Starting An Author Platform Pt. 4: Building Your Website

This is ongoing series for newer writers interested in developing their writing brand. The previous three posts included a general overview, branding through domain registration and branding through email.

Building a website is very important for any business including authors. A website is essentially a store-front through which the public can have a gander at your work. But there are a number of ways to approach a website. You can go as fancy as you want if you have a larger budget. You can go low cost and grow the look of the website over time.

For many people, actually building a website might well be intimidating. A robust design with all the bells and whistles can be a very technical undertaking. Thankfully, most hosting services provide tools to help you create your website. Whether you spend for the hosting or use a free service it can be rather easy to make a simple site.

But how much should you spend? I suggest going low-cost to start and growing as you go. That way you have a small investment if your enterprise does’t work out. If your writing gives you enough income then consider paying for hosting and improvements to the site. You don’t want to put down money up-front for a three year contract only to abandon the site. Use your budget wisely.

In planning a website, consider adding these elements to your design:

1. A landing page: this is a page that presents your current work and allows readers the chance to buy immediately. I intend to add this feature as I approach my own book launch.

2. A bio/contacts page that tells a bit about yourself and links to connect with you in a variety of ways.

3. Consider having a blog but only if you have time to keep working on it.

4. If you intend to offer free content then have a page where this is available to interested readers. This is another page that I’m adding in the near future.

5. A page for your publications with links to everything you have for sale on all sales channels

6. Add widgets and menus for additional ways to interact with your site and connect with you.

7, A page that lists your works in progress.

These are just the beginning and there will be several tools and scripts you’ll want to make use of as you grow. But a beginning is a beginning – I’m still working on my website to bring it to the point where I’m comfortable with the design. This depends on my budget but it is a goal for the year to make improvements.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today! Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.