One of the most commonly overlooked brand storytelling tools is a website. It seems like a given that authors would have a website up with the launch of their books, or ideally, before their first book is even published. You would be surprised how many storytellers skip this step and move straight to social media marketing, using a Facebook or Instagram pages as their “website.”
This is a big mistake. While I’m an advocate for social media use as a part of any branding strategy, it’s only one piece of the storytelling puzzle. You need a website.
Websites are umbrellas that cover all aspects of the author brand. It’s a one-stop shop that should share all published books, bio + mission statement, blog posts, writing samples and/or portfolio, contact information – everything about you, your work, and your brand should be there. Loud and clear, your website needs showcase it all. Visitors should be able to easily (key word: easily) find everything they need as soon as they arrive at your home page.
Having a website is like having an online threshold. You can decorate it, change it however you like, and it opens up the line of communication between you and your audience. It’s a great way to get feedback.
While building your site, here are five things to make sure you implement:
1. It should be clean and easy to navigate. Don’t clutter your pages with content stacked on more content. This creates an experience for visitors much like walking into a messy house – overwhelming.
2. Make sure the style fits your brand. Are you a romance writer? Think about a soft color scheme that matches the tone of your books. Horror film director? You may want to look into something darker and spookier. Creating a brand is creating an experience. Your website is the front door to that experience.
3. Use effective keywords in your site copy to help search engine optimization (SEO). Research what your readers are searching for on Google and cater your website copy to fit those results. SEO is your best friend in book marketing.
4. Calls. To. Action. Have a lot of them. You’re selling an experience here, whether it’s a product, blog post, or contact form. Encourage engagement with you, drop buttons linking out to your writing, demo, newsletter, contact form, film – the name of the game here is backlink.
5. Have fun and make it inviting. Again, you’re selling an experience, your experience. You’re building trust with your audience through offering an authentic experience long after they’ve walked through your digital threshold.
Your website is yours. Make it authentic, use it to share your ideas, get to know your audience better, and most importantly, communicate. Just please don’t skip this step.
Looking for inspo? Here are five author websites that I think are extremely effective at sharing the writers’ brand narrative:
David Sedaris: Notice how clean his website is. This is the definition of a one-stop-shop.
Roxane Gay: Another clean, welcoming experience for the visitor. Through colors and creative copy, you can immediately tell who Gay is and her writing style.
Craig Nova: Nova’s website is a little darker, which speaks to the subject matter of his books perfectly. He also showcases an excellent use of calls-to-action that don’t feel overwhelming, but just right.
Joan Didion: This is possibly the best author website I’ve ever seen. You’re immediately greeted by a picture of Joan herself, sharing a quote that speaks directly to her bodies of work. Brava!
Matt Haig: Clean, yet colorful, and filled with important information. Plus, how can you not want to stay on a site that has “books are our maps” as its tagline?
That’s all for now! Happy website-ing.
XX,
H