We set up Google Analytics reports for all of our authors who have their sites hosted with us. Unfortunately, I think a large majority of those authors don’t really understand — and thus, don’t value — the report for all of its valuable information. With that in mind, here are the five things that you […]
5 Things to Pay Attention to in Your Google Analytics Report Read More »
I belong to several author groups on LinkedIn. I love offering tips and advice to authors who are just starting out (usually, advising them to build a website and/or start blogging). However, I also get a lot of great ideas from those groups, too. After all, there’s nothing like authors helping other authors. With that
10 Creative Ways to Build Buzz About Your Book Read More »
When I’m working with an author to create an effective homepage, one of the things that I always ask a writer to do is create a book teaser … something that really whets the appetite of a visitor in the few seconds that you have their attention. Then you give them links to read more
How to Write the Perfect Book Teaser Read More »
Aren’t we all secretly authors? Some of us have already published books, others are working on books. But the majority of us are just thinking about the book that we dream of writing, be it a novel or an autobiography. Regardless of your status, there are tons of things you can do to get your
3 Ways to Use Your Website to Sell Your Book … Before You Even Write It Read More »
I just read a great blog post this morning. It was by Sonia Marsh, author of the forthcoming travel memoir, Freeways to Flip-Flops: Our Year of Living Like the Swiss Family Robinson. Sonia’s premise is one that I have focused on in previous blogs: Building a successful author website is about providing valuable information to
4 Steps to Building a Successful Author Platform Online Read More »
Authors tend to spend a great deal of time designing and perfecting their homepage. They treat it just like a book cover, as authors often assume that this is the page that people see first, and it’s the one that will determine whether someone decides to stay or go. Well, that’s only partially true… You
Why Your Homepage Isn’t as Important as You Think Read More »
Talk about a chicken-and-egg situation. You have to design and build a website. You also have to get traffic there. Which should you do first? Which is more important? Well, they’re equally important. And obviously building the site should come first. But here’s the catch: if you don’t build it the right way, all the
6 Ways to Turn Site Visitors Into Readers Read More »
I’ve written posts before about the options for building online shopping carts for authors. But there’s some news this week that gives authors yet another way to sell their books online. Lulu.com, one of the industry leaders in the self-publishing and selling of e-books, launched a new e-commerce platform this week. Their site underwent many
A New Option for Author Website Shopping Carts Read More »
Given the fact that I make a living building author websites, it’s not surprising that I firmly believe in their importance. You hear a lot of people today shunning websites for social networking and/or apps, but I think they’re missing the boat. Thankfully, I was reminded this morning that I’m not alone in feeling this
Why You (Still) Need an Author Website Read More »
We build all of our author sites on WordPress. And if you’re familiar with WordPress, you know that it’s all about plug-ins. They’re what turn a flat site into a dynamic one. They’re how you integrate SEO and social networking into static text. Here is the list of plug-ins that we’ve found to be most
6 Must-Have Plug-ins for an Author Website or Blog Read More »
