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Home » Top 10 Ways Your Website Leaves Readers, and Leads, in the Dust

Top 10 Ways Your Website Leaves Readers, and Leads, in the Dust

by Joan Stewart on November 22, 2017 20 Comments

By Joan Stewart

Regardless of how long you’ve been writing or publishing books, I’ll bet you’re making at least three of the Top 10 mistakes I see often at author websites.

These missteps are so prevalent that I now do a quick review of every website when authors hire me for consulting – even if they don’t ask for my opinion. What good are my book marketing recommendations if the website falls short of the minimum standards a journalist or visitor will expect?

Fortunately, most of these mistakes have a quick, easy fix. Use this checklist as you review your own site.

Mistake #1: You don’t own your domain name.

If a webmaster built your site, don’t assume you own the domain name. He might have used his own credit card to buy it, and added the fee to your invoice. If he dies or disappears, you might have to incur mountains of paperwork to get the ownership transferred to you.

Here’s the worst part. Get on his bad side, and he can close down your website in an instant.

Find out who owns your site by going to WhoIs.Icann.org and typing your domain name into the box. Make sure it says that you are the owner or registrant. You can designate anyone else as administrator, billing or technical contact.

Mistake #2: Your website gives no clue about what you write or do.

On my homepage, it says, “If you need free publicity for a product, service, cause or issue, you’re in the right place.”

My author client, Dr. Kevin Haselhorst, is an expert in palliative care, a difficult topic to explain quickly. Here’s how his homepage explains what he does and how he helps people. Notice he mentions the target market, which I’ve highlighted in yellow. His explanation of palliative care is in green.

Mistake #3: Your author photo is buried at the bottom of the homepage or on an internal page. Or it’s missing.

Promote yourself as if you’re already a celebrity. That means your photo should be everywhere, especially on the top half of the homepage so visitors can see it immediately. And please, smile! In Dr. Kevin Haselhorst’s photo above, notice the stethoscope draped around his neck—an appropriate prop.

Mistake #4: No opt-in box for capturing email addresses.

If you aren’t collecting email addresses from people who visit your website, you’re leaving leads and money on the table. Consider offering an enticing freebie that’s more than just the standard sample chapter, or a free ebook.

For nonfiction fiction authors, consider:

  • A video series that explains how to solve a problem that’s tied to your book.
  • A cheat sheet or checklist.
  • A valuable list of free resources whether they’re from you or from others.
  • An infographic that gives step-by-step directions.

For fiction authors:

  • Fun, quirky facts about your novel’s locale.
  • A missing chapter from a book you’ve already published, especially if the book has sold well.
  • Instructions on how to do something that’s tied to the topic of your book. For example, a children’s author might offer a handy PDF that explains how to make a Halloween costume so children can dress up as the book’s main character.

Mistake #5: Hidden or missing contact information.

Every page of your website should include three important pieces of information:

  • your shipping address
  • your telephone number
  • your email address

Don’t want to share your home address? Rent a post office box.

Don’t want your office or home phone ringing at 3 a.m.? Use Google Voice.

If you don’t want email messages to come into your primary email account because they might get lost, create a secondary account and check it daily.

If you use a contact form, that’s fine. But give visitors the option of emailing you from their own email account.

Book Shepherd Judith Briles, whose guest posts appear on this blog, has the best contact page I’ve seen. She gives visitors more than a dozen ways to reach her. I love the short video in which she encourages people to contact her.

Mistake #6: Your email address doesn’t include your domain name.

Sad but true: 9 out of 10 author email addresses I see don’t include the author’s domain name. Instead, the email addresses are from AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, or the author’s Internet service provider. Example: [email protected] This screams, “I’m an amateur and I don’t know how to market myself.” It also screams, “I’m cheap.”

If you don’t have a website yet, buy a domain name for less than $10 a year, and make that part of your email address. Then build a simple website, pronto, and expand it as needed.

Mistake #7: Your website doesn’t have a strong sales page for your book.

Give buyers as many options as possible. Some people don’t like Amazon and would rather buy directly from you. That means you need a strong sales page that gives them everything they need to know and explains why they should read the book.

I love the template for “The Perfect Book Sales Page” created by Tom Morkes of Insurgent Publishing. It gives readers a tidy, easy-to read bird’s-eye of your book and makes it easy for them to decide if it’s worth buying or deserves a closer look.

Mistake #8: Navigational buttons that lead to error pages.

When I consulted with an author client several months ago, at least three of the navigational buttons on her homepage had bad links. She was horrified. And she never would have known that had I not reviewed her website without being asked.

Mistake #9: A homepage that fails to mention your expertise.

An author without expertise in one or more topics is just one of millions of authors who are competing for readers’ time and money. But an author who promotes herself as a subject matter expert becomes more credible in the eyes of readers, meeting planners, the media and potential joint venture partners.

Even fiction authors can become experts, especially those who do a lot of research before writing.

A romance author might become an expert in women who marry after age 70. A Civil War novelist can offer valuable expertise on Civil War clothing or weaponry. A mystery writer can become an expert on tools used in crime scene investigations.

You don’t need to know every nugget of information on these topics, just enough to answer questions intelligently and speak extemporaneously on it. Continue to build your expertise after your book is published.

Mistake #10: A website that isn’t mobile-friendly.

Have you called up your website on your mobile phone? Or a tablet?

According to official Google statements, more than half of search queries globally now come from mobile devices. That’s why Google punishes websites that aren’t moble-friendly by lowering their SEO value.

Bonus Mistake #1: Not knowing how to make basic changes to your website.

If you rely solely on a techie to everything for you, you could find yourself in hot water if she gets hit by a truck tomorrow.

Do you know the password for logging into your site?

Do you know how to correct simple errors on pages?

Do you know how to add photos?

WordPress sites are fairly easy to learn and manage, thanks to the thousands of free how-to videos on YouTube. Pay for a few hours of consulting with your web designer who can walk you through some of the simpler tasks.

Bonus Mistake #2: Not knowing how to use your computer.

Know how to clear the cache.

Learn how to store content in the cloud.

Understand your options for sending big files, like videos. I recommend WeTransfer.com. It’s free for files up to 2 GB, and you don’t have to create an account.

Now, go back through this list and tally up how many mistakes you’ve made. Fewer than three? Congratulations. Fix them, and you’re good to go.

If you’ve made more than three, find a reasonably priced techie to help you. The best way is to ask for recommendations in groups like LinkedIn and Facebook.

 
Photo: BigStockPhoto

Filed Under: Contributing Writers, Marketing Tagged With: book marketing, Joan Stewart

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Comments

  1. Alison Naomi Holt says

    November 25, 2017 at 9:23 am

    Hi there,
    I used the site for mistake #1 and sure enough, a company (through my domain name registrar) is the contact for registrant, admin and tech. Do you have any suggestions about how to become the registrant, admin and tech contact? Any kind of starting place will help!

    I’ve been slowly working on my website, and this list helps a great deal.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Joan Stewart says

      November 27, 2017 at 8:02 am

      Alison, I recommend you do this, in this order:

      –Look for an invoice from your webmaster or whoever set this up for you. You want proof that you did, indeed, pay someone else for the domain name.

      –Contact your webmaster, or whoever set this up for you, and ask that he or she change the registrant or owner from their name to your name.

      –If the company that owns your domain name can’t be found, call the company that sold the domain name. Without a receipt, this can be a very long, frustrating exercise.

      Reply
      • Alison Naomi Holt says

        November 27, 2017 at 9:49 am

        I am my own webmaster. Since I set this up almost 8 years ago, I’m a little fuzzy, but since I set it up, does that mean I’m the owner, even if that site you recommended says my domain name registrar is the registrant, admin and tech?

        I guess either way, I’ll contact my domain name registrar (godaddy) and see who they believe owns my domain name and go from there.

        Thanks for getting me moving in the right direction on this

        Reply
        • Joan Stewart says

          November 27, 2017 at 10:38 am

          Calling GoDaddy is a good start. Let us know what you find out.

          Reply
          • Alison Naomi Holt says

            November 27, 2017 at 11:52 am

            You know, if I had any ego problems, I definitely wouldn’t tell you what I found out LOL. Kind of a “DUH” moment for me. But, since my info might help other folks, here’s what I found.

            I had my website information set to “private” so this is what I found on godaddy – “Your information is PRIVATE. This is how your contact information appears to people who search for it online.” and then it lists just what I’m seeing on the site you suggested in #1. Then it shows me who the real owner is (me!) So, thank you for the prompt, because now I know 🙂

  2. Marietta Arce says

    November 25, 2017 at 7:34 am

    Extremely worthwhile information today! Thanks.

    Reply
    • Joan Stewart says

      November 27, 2017 at 8:02 am

      Always glad to help, Marietta.

      Reply
  3. lar winebrenner says

    November 25, 2017 at 6:38 am

    Shucks. i dun maid 11 uv them misteaks, an stilve soll morn a duzen uv mi bukes.

    Reply
  4. Bitsy Kemper says

    November 22, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    Wow, such great info, thanks so much, I’ve beem advising on websites for years and there are a few things I didn’t think of!

    Reply
    • Joan Stewart says

      November 22, 2017 at 11:04 pm

      Glad to help, Bitsy.

      Reply
  5. Yvonne Hertzberger says

    November 22, 2017 at 5:36 am

    I recently had a long battle to move my domain name to a reputable host because a scammer owned it. It’s not fun and almost cost me my website. All is well now, but I wonder how many people have no idea they don’t own their domain name.

    Reply
    • Joan Stewart says

      November 22, 2017 at 8:08 am

      Yvonne, thanks for weighing in. The time for authors to check is NOW while their websites are still up and running, not when the website suddenly has disappeared and they’re in a panic.

      Reply
  6. Ernie Zelinski says

    November 22, 2017 at 2:15 am

    I confess. I am making at least 5 of these 12 errors. Even so, I will leave at least 97 percent of authors in the dust when it comes to book sales. My motto always has been:

    “Do it badly — but at least do it!”

    This has paid off big time. My books (mainly self-published) have now sold over 960,000 copies worldwide.

    By the way, I feel that social media and having a blog are a total waste of time for the majority of authors. So does my multi-millionaire acquaintance David Chilton, whose books have sold millions and who is ten times smarter than me when it comes to self-publishing and marketing.

    Reply
    • Joan Stewart says

      November 22, 2017 at 8:10 am

      Ernie, you make a valid point about at least “doing it.” I advise authors make a to-do list of only 3 things. Get those done and make another list of 3 more. A list of 20 to-do’s is overwhelming.

      I’m curious, and I’m sure other authors are, too. What are the top 3 things you’ve done that have contributed to selling more than 960,000 copies?

      Reply
    • Silver Donald Cameron says

      November 25, 2017 at 6:28 am

      Ernie, I’d love to know what you’ve been doing that’s so successful — and why you feel that a blog and social media are a waste of time.

      Reply

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