There is a term called ‘stickiness’ relating to website visitor content. If you’re an author-creator, then for your website and blog you’ll want to interest folk and make them stick around, i.e. cling.
‘Clinging’ could be the readers signing up for a juicy morsel, a free package: e.g. a rate sheet template, a six-page PDF on how to set rates, and an about you page. For ease of use, have this delivered by an email marketing system, e.g. Mailerlite, GetResponse.
It is also important to note how long visitors stay on your website reading it. The longer they stay, the more interested they are in that particular content – thus telling you to write more of it. One to two minutes is considered pretty good, as some visitors have the attention span of a goldfish.
Why care about Keywords?
There is nothing people like more than getting just what they need at the time they’re looking. And that’s why we optimise our website pages for the exact words and phrases they’re looking for. Hmm… How do you know this? Ask NeilPatel’s Ubersuggest, a free tool.
How do you put the right key phrases in and also connect it with your book?
Well, you think about what kind of problem the person is seeking… and is it business or personal? For example, if someone was looking for information on how to create a definitive personal brand as an author, they might find a related blog post that answers that and then surf to the book page on My Personal Brand. I also have many posts about various instances of needing a personal brand fast or an author brand cheat sheet, just in case that piques the interest.
What’s hot right now
On the book sales page, I should say a few words about their needs and what outcomes they might get.
Alas, it’s a topic that is perhaps past its prime interest phase. The marketplace suddenly gets all interested in a topic, people buy a bunch of books and do webinars, and then interest tends to fade back to regular levels. However, most of us topical writers can come up with a topic that doesn’t trend wildly. That’s called an evergreen topic.
One of my evergreen topics [blog category] is book writing tips. It’s always going to be wanted. What topic of expertise can you think of that will either be rising or always wanted?
How to set up a Website, simply
Some authors just want to write a blog, one with a very simple setup process, and that’s fine. While some people like fancier design and functions, a lot of readers just want to read tasty morsels and get to know new books and good authors. There is also the power of community at play with many blogger sites, e.g. Blogger, WordPress.com.
Setting up an author brand website is not always technical, and every leader with a topical niche wants one, but it may not be necessary for everybody. Some people don’t have the tech skills to run a complex WordPress site with WooCommerce. Others are not wanting to spend the time on optimising, fiddling with 3D images, etc. For those people, there are specialist author website designers, like Jin & Co, who don’t charge the earth. At times there are Book Launch page tools but these come and go. You are best to not put too much time into some author website app which may be ‘here today, gone tomorrow’.
Places like AustralianAuthorsMarketplace provide a nice alternative of book promotion for self-published fiction writers who don’t want the website hassles.
A further alternative is to lead with the book, and set up a website for that. See a travel book example here. It doesn’t suit multiple time authors very much.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you would like to support my writing, try out the ever-cheap but most attractive 20 Most-Asked Questions on Prosperity.
