Sure, you always intended to keep your website current, but work, family responsibilities, writing deadlines—you name it!—got in the way. Fortunately, updating your author website can be quicker and easier than you might think! You can add a timely holiday theme or feature your newly published book, short story, or poems for your visitors to read or buy. Whatever changes you make, keeping your author website fresh and up-to-date is a surefire way to keep users coming back!

7 Fast And Clever Ways To Update Your Website

1. Update The Homepage: Your homepage is the first thing visitors to your author website see—and your first opportunity to make a lasting impression! When revamping your homepage, you don’t necessarily have to redo the entire page; even a minor change can make a BIG difference! For example, why not edit your author bio to include exciting new information about yourself and your writing? And there’s no better time than right now to mention any recent awards you’ve received or writing conferences you’ve attended. Another easy update is changing the header to an eye-catching, fresh new design.

2. Change The Color Scheme:  The color trends when you first designed your author website may be out of style today. Picking a new color palette doesn’t have to be difficult, especially when you use these handy hints for choosing a fantastic new color scheme. Whether you decide to switch from blue to green, or change a neutral color into something brighter and more eye-catching, changing your color scheme (especially in WordPress), can be a quick and easy way to keep your author website looking its best! And if the timing is right, how about trying a fun holiday theme?

3. Feature A New Book/Poem/Or Short Story:  Have you recently published a new novel, poem, or short story? Did you have a piece accepted by a prestigious literary journal? Instead of burying your acceptance within your ever-expanding publications list, why not make your new publication a prominent feature on your homepage? New visitors and loyal fans will be enticed by new content. And regularly updating your text will keep visitors returning again and again to see what’s new—and help improve your search engine ranking.

4. Put Up A New Author Headshot: Are you still using an old, outdated headshot on your author website? If your photo represents who you were five years ago or more, it’s time for a new one! Keep your website current by swapping out old headshots in favor of newer photos with these easy-to-follow steps.You could even use a high-quality self-portrait taken directly from your phone!

5. Optimize For Mobile Devices: Nowadays almost everyone uses a smartphone, so optimizing your website for mobile devices is an absolute MUST! You can accomplish this in many ways, including reducing the size of large hard-to-load images, using a larger font, and getting rid of pop-ups. In just a few clicks, your author website will be more mobile-friendly!

6. Add A New Blog Post: Interacting with visitors is a great way to turn casual readers into long-term fans! If you haven’t incorporated a blog into your website, doing so is a smart way to keep visitors current on everything you have going on! Keeping your website fresh can be as simple as remembering to add a new blog post in your spare time.

7. Link To Social Media: Are you active on social media? Your author website should always incorporate your social media to actively promote your author brand. Adding links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts is a great way to modernize your author website. Visitors who enjoy reading your work can like you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter, and even review your stories on Goodreads!

No matter what changes you make…from fixing broken links to changing your font…keeping your author website updated can be accomplished in an hour or less—and the benefits will be long lasting!

And if your website is in need of more than just a little sprucing, there’s an easy answer for that too: call Web Design Relief!

QUESTION: Which of the above ideas seem the easiest to you?