Website Designer for Authors
Who Should You Hire to Build Your Author Website?
There are different website design services to choose from:
- Web designers
- Web developers
- Web design agencies
Web design agencies can be one-stop shopping for design, SEO, marketing and promotion, and ads placement.
Agencies who specialize in marketing and promotion help authors gain visibility off line by booking television interviews, magazine and newspaper coverage, and podcast guest appearances.
Website developers are people who know how to ‘hand code’ and build a website from scratch. They can also maintain your website, integrate your payment gateways, optimize website performance, and keep your website safe from hackers.
If you are just beginning your author website journey, a web designer like Nancy Fields Graphic Design might be your most economical solution because they often have multiple skill sets without the agency price tag.
If you want your website to have a traffic, right out of the gate, find a designer who also has a good knowledge of SEO.
Most website designers will also be able to set up your email opt-in form and autoresponder series.
Autoresponder emails are a series of emails that you write once. They are delivered automatically, over the first few days, after someone signs up to join your email list. People are most interested in hearing from you in the very beginning, so if your autoresponder series piques their interest, you have a golden opportunity to turn them into fans and book buyers.
There is a lot that goes into building an author website: text, images, links to join your email list, links to buy your book, payment processors.
Book mentors and publicists refer their clients to me because I design websites and improve website visibility with SEO. I also have book launch experience to help their authors sell more books on launch day.
If you don’t love spending hours working on the technical side of a website, hiring a website designer is a smart move.
After your website is built, your web designer can show you how to add text, pictures and make simple changes so that you can save money and stay in control of your main business asset.
Do you need a website if you are writing your first book?
No. Not every author needs a website when they are just starting out, but every author needs a list of prospective book buyers.
To build a list of prospective book buyers, authors need a Landing Page.
What is a Landing Page?
A Landing Page is a single webpage that asks your visitors for their name and email address.
From Landing Page to Landing Page on Website
When you want more visibility online, it’s time for a multipage website.
The good news is, all the time and effort you put into getting people’s names and email addresses from your author landing page can be used on your website, too.
You are still asking people to join your email list, but with a website you can increase your sign up opportunities by:
- Adding a signup form on your navigation menu so it appears on every page
- Adding multiple landing pages and signup forms throughout your website
Example of a book bonus that leads to a website landing page with signup form
But wait, there’s more…
If you’re an author who wants to bring in more income from your writing you will need a website that consistently shows up on page 1 of your visitors’ Google Search Results page.
That takes advanced SEO techniques to combine the power of a Google Business Profile, your YouTube Channel, and Wikipedia to drive more traffic to your website.
Q: How long does it take to complete an author website?
A:
An author website can take 2-16 weeks to complete. The time frame depends on the following:
Landing Page vs. One Page Author Website
You can make a single landing page on most email hosting platforms such as AWeber,* and send people to your landing page via a link.
The downside is the URL (web address) will have an address that looks something like this: https://fieldsgraphicdesign.aweb.page/p/dcda1f6e-dc56-41a5-bb9d-e742abd046fd
A one-page author website is different from a landing page because it is your website, and your unique domain name.
It is the perfect option if you want to actively promote your first book, or take people along on your book writing journey because you can send people to a simple URL, such as your pen name.
A one-page website, typically takes about 2 weeks to build after purchasing the following essential items:
- Domain name
- Website host
- SSL Certificate
- Email host
You can keep these four assets for as long has you have a website, regardless of how many times you change the design or how many pages you add to your website.
Multipage Author Website
A multipage author website includes the four essential items listed above (Domain name, Website host, SSL Certificate, Email host) plus…
- Free offer
- Home page
- About page
- Media page
- Landing page
- Professional headshot
- 3-D book cover
- Website images for each page
- Links to your social media pages
- Google Analytics
SEO Optimized Author Website
A fully optimized website is the next step in the website journey because if no one can find you online, you do not exist to the people who are looking for someone just like you and your book.
This type of website includes all of the above plus…
- A Google Business Profile
- Enhanced website structure
- YouTube Channel
- RSS feeds to your customized websites on WordPress.com and Blogger.com
- If applicable, a Wikipedia Author page
If you would like to speak with Nancy Fields to find a tailored solution to meet your author website needs, click here to schedule a 30-minute consultation.
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* Clicking on this link takes you to my affiliate link on AWeber. It is the email hosting platform I have used since 2012, and I highly recommend it for my customers. If you purchase a subscription on AWeber using my affiliate link I will receive a small commission.