Being a writer has its advantages, especially when it comes to creating a website. As a writer/editor, you have a keen sense of your own vision, and your instincts can guide you to create a website that supports your larger author brand. Ready to apply your editorial instincts to your author website?
Web Design Relief Presents 6 Questions To Help You Think Like An Editor When Creating Your Author Website
Is your call to action clear and focused? Writers are excellent at persuasive writing—so a good writer can craft an effective call to action for an author website! What’s a call to action? It’s basically the one primary action you want a visitor to take when reading your author website: sign up for an author mailing list, buy a book, etc. With great editing skills, you can create a call to action using subtle persuasion and some smart layout. Learn more about creating a great call to action.
Is the layout effective? Your layout should funnel visitors toward your call to action, so deciding how to organize the content of your website is a lot like deciding how to organize the content of a book. What do you want visitors to see first? The “above the fold” or top part of the homepage of your author website is as important as the first five pages of a manuscript. Here’s how to get your most important info on your website’s first page .
Are the visuals powerful? Your website’s first impression lies in its visuals. Do your images make a powerful, memorable, unique statement? If your talents run more toward the written word than to artwork, be sure to enlist good help—just like you’d hire a freelance editor to help with a manuscript.
Is the copy clean and SEO friendly? SEO (or search engine optimization) is a key component of an effective author website. Being a writer—and understanding how to shape a sentence—is a HUGE advantage when it comes to Web maintenance. Why? Search engines scan the text of websites in order to index them. If your author website doesn’t have your name on it a few times, a search engine might not be able to associate it with you. Learn more about how to edit for SEO copywriting techniques.
Does your author website tell a good story? As a writer, you probably have a good appreciation for the power of story. But are you telling your personal story as powerfully as you could? In a world shaped by social media, who you are can be as persuasive as what you’re writing. Learn more about how to make the most of your personal story through good editing .
Does your author website encourage visitors to have an emotional reaction? Writers are masters of emotions—exploring them, conjuring them, and letting people experience them intimately. Just like a great piece of writing, a great website inspires an emotional reaction via eye-catching visuals, strong text, opportunities for engagement/interaction, and smart layout. Use every tool in your writing arsenal to stir up a bit of emotion in your visitors.
And The Best Thing About Editing An Author Website Is…
As long as your Web developer creates a website that you can easily maintain and edit, your author website offers you the perfect opportunity to let your creativity shine!
Question: Which of the elements on our list do you believe is most important to an author website?
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