One of the most important aspects of author branding is having a website that works for us. I have stumbled through this for many years, fine-tuning my website (bonniecehovet-author.com) so that it represents who I am and what my work is all about. It will never have a highly professional look to it because I want my readers to feel that they are sitting with me at my kitchen table, having coffee (or tea), eating homemade cookies, and discussing life.
What do you want your website to say to your readers? How can you keep your readers coming back? What is important to you, and what is important to them?
Whether we are setting up a new website or fine-tuning an existing one, there are some mistakes that are often made that we want to avoid.
You need to decide what you want your website to do for you and how you want to do it. You want to present yourself as a credible author, and you want to draw a readership that is specific to your work. Along with presenting your books, you will want to talk about speaking engagements, courses you have created, or new books that are in the pipeline. You want to retain your reader's interest!
You also want to watch that you don't become too enamored of your own words. Keep the word count down - remember, people have a tendency to skim through websites - say something with brevity that means something and will hold their interest.
Make sure that your site is mobile-ready - IOW, that someone can bring it up on their phone.
Make sure that your site is easy to navigate. Too many options will lose the interest of potential readers.
You don't have a newsletter? Go set one up right now! And place the signup where it is easily seen on your website.
How about a blog? Yes, you need a blog to reach out to your readers with important information (or just to keep them updated on your progress). Your blog can be part of your website, or it can be separate (as mine is).
Finally (and here is where I drop the ball) keep your website updated.
Here are some author websites that I find to be well done:
(c) September 2023 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction is prohibited without written permission from the author.
