It’s one of the most important aspects of building and maintaining a website: creating new content. Without it, an author website is nothing but a static portfolio that people may visit once, but they’re certain not to return.
Yes, folks, creating new content is super-important. Not only does it help to get people to return to your site regularly, it’s also a key piece in terms of SEO. Search engines look for content, and sites with lots of it are more likely to get found.
Now on to the hard part: creating content. After all, just because it’s important doesn’t mean it’s easy.
With that in mind, here are some ideas for author website content:
- Educational blogs: Depending on what your book is about, you may be able to use some of what you’ve learned in writing it to inspire blog entries for weeks and months to come. If you’re a non-fiction author, continue to blog about the subject matter of your book. If you’re a fiction author, blog about writing. Just sharing your knowledge and experiences with others can make a huge difference in turning your website into a content-rich, must-visit destination.
- Q&As: Many people who read your book will have questions about it. Encourage readers to submit questions, and post the relevant ones — along with your responses — on the website. Again, this is a great way to fill your site with fun, informational content that users will appreciate. Over time, you can expand this idea to include an FAQs page — chock full of the questions you frequently get asked by readers.
- Customer-generated content: You probably hear from readers a lot about what they thought of your book. Why not put that information (at least that which is appropriate) on your website. Again, it’s a great way to have consistently new content on your website. Plus, it also helps to build the trust of other people who are considering reading your book.
- Shared content: Browse social media sites and search engines for articles related to your subject matter. Share them on your site — either through a Links page or through blog posts. Collecting and redistributing this type of content is a great service to your readers (and can help you, too)
See? Creating content for your author website isn’t really a full-time job. It just takes a little bit of creativity and motivation. A content-rich site is a great first step in turning your name into a household name and your book into a bestseller. Hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.