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How to Build and Market Your Website Online
Presented as part of a panel discussion February 8, 2004, at the Conference of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
Today I'm going to tell you a bit about how to create a website, give you some tips on how to market it, but most important - tell you how to design it right from the start so that when it's done, it gets the best possible rankings on the search engines and the most possible traffic.
Because what good is a fabulous website if no one can find you on the web?
Building a website to showcase your work is easier and cheaper than ever . . .
Hire someone to create a custom web design -- or
Purchase an inexpensive predesigned template (see Resources below for suggested template sites) -- or
If you're a published author or illustrator, use the extremely affordable SiteBuilder design and hosting service offered by the Authors Guild.
Web-ready visuals are easier than ever to acquire -- digital versions of your covers & photos, PDFs of your bio, readers guides, etc., should be available from your publisher or can be easily created with off-the-shelf software or at your local Kinko's or other copy shop.
But for more effective MARKETING of your site, build it with its ultimate SEARCH ENGINE FINDABILITY IN MIND. Why . . . ?
Search engines -- Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. -- get a combined 650 million searches per day.
2/3 of American adults now use the Internet -- roughly 126 million Americans. High proportions of these users are women seeking personal and family-related information, including information on books for their children. You want this audience to find your website and buy your books.
Leverage the awesome power of the search engines to reach this audience and raise awareness of your books. How . . . ?
FIRST: In addition to the standard range of pages -- biography, press, awards and reviews, excerpts, contact page, how to buy (with links to online booksellers) -- devote one page to each book and "optimize" that page for the search engines by including search terms in both the visible copy and the meta tags (read on to find out more about meta tags and how to optimize).
How to optimize:
In the visible copy on the page itself -- the copy that the public sees -- include a description of the book, its subject and themes. Incorporate search terms into that description that people might use if looking for a book on that subject -- "Hawaiian volcanoes" or "children's book about loss." Make sure your web designer uses plain text for this descriptive copy rather than artwork -- any text that appears as artwork cannot be read and indexed by the search engines.
In the "invisible copy" -- the source code that makes the page display the way that it does on your computer screen - - include those same search terms in 3 important meta tags: TITLE TAG, DESCRIPTION TAG, and KEYWORD TAG. Tags are elements of source code that search engines read and index. Search engines use these tags to match your site with a search query. Your web designer should know what these tags are and how to create them. An optimized page devoted to a single theme will rank higher on the search engines.
This can be done by illustrators as well -- in addition to visuals of your work, include a paragraph or two of text that describes the book and includes those same search terms. If possible, work together with the author to come up with some descriptive paragraphs that include your search terms.
Don't forget to include excerpts as well. The more content you have on your site -- about yourself and your books -- the more likely you will be found on the search engines. Google especially -- which performs more than 250 million searches per day -- ranks a website higher if it has more pages and if those pages contain useful content.
SECOND: Include a Links page and begin to build incoming links from other, quality sites. Search engines like websites with lots of other good-quality website linking to them. They will rank your site higher in a search as a result, which will increase your chances of being found by your audience.
To find good sites to get linked from, do a search for websites that complement your own book subjects, or sites that list resources for parents, homeschoolers, and educators. Write a short, respectful e-mail to the website owner describing your work and its value to their audience and ask for a link to your site. Always offer to link to their website as well. Since your Links page is already built, they will see it and be more likely to link to you.
Linkbuilding is a bootstrap task that takes time and patience but the rewards can be great -- permanent links from high-quality sites that are not subject to the ever-changing ranking formulas of the search engines.
THIRD: Once your site is built and all your meta tags are in place, submit your webpages to all search engines. Google and AltaVista are still free; others charge a nominal fee for one-year inclusion -- as little as $25 per page. Submit each individual optimized page as well, as many as your budget will allow. To find all the search engines, do a search on Google or AltaVista for "search engines."
If you build your site right from the start with its ultimate marketability in mind, you'll get more traffic, more notice for your books, and more sales.
MORE MARKETING IDEAS:
Join newsgroups and discussion forums that discuss children's books or children's issues. Don't pitch your own books -- that's not appreciated in newsgroups and could get you thrown off. Instead, contribute your knowledge. (See Resources below for links to newsgroup lists.)
Develop a mailing list to keep your fans apprised of your latest work, signings, school talks, etc. Have a signup form on your site. Mailing lists can be managed through your own e-mail system, your hosting company, or a 3rd-party provider for a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers. See Resources below for some 3rd-party mailing list providers.)
Host a monthly chat. Announce it through your mailing list and post the date on your website. (If you plan to hold chats, make sure your hosting company supports or provides chat functionality.)
Create a signature file for your e-mail that includes a link to your website.
Make sure your website address appears in all your promotional materials, biographies, teachers' guides, readers' guides, and of course, book covers.
TIPS:
If you hire a designer to create a custom design, specify that YOU DO NOT WANT THE SITE BUILT IN FRAMES, a webpage coding technique that will thwart the search engines as they try to index your site.
Register your name as your domain name. If your name is already taken, add a modifier such as "writer" or "illustrator" or "childrensbooks" to the domain name. Add a geographic modifier if you want to be found only by searchers in a specific area. Add a noun modifier if you want to be found specifically as a "nature writer" or "animal illustrator" or "nonfiction author."
Make sure your hosting company provides telephone tech support and website traffic statistics at no extra cost.
RESOURCES
Predesigned templates: TemplatesBox,com, BasicTemplates.com, APlusTemplates.com (search Google or Yahoo for "website templates").
Newsgroups: Google Groups; Yahoo Groups.
3rd-party mailing list providers: ConstantContact; Bronto.
Pew Internet Usage Statistics in the U.S.
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