If you read yesterday’s post about the options for choosing a platform for your author website then the next thing to do is to decide what to put on your website.

Here are some must have elements that any author’s website should have:

1. A good first impression. Choose a nice clean theme that looks good and will present things clearly. Don’t choose backgrounds that are too dark. One website I visited recently had a black background and yellow text which I couldn’t read at all. Having a sloppy layout doesn’t make a very good first impression on your readers. So choose bold fonts and things that are easy to read. Try to have something that conveys the genre that you write it.
2. An About Page. Any website should have an About Page. They’re usually the most visited pages on a website. Use the about page to display a photo of yourself, preferably a professional headshot. Have your author bio on there too and keep it up to date. Make it personal, but be careful not to overshare.
3. A Books Page. Have a page displaying your books, include what they are about and any buy links to Amazon and the places they can be brought. If you don’t have any books published yet then just include some information about your current works in progress. The plugin Mybooktable is good for displaying books and will link to sites such as Amazon, Kobo, etc.
4. A Contact Page. A lot of authors don’t have any contact information on their websites which makes it hard for your readers to get in contact with you. Having a contact page is a good way for readers if they want to get in touch with you. You don’t have to display your email address if you don’t want to, or your could set up a separate email account just for your website.
5. Links to your social media accounts. Many readers often want to follow authors on social media. So be sure to include links to your Facebook page, Twitter account, and any other social media accounts that you may have.
6. A blog page. Websites with blogs get more traffic than static websites do. It is also good for boosting your SEO ranking. Blogs can be a great way of sharing updates and news about your books.
7. An email signup. Having an email list is the perfect way of keeping your readers up-to-date with news and offers about your books. You don’t have to send out a newsletter every week, but it’s to get the word out.
8. A Testimonial/Reviews Page. If you’re selling a product such as a book it’s good for people to see reviews about the book.

Resources

Author website elements

Essential elements for an author website

5 basic elements for your author website

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