDF file) and set up another email sequence that will deliver the file to anyone who signs up for it. Register again for this sequence and check if everything works.
If you’ve followed all the steps up to now, you’ve got a professional website up and running – congratulations! It just needs a little more love and care from now on.
7. Keep improving the user experience
There’s always room to improve your visitors’ experience on your website. From adding dynamic elements to banners for price promotions to a calendar page for your book tour. Your options are endless.
Again, if managing all of this stuff sounds too complicated to do on your own, consider hiring a professional web designer. At Reedsy, you’ll find top-notch designers to help you customize a website to fit your needs.
Last but not least, to ensure your website does the job justice, we’ve created a checklist that you can use throughout the design process.
Remember that this is your home on the internet, and it will affect what literary agents and readers alike think of you when they google your name. Your website is worth the extra care and effort to make it as beautiful and professional as possible, and hopefully this post will point you in the right direction.
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