Professional Help for Your Writers Website
by Denise Biondo, Biondo Studios
Being a writer or any type of entrepreneur, requires a website. Not everyone has -- or wants -- technical skills, so the process can seem daunting. But where do you start? How do you build it? What do you put on it? How much should you spend? How will you maintain it?
Many writers come to us because their job is to write, not design logos or program websites. It’s often hard to be objective enough to create your own design, plus it takes a lot of time. People can be intimidated by the whole process and want something that looks unique to appeal to their audience rather than something that looks like what everyone else has. What may seem inexpensive at first, can end up racking up additional costs if it doesn’t grow along with your career. We solve problems for writers by listening to their needs, asking them extensive questions about the subject of their book, and target audience. We figure out the tools they will need to effectively promote themselves. After the site is built, we hand it over to the client so that they have the freedom to maintain and update the site, without the learning curve of building it from scratch.
There are many different options and prices for any number of products and services to get your website up and running. Ultimately, you want your site to look professional, make you stand out from the crowd, be simple to update (otherwise, you probably won’t) and be relevant for a few years. As with most things, price is a factor. Web hosting companies like GoDaddy, Wix, and Square Space have easy- to-set-up and use website builders, which automatically include the server space and sometimes even the domain name. Sort of a one-stop shop. There is a nice, yet limited selection of themes. It’s difficult to gauge pricing when you go this route since it varies from company to company.
We find WordPress is very adaptable and customizable and after a bit of focus, it’s no harder to use than social media. There are countless templates and themes available for any type of look or style that you’re going for, for a relatively modest investment. Even better, WordPress software is free. You can easily install it on a simple hosting server, attach your domain name to it and be in business.
Before any of that though, it’s good to have a plan. One of the first things that we talk to our clients about is their brand. We want to create something that our clients are going to love and feels like it’s an extension of their style and personality. Having a promotional tool like a website you’re proud of, and branded business cards, etc. is going to make you feel more confident about promoting yourself. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate concept. Just think about what your own personal style is and go with it. It helps to look around at other people’s websites to get an idea of what you like, or dislike, and check out how other writers brand themselves, then do your own take on it.
We also discuss with our clients the content and format for their website. How many pages will the site need? What will those site pages be? Will a blog be needed? Do you want to have social media feeds on the site? Having a good idea of what you’ll need to start makes your project more manageable. Sure, maybe someday you’ll want a 10-page site with custom illustration, but for now, just start with the basics. We have built sites for people who think they want to blog, but their latest blog post from 2012 is still sitting there at the top of the page. So, be realistic and start small so you won’t be overwhelmed.
Here are the steps that I’d go through if I wanted to build my own simple website:
1. Website hosting and a domain name. You should not pay more than $8.00 per month for website hosting and $20.00 per year for a domain name. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and get them all at one single company. Don’t get a domain name at one place, hosting at another, and be sure that you use a company that’s reputable and has 24/7 customer service. By phone. Definitely you will want to be able to call someone on the other end and talk to a human if there’s ever an issue that you can’t resolve on your own.
2. Privacy. (optional) If you get privacy on your domain name for another $12.00 per year or so, that will protect your personal information from salespeople and scammers. All domains must be registered to a physical address, so if you opt for the privacy, it registers it to the address of the domain registrar rather than to your own. If you choose not to get this service, be vigilant and expect some junk mail and do not pay random fees to companies you’ve never heard of.
3. SSL certificate. This used to be optional, but now Google has made this pretty mandatory across the board. You’ll need an SSL certificate. Did you ever see the “https” and the little padlock on the URL bar of a website? That means that the website data is secure and encrypted between the browser and the server.
4. Install WordPress. After you get your web hosting, and hook your domain name up to it, most companies have an easy one-click install of the WordPress software for you to use. As I mentioned, it’s free and you simply follow the directions (and keep track of your passwords) and get the framework for the site up and running.
5. Website theme. There are many very nice free website themes that come with WordPress that you can use. Once you’re logged into the dashboard, you can view the themes, activate one that you like, and start building. Some themes have a bit of a design to them already and some are more minimal so that you can customize the site yourself. Usually the former looks like a cookie-cutter out-of-the-box site which you might want to avoid. Take a little extra time to customize the site a little bit and make yourself look individualistic.
6. Photos. Of course a personal, custom photo is always best to use as it’s going to make the site look more personal, but please… make sure it’s a good quality photo! : ) It needs to be crisp and clear, it should be large enough to fit the website without getting blurry or pixelated, it should fit the space and just overall look professional. But if it doesn’t, opt to use a stock photo instead. There are so many stock photos available online that are free (unsplash.com, pexels.com) or very inexpensive (istock.com, shutterstock.com.) Learning to optimize a photo for use on a website is a good idea as well. You don’t want a 5-megabyte photo slowing down the website when it could have been compressed into 200 kilobytes.
7. Fonts. Google web fonts have hundreds of styles available. Look them up and see. They can be used with many different website themes to create a customized look. Even better, web fonts are completely readable by search engines and will be good for the SEO of the website. Again, stay simple with the fonts. If you are going with one that’s decorative for your name, try to pair it with a more standard font for the body text of the site for legibility.
8. YouTube. You know how there’s a YouTube tutorial for absolutely everything? Well, the same can be said for building your own website. Especially since WordPress is one of the most popular site building tools, you’ll be sure to find any number of tutorials to help you familiarize yourself with the basics of the dashboard, or to do something more complex with a plugin.
9. Search Engine Optimization. After you build and launch your new website, it may take a few weeks for Google to recognize that it’s there. But soon, you will be listed in the search results. However, just because you’ve built a site doesn’t mean that you’ll get on the first page of results under a broad term like “author” or “crime novel.” The more specific the term, such as your name, your site should come up at the top right away. Several things help with search result rankings. One of those is readable text, using something like Google web fonts mentioned above. Another thing is to have an (active) blog. Having new and original content on the site all of the time will help rankings. If you don’t want to blog, have a more detailed bio on the site instead. Be sure to put the book synopsis. Be sure to have any relevant info to you or your work on the site for SEO purposes.
Congratulations on taking the next step in your writing career. What may seem intimidating now will become one of your most useful tools in promoting yourself and your work. Wishing you the best of luck in the new year!
