What's the Most Important Thing on an Author Website?

The book! It seems obvious, right?  But you'd be amazed at how hard it is to find information about the author's book on some sites.

It's fine to have other content on your author website or blog, but make sure that it's really easy to find a description of your book and a link directly to a place where customers can buy the book.

Recently I visited the website of an author who had written a book on a topic that I have an interest in, but I could find no description of the book. I clicked on the link that said the book was available on Amazon and landed on Amazon's home page. No, I did not make the effort to search out the book on Amazon.

It's helpful to look at your site through the eyes of a visitor who has never been there before.

• What's the first thing you see when you land on the site?

• Is there a book cover visible on the home page and other pages? If your website is a blog, it's easy to display your book cover in the sidebar, along with a link to the book description or purchase page. You can see a book cover and links to my books in the sidebar of this site under the heading "Book Marketing Guides".

• Is there an obvious link to somewhere people can learn more about the book? From your main navigation menu, you could place a link that says something like "About the Book," "My Books" or "Buy the Book". On this site, the link says "Resources".

• Is the book description compelling enough to motive buyers?

• Have you listed quotes from book reviews in the book description, to demonstrate that others find your book valuable or entertaining?

• Is there a direct link to your book's page on Amazon or some other place the book can be purchased? Check the links and make sure they work properly.

Don’t make it difficult for visitors to your website to learn about your book and buy it! Make sure your website does a good job of selling your book.

Oh, and you can find descriptions of all of my books here.

Comments

[Olsenjaynelson]

Hi, you're quite right, of course. One of the things I've noticed is that while there may be information about the book on the site, it could well be buried deep in their uncategorised post history, and you'd never know it; too many authors don't use menus with clear demarcations between important topics, opting instead for the month by month history widget with an uninformative number of posts alongside each. Thanks for remiding us. Retweeted ...

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Olsen. I totally agree about the Archives widget - it should be deleted from blogs. I talked more about that in this post: http://bit.ly/gQrIzK

[Margaret Brown]

Excellent article! Funny how we sometimes overlook the "obvious."

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Margaret. Another common problem I see is that many authors don't mention their book or the fact that they are on author on the Facebook or other social network pages. Shout it from the rooftops!

[Lisa]

This is just what I need! I recently redesigned my website/blog, but after reading this post, I'm going to add a book cover link "above the fold" where it can't be missed.

[Adan Lerma]

great reminder! and confirmation for me, as i've just recently posted my book covers on my sidebar, with just the kind of links you suggest

thanks so much, looking fwd to more great info ( first time to your site ;-) )

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Lisa and Adan, thank you so much for your notes. I'm so glad you found this helpful. Good luck with your books!

[Sandra Novacek]

First book authors creating their platform may not have a book cover to show.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Sandra, that's a good point. Aspiring authors can use some text or a graphic with some kind of a "coming soon" message mentioning the title of the book and the pub date if it's known.

[Greg Randall]

Thanks Dana, I have been following you for the past year, great info, keep it up. BTW please check my blog, would like to hear your comments. See. Www.writing4death.blogspot.com, seem to not get comments, post there and I can see if it works. Happy New Year.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Greg, I left a comment on your "Seeking Help" post and it worked fine. Good job posting your first chapters at the top of the page to entice readers. I do recommend adding a way for people to contact you. If you can't do it in the sidebars, you could put it at the top of your Media page. Good luck with your books!
Dana

[Stephen Groak]

Just found your site (glad I did).

Thank you.

[Cynthia Robinson]

Thank you for that great advice. I just finish writing my book and I am working on the website and everything that you say will be used there. Thanks .

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Cynthia - I'm so glad you found this information helpful. Good luck with your book!
Dana