GENREALITY

I was part of a writer’s symposium in California this past weekend and one of the attendees asked what makes a good author’s website. I found it an interesting question (particularly since I didn’t have a ready made answer) and decided to give it some thought for my entry here today.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it is enough to get the conversation rolling, at least.

I look at an author’s website as their primary means of interacting with their audience, aside from the book itself. It is the place a reader will go when they want to learn more about the author – who they are, what they’re like, and what else they might have written. Sometimes readers are looking for additional background on books they have read or a way to contact the author to tell them how much they liked or hated the book. In short, it is the central information portal for that author.

Given that, there are some qualities that I think every author’s website should have:

• Professional appearance
• Interactive
• Can draw in a reader who might not have experienced your work before
• Gives the visitor a reason to come back often
• Can be found easily through search engines like Google

Let’s take them one at a time.

Professional appearance – By this I don’t mean designed and maintained by a professional team of web developers that cost an arm and a leg.  I simply mean that it is organized and is presented cleanly without a ton of clutter.  With the tools that are available to people today, particularly content management systems like WordPress or Blogger, the average writer can create and maintain an excellent website with very little knowledge of web design and structure.

Interactive – Readers come to your site to learn information and to be entertained.   Providing reading excerpts, discussion forums, games, contests, video clips – all these things can provide the necessary interaction to make them feel as if they have shared an experience with you, the author, and gained something from it.

Draws in New Readers – Truth be told, this is the name of the game.  You want to maintain your current audience and keep them happy, but you also want to be able to interest someone who has never read your work before.  Providing information on who you are, what you write, and where readers can find your work is key.

Gives the Reader a Reason to Return – It is this element that has made journals or blogs for writer’s so popular lately.  By providing constantly updated information, be it writing samples, a look behind the scenes, or just a day-in-the-life style dialogues, writers can provide their audience with a reason to return to their sites on a regular basis.  When people enjoy interacting with you, they are more likely to recommend your site or your books to others, helping you grow your audience.

Can be Found Easily – Basic search engine optimization (SEO) techniques should be used on every writer’s website, not only to increase their rankings in the search engines for basic keywords such as their last names, but also for long tail keywords that help readers who might not know your name find your work as well.  For example, looking my name up in Google will let you find my website rather easily, but so will doing a search for the term”knights templar” (though it doesn’t rank as high as I would like!)

So there you have it – five basic criteria that I think every author’s website should meet.  I’ll be talking more about this topic in the future, as I think marketing is a vital tool in an author’s toolbelt, but I’d also like to hear your thoughts.  What do you like in an author’s site?  What do you wish you saw more of?

Be Sociable, Share!

•