Every author needs a website that highlights their work and connects with readers. But how should an author website look?
That’s something every writer who wants to have a decent online presence should be asking.
A great author website is not a platform that helps you sell books alone but also acts as a medium in which writers can connect to their audience and establish their brand.
Today, we will provide a structured outline that enables authors to build a more effective author website with the right look or structure.
Let’s find out how to design a captivating author website which integrates well with the modern age.
Salient Features Of A Brilliant Author Website
If you want to promote yourself as an author and want people to want to look at your work, then owning a lookable author website is a must.
Here are some of the things that every great author website should include:
A. Homepage That Hooks
Your homepage is like your introduction so make sure you make the best first impression.
Elements to Include:
Striking Header: A header that embodies your brand is one of the first things people see when they land on your website.
So you want to make sure you create a catchy sentence about your brand or writing.
Professional Photo: Having a good quality photograph of yourself on your website enables readers to connect to you, thus, giving it a personalized touch.
Tagline: Concising effortlessly piercing taglines in a few sweet words that showcase your style or the genre you prefer must trigger interest in the guests making them want to explore further.
Tips for Making a Good First Impression:
Make the audience feel welcome by using simple and friendly images and text with a short length.
Display your recently published book or the one that would be published soon so the guests are aware of what has recently come out.
Ensure that readers can easily locate other significant pages such as your other books, blog, or contact details.
B. About Page That Connects with the Readers
Use the About page to present your Biography as an author.
How To Do A Good Bio:
Include events in your life so that the story seems relatable, personal and appealing.
Write in a way that the readers feel as though they are a part of your journey as a writer.
Show your achievements and anything else which shows you are an expert in the field.
Mix in the formal stuff with some interesting stories about your personality.
If there are any reviews or testimonials, make sure to insert them here so that people develop some trust.
C. Books/Portfolio Section
So this is where you get all the attention!
As an author, this part of your website should look like and reflect your work.
Each book should have its own page with a good description, cover image, and Buy or Rent links.
Add excerpts, resources, reviews, and anything else relevant to the media.
Ensure there are links to purchase your books on places such as Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
Use SEO descriptions to improve visibility on search engines.
Essential alphanumeric tools will assist fine in locating your books via search engines.
D. Blog or Content Hub
A blog helps readers to find you and your work on an intimate level.
In particular, blogs are helpful in explaining how you come up with ideas or how you write in order to help drive traffic toward your website.
Furthermore, there’s a great analysis of improving your site’s SEO.
Share what goes on behind the scenes of your writing process or what inspires you.
Write tips for wannabe writers and advice you would have wanted when starting out your writing path.
Inform them about your books, what else is coming, book events or news about your writer figure.
E. Contact Page
This makes it easier for readers, publishers, and others from the media to get in touch with you.
A contact form is great for communication and also protects your email address from spam.
You could add an email link if you wish for everything to be more personal.
Design and Usability Tips for Author Websites
Now let’s get into the design part of the website.
This is where we give your author website its visually pleasing look and user friendly attribute.
It will guarantee that your readers are retained.
To attain a demure look for your author website:
1. Facilitate Interaction through Mobile Design
Today’s audiences rely heavily on their phones and tablets when it comes to browsing the internet.
Almost 55% of the web traffic originates from handheld devices.
Therefore, it is imperative that the author’s website be designed in a way that allows for seamless use on smartphones and tablets.
Any website or service that is constructed with a mobile friendly interface will automatically alter to suit the size of the handheld device.
This makes for an enjoyable experience since users can comprehend, peruse and enjoy the content irrespective of their location.
Another bonus of responsive design is the enhanced user experience it provides which directly assists with SEO.
SEO essentially means the site is likely to rank higher on search engines when users look for authors.
2. Seamless Navigation
Findability is paramount for any visitor, so all they require to do is to have a hassle-free navigation system.
The following tips will assist you in making your site more accessible:
Well-structured Menus: Ensure that you provide meaningful names to the major divisions.
Such as Home, About, Books, Blog, and Contact.
This assists the audience in locating what they seek immediately.
Call-to-Action Buttons: Include buttons on your site to encourage people to take the next step.
When encouraging visitors to buy your new book or to join your newsletter, buttons such as “Buy it Now” or “Subscribe” easily let them know what step you expect them to make next.
3. Visual Aesthetics
It is pretty clear what gives the most feeling to a site, and that is the site’s graphic design.
Without a doubt you will want the designs to encapsulate your personality and writing style.
At the same time, you don’t want to chase the visitors away from your site.
Here are some tips which may assist you in achieving a cool yet professional look of your author website:
Color Palette: Match the color scheme of your site to the type of your writing.
For instance, the thriller author may need the dark colors while the children’s book author may prefer light and bright colors.
Fonts: Choose simple, easily readable fonts that look good on desktop or mobile.
Keep the font styles to a minimum, preferably using two to three, for a more streamlined and attractive appearance.
Imagery: The most essential aspect of this setting is its impressive array of pictures.
Whether you have a professionally taken photo, a book cover, or work-related images, make sure these images appeal to your audience, and most significantly, your brand.
Neil Gaiman’s website serves as a great example of a minimalist design.
In it, clean lines, uncomplicated menus and minimal distractions make it possible for visitors to greatly concentrate on writing and books’ content.
4. Loading Speed
Nobody likes to wait for a website to load, particularly when it takes too long.
Statistics indicate that if your site needs three seconds to load, users are bound to abandon it.
And to top it all, slow loading can damage your search rankings.
Here’s how to prevent that:
Optimize Images: Reduce the resolution of your images without altering their dimensions in order to reduce their file sizes.
This makes your pages load more quickly.
Minimize Scripts and Plugins: Too many scripts or plugins can slow things down.
Use only what you need.
Use Speed Tools: Such tools enable website optimization, even recommending steps to take – like Google PageSpeed Insights which examines your website and shares its findings.
SEO Basics for Author Websites
It’s great to have websites that look good, but can they be found?
SEO works to help your site be listed on Google and be convicted of potential readers looking to buy your books and want to know more about you.
In that case, this raises the question of how an author website should look to be discoverable.
Well, it should be clear and intuitive for all users, including search engines.
Here are the key SEO basics every author should know.
1. Meta Tags:
To put in simple words, meta tags are brief summaries that search engines utilize to give some context about the content present on your page.
They determine if your page is useful for a specific query and the search engines do use them.
All webpages on your website must contain title tag and a unique meta description.
For example, as an author of mystery books, your title tag can read as “John Doe – Author of Gripping Mystery Novels.”
This concise statement informs the search and the readers, regarding who you are and what you do.
2. Alt Text for Images:
Images make a website attractive.
However, if one intends to use images on their website, then they need to ensure that they are optimised for SEO as well.
In order to ‘see’ the image, search engines must view alt text which is also a text providing a contorted idea of what an image depicts.
However, it is of great necessity if we are to assist the visually impaired.
For example, if an alt text report states, ‘Cover of John Doe’s latest mystery novel’, it should only cover the image which is provided for the content.
Search engines get increased efficiency as people with disabilities receive comprehension aids on the content they are reading.
3. Content Optimization:
When writing content for the site, ensure to use phrases that potential readers would type up.
These can be termed as keywords.
For instance, suppose you are looking to market thriller fiction, including ‘thriller books’, ‘suspense novels’, and ‘crime fiction’ in appropriate places.
This is a pragmatic approach as search engines get relevancy indicators thereby allowing readers looking for specific content to locate it without much hassle.
Tools and Platforms for Building a Good Looking Author Website
Selecting a website builder is crucial as it will ease the whole process and guarantee a professionally looking website.
Below are some of the well-known platforms and what they specialize in:
WordPress:
WordPress offers robust tools that increase a website’s visibility on search engines thus allowing readers to locate you with ease.
In need of help, there is a big community online that is ready to assist and provide guidance.
Due to the various options available, it could come across as intimidating for authors who are ot tech savvy.
Olitt:
Olitt grabs its user’s by making the interface clear and straightforward for everyone from beginners to advanced platform talks.
It is sustainable and easy to work with in a business.
However, there aren’t that many themes to choose from which could be limiting.
Squarespace:
Squarespace provides excellent templates that are stunning and simple to customize.
It has great SEO and analytic tools that help take care of your website.
On the other hand, it is more expensive to run as it charges monthly fees.
Also, there isn’t much room for flexibility if you wish to implement third party tools.
Wix
Wix makes construction of the site easy and all you have to do is move the elements with your cursor and it’s all done.
You have a variety of pre designed templates to choose from and a multitude of features that can be added to the site.
Contrarily, you will have less ability to manage SEO for your site compared to achieving the same on WordPress.
Having an excess of apps may work against you and make your website a cluttered mess.
Conclusion
Building a great author website is important to improve your recognition in the literary world.
The author website you build should look good and be simple to use.
As a result, you will have a website that assists you in engaging with readers as well as developing an impeccable author brand.