How To Create a FREE Author Website That Looks Like a Million Bucks

Developing an author page is a core part of an author’s portfolio as it helps to have a professional online presence.

Considering the modern landscape, the authors must possess a custom site where they can present their work, interact with their readers, and market their book as this will greatly enhance their outreach and authority.

In contrast, a writer will sometimes avoid the endeavor owing to some beliefs about the burden or the expense of having a website in the first place.

The good news is that you can create a stunning author website for free, and it can look just as polished as one that costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

The following guide will enable you to thoroughly comprehend the process of constructing an author webpage with ease using no payment while maintaining a modern touch to match your style as well as help you reach out to your audience.

To begin your author web development process, we will explain everything concerning the platform selection, designing the web page, and coming up with interesting content.

1. Determining the Relevance of Your Author Website

An author’s website is comprised of numerous elements that are fundamentally vital for crafting your brand and bringing you closer to your ideal readers.

Simply put, it is a place one can use to put together all his or her works, inform the audience on what they are currently working on, and even explain how they started writing.

This way, readers get a chance to understand you better thus building a stronger and more likely loyal readership base.

Not only does an author website facilitate the building of a reader base but it also improves your professional look.

This suggests that a potential reader as well as an industry professional assess you as a writer.

Such a platform dedicated to your work can also act as a business, advertising new releases, pushing for direct sales, or gathering email lists for upcoming communication.

If you are aware of these fundamentals, you can customize the design and content of your website to correspond to your aims and those of your audience.

2. Choosing the Right Website Builder

When thinking about how to design an author’s website, selecting a website builder goes down as one of the most important tasks.

For writers, there are free services that are writers-oriented offering different features and options.

Among other options, many people suggest using WordPress as it is simple to use and has many themes built especially for writers.

There are custom-built plugins that extend the capability of the site without requiring the use of code.

Wix is another site that writers often use to build a visually pleasing site via a simple point-and-click system.

The site comes with multiple templates especially designed for writers allowing them to create a space that matches their brand.

Don’t want to spend too much time customizing your website? For you, there is Site123 which allows its users to customize everything from a range of templates to create a minimal setup.

Take into consideration how easy the site is to navigate, the level of customization offered, as well as the scalability offered by the specific platform.

You need to decide on a builder that not only serves the present demand but has room for progress as the journey of writing expands.

Ensure to do some research and ensure to find loved builders that fit your vision for the site.

3. Choosing A Domain Name

Similar to a physical address, a domain name serves as the location where you can be reached on the web.

It is a quintessential component of how individuals in the audience view someone’s work as an author.

A catchy domain facilitates the audience in locating you more conveniently. In seeking a domain name focus on something distinctive but related to your role or genre in writing.

Use alternatives to your name or keywords that refer to your books or writing style.

For instance, for an author who specializes in fantasy novels, utilizing the adjectives ‘fantasy’ or ‘author’ in their domain name would explain to the audience what they are about.

Moreover, it is best to avoid the use of hard-to-spell domain names or excessive numbers as they can make visitors confused.

After deciding on a brand name, it is smart to check whether the domain of your choice is taken or not by using various domain registration platforms.

Although most website builders like WordPress provide users with subdomains for free such as www.yourname.wordpress.com, it is recommended to buy a custom domain like www.yourname.com as it is better for business purposes.

4. Building Your Website

Gaining and retaining a visitor’s attention goes hand in hand with having an aesthetically pleasing website, and designing a useful website is equally important.

Because most website creators offer templates for writers, the process of building a good website is substantially reduced in the amount of time and effort required.

You can first choose a theme that describes the genre of the book you are writing and your preferences which will help in designing the rest of the website.

Your homepage should have necessary components such as a quality photo or video of you and your latest book or writing project.

A short but detailed, information about yourself as an author, and then what visitors can get from this page, whether it is blog posts with writing or the latest books’ releases.

Furthermore, don’t forget to include crucial pages like Information about me, Books, and Contacts that can be easily navigated from the homepage.

The Information about Me section is supposed to introduce the kind of author you are while the other page should feature the book jackets, a synopsis, and hyperlinks to where the readers can make a purchase or even download the respective titles.

An exceptional layout improves the overall usability for the website visitors and also compels them to check out other available services.

5. Providing Appropriate Content for the Readers

Your content is the most important factor especially when it comes to binding readers on your author’s website.

You begin with writing great content for every page and that includes a captivating as well as detailing of who you are, within the About Me section and which aspects of your life drive you into the captivating world of writing.

This is quite useful for building relations with the readers, especially those who would love to know what the author of the book is saying.

Besides static pages such as the Books section, you can create a blog where one can discuss other matters such as their writing style, the books they have read, or some general information about the other literary functions that they will be attending.

This is beneficial as visitors will be able to find your site easily due to its dynamic nature.

To further foster visitors’ interest, you may provide free materials including hyperlinked short stories, or present readers with the first chapters of upcoming books, in exchange for their email addresses.

This approach builds up your mailing list in a great way but offers something useful to those readers who want to be informed about your publishing activities.

6. Promoting Your Author’s Site

You now have engaging content ready, and it is on the author’s website; now it is the turn to promote the author’s site, in a few words – to work on marketing it.

It is sufficient to say that one of the best ways to increase the net traffic on the site is to use social media platforms: broadcast links to new blog posts and newly released books on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, where many readers are.

Before one forgets, you can also try creating an email newsletter with the help of services like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.

With the help of such services, you can directly address outstanding readers who are interested in getting updates about new book releases blog posts or other promotional activities related to your books.

Participating in writing communities such as online forums or local writer groups can also help with promoting the author’s homepage.

If you are doing joint promotions or guest blogging with other authors, you will be able to reach out to more audience and at the same time build up your reputation in the writing world.

Conclusion

There is no better time than now to not only create an author website but also make it accessible to fans. There are valuable steps to take into consideration such as choosing a suitable platform, impactful domain name, engaging layout, and content, and if those steps are properly and efficiently fulfilled, there wouldn’t be a need to spend any money to ensure a meaningful online presence. Most importantly, an author website won’t only assist in protecting your work but also assist in building your reputation with readers while also enabling doors within the publishing industry. It is now time to act because it is the time to create a free author website too. Self-motivation alongside innovative ideas is key to ensuring that the required author’s image is built online while fostering connections with readers who are looking forward to your next piece.