Seven Marketing Essentials for Modern Authors
SUMMARY
This post is about the seven things a modern author must have and the four things an author's website must do. It emphasizes the importance of having a website and making it easy to navigate, with quick loading times and updated content. The post also provides some tips on web design programs and URL purchasing.
EXPANDED DISCUSSION
In the old days, we had business cards and resumes. While these are still applicable (along with bookmarks – I still love it when authors give me bookmarks), your website is the key to your readers’ accessibility to you. If you don’t have a website, you need one.
Basic good web design has stayed the same since websites first started appearing online, though, in my opinion, some aspects have veered from their ideal course (they’ve erred towards fancy and away from informative). On some websites, things have become too busy. Busy is not good. Efficient is good. Getting web-surfers relevant information quickly (their attention spans are so short – mine, too) that information must be given and accessible quickly, or the surfer will continue to another site to get faster, relevant information.
Most beginning writers are going to be designing their websites. Fortunately, you’ll find many plug-and-play and WYSIWYG sites that operate in the same format as Word or Google Docs. Which web design programs are the best, you ask? That depends upon your preferences. I use Squarespace and WordPress. Why are you using two different ones? you might ask. I have several sites for several companies, and each requires additional functionality, some of which only one can provide. You’ll need to research to see the most beneficial for you, the information you wish to share, and the technology required for that site. In terms of use, I find Squarespace more user-friendly than the two above, but I will go on the record to say that I do not give an official recommendation. These work for me. Another platform service might work better for you. Explore and find your favorite.
I will talk about different aspects of website practices concerning a writer’s marketing strategy for future posts. Still, I want to hit on four basic principles for a writer’s do-it-yourself design or, if someone else is doing it for you, things you need to ensure they are aware of. I’ll add this before moving on because I’ve had this experience. If you use an outside designer for your website, make sure they are thinking about these four things because, in my experience, some web designers become more enamored with their skills and creations at the expense of functionality for the end user. It may be pretty, but it stinks in terms of solving readers’ needs because of the four-line items I am about to give you.
First, remember your brand is you, not your current book. If you write one book, we assume you will write multiple books. The website, therefore, needs to be in your name, e.g., https://claystafford.com/ for me. Within that site, you can list all your books, projects, speaking engagements, etc., but the focus is on you, the brand. If you have a common name, someone may already have taken it. In that case, do something like https://YourNameAuthor.com or another variation based on your career focus. Regardless, remember that you are the brand, not the book. Do not name your website after your book when buying your URL (your website), purchase .com, .net, .org, and .info. It seems like a lot, but it eliminates the competition of readers going to the wrong site if some other author with your exact name also sets up a webpage. My favorite places to purchase URLs are https://www.name.com/ and https://www.godaddy.com/ (with name.com being my favorite).
The second essential is to make the website easy to navigate. This is where a web designer can make things screwy if you don’t keep them reigned in. Surfers need to be able to find the information that they need within two clicks. If more than two clicks are involved, the surfer will move on. The average time a surfer spends on a webpage is fifty-three seconds. You have only fifty-three seconds to give them the info they need. Make it quick and easy for the surfer.
Third, don’t use too many or too many large graphics. You need each page to load quickly. Forty-seven percent of surfers will abandon the search in two seconds or less. Forty percent will wait no more than three seconds before moving on. Even at the lowest internet speeds (which you cannot control), it is essential that your site loads quickly. If not, your readers will leave, and you’ve lost opportunities to share your books with them.
Fourth, keep your website updated. I recommend updating daily. Search engine algorithms note which websites are updated and when. I’m so obsessed, I’ll go in regularly if I have no new information and change a comma in the copy to make the webpage appear to have been updated. Doing so will lift you in search engines. Doing this works. For example, type “Clay Stafford” (me), “Killer Nashville” (one of my companies), and “American Blackguard” (my entertainment company) into the search bar and see where these three land. It’s unbelievable, but changing a comma if you have no new info makes all the difference.
So, summing up. A writer needs seven things (I think) on hand at all times (and some I haven’t mentioned until now, but listed here, I think they are self-explanatory): a business card, a bookmark, a CV (for those academic appearances), a less-than-fifty word bio, a less-than-one-hundred word bio, a high-resolution and professional headshot, and a functioning website that has at least four elements: it is in the author’s name, it is easy to navigate, it loads quickly, and it stays updated so it will rise on the search engines. In future posts, we’ll discuss other aspects of your author's presence on the web.
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