Author web page feedback

Hello all.

I am using twitter and fb to market my self-published series. I'm tracking a fair number of clicks from these social networks over to my website. I'm also tracking (as an Amazon Affiliate) a fair number of clicks on my individual titles. A much smaller percentage converts to sales.

I'm wondering if I need to update the website, or maybe the Amazon listings.

Would anybody be interested to take a peek at www.suburbanhaiku.com and share tips on how to make an author website more appealing?

I would appreciate the benefit of your experience so very much!

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  • I saw it and it looks great!

    Best of luck and keep in touch!

  • Ahh that's good to hear :) Your images add so much to the web page, very app-ealing (pardon the pun)... :P

    Nicely done!

  • Hi Peyton, you are welcome :) Templates are ok, they save a lot of time and can be quite flexible for design and also quite limited, depending on your savvy and the provider. SEO can be important if you want traffic. It's quite easy to set up you just need to add metatags in the <head> section of your web page. Metatags tell the search engines what is in your page from the content and from keywords. A recent blogg I set up couldn't be seen at all on google until I added metatags now it ranks in the top ten. You can also search google for relavent keywords relating to your web site and then look at the page source code for the top ranking results and "borrow" their metatags (to make sure you rank along side the competition) ;)

    Do you have a blogg? Bloggs are brilliant, really easy to set up and have great custom features and widgets. You can update you blogg anytime and pretty much make it look the way you want it. Check mine out http://innervisionpress.blogspot.co.uk/  it took me about 4 hours to set up and customize, I could have done better but I was pushed for time lol. I highly recommend http://www.blogger.com they have an absolute overwhelm of features and its all FREE !



    Happy to have been a help, have fun :)P




    Matt

  • Even with pre-made templates, there's usually an option to customize the html. To improve the page's SEO, you mainly need access to the <head> section (also clearly labeling all the pictures and links, which you can do with any CMS). A quick google search of "Weebly SEO" (Weebly's your template provider, as I recall) should come up with posts that tell you both how good Weebly's SEO is, and how to improve it by hand.

    But since your page is a business card (so to speak) I wouldn't worry too much about SEO. With the limited amount of static content on your page, you probably won't be able to rank very high even if the page is optimized. Except for things like the phrase "Suburban Haiku," which you should be able to get to page one with.

  • Hi Peyton,

    I had a quick look at your website and I think it is great. The layout is good, clear and simply laid out. From a web designers perspective and as a publisher I would say you could optimize your pages to make more creative use of the space. Like adding tables/columns and staggering the page content with bright attractive images. A useful set of links at the bottom of the pages would look professional too. It took me a while to work out what Haiku was about, but I enjoyed that as part of the process. There are no rules when it comes to content and design, everyone has there own style and some are more gifted in some areas.

    The only thing I would say about Amazon is that you cannot have too much in your descriptive content. If you look at the page for the Kindle reader (Amazon's number one best selling product for two years running) the page length is HUGE. So I guess at least Amazon consider that more is better when it comes to your sales pitch!

    You could also try adding "sticky" content to your website like Amazon Seller "widgets" and your Twitter feed, so visitors can read your latest tweets. You might also want to try optimizing your pages metatags too which makes your site more search engine friendly. Some ideas for you.... :) hope this helps. And.......

    Thanks for sharing.

    Matt Blythe
    http://innervision.books.officelive.com

  • Hi Peyton,

    I enjoyed your samples, really fun! My first advice to any author (regarding their webpages) is to put an Amazon link on every page, usually as an image of the book.

    An easy fix: the banner image you've used isn't the right resolution and looks pixelated. This gives an amateur first impression, despite how lovely the rest of the site is.

    I like that the tone of the buttons and text has the same playful tone as the poems.

    Are you intended this site to get traffic on its own, or are you using it as a business card of sorts, that people only go to because they've met you and are interested in you/your book? If it's the latter, the site is looking pretty good. If it's the former, if you are expecting random people to find your site, you'll need a blog or to add content that will keep people coming back. Something that will make people bookmark the site and come back again and again. For many writers this could be writing tips, but because your subject is very specific, you could blog about other haiku writers and/or funny things related to the suburbs.

  • Hey Peyton,

    I personally would like to see the cover of the book on the sites' first page. I'd also be interested in a book trailer, as witty as the book itself. As a wannabe agent trying to promote a writer of my own, I would advise him the same thing I advise you: in order to get attention, make some noise: as Jeff already told you, put some samples of the book on the site, invite people to comment, invite people to make suggestions or even begin a contest of some sort, attracting people to become part of the book promotion and selling. Make a nice vivid presentation of the book with prezi.com, post an interview about you and the process of writing, make a poll over your social networks and so on. And most importantly, share your site wherever is possible :)

    These are just random ideas, but from my experience, the more interactive and visible the site is, the more people it attracts. I am conceiving a site for my author right now that I'll share here. I would really appreciate any feed-back since we are both at the beginning of our career.

    Hope I could be of any help :)

  • Peyton, You asked. It's a nice start, but I feel it doesn't go far enough fast enough to draw me and close the deal. Maybe you should start by displaying a couple of sample pages, followed by the nice comments. 

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