How to Create an Author Website (Even If You’re Not Tech-Savvy!)

Introduction

In this post, I’ll show you how to create an author website step by step! Social media platforms come and go, but your website is yours forever. Many authors rely on social media to connect with readers, but what happens if a platform shuts down, changes its algorithm, or your account gets banned? That’s why building an author website is essential. With your own site, you have full control over your online presence, branding, and reader engagement. Whether you’re a new writer or a published author, having a professional author website helps you showcase your books, attract readers, and grow your audience.

Hello to my fellow authors and bookworms!🙋🏼‍♀️ Today, I’m writing something new and valuable for you. Let me know in the comments if you enjoy this type of post!

So, first, let’s talk about the benefits of having a website as an author and how it may help you with your book marketing efforts. 

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5 Reasons Every Author Needs a Website (That Social Media Can’t Offer!)

1. A Central Hub for your Author Brand

Your website serves as an online destination for your readers, publishers, and media professionals. You may direct your entire audience to a single location rather than many social media profiles. To connect with your readers, you can use your website to give them upcoming book updates, book details, bonus chapters, social networking links, a sneak peek at your writing process, and much more. 

2. Connect With your Readers

As mentioned earlier, you may engage with your audience more meaningfully. You may include options to engage with your readers, such as a blog, newsletter sign-up, or contact form, so they can communicate with you more quickly and directly. By interacting directly with your readers, you create a loyal audience or fanbase for yourself. 

3. Showcase your work

The website allows you to showcase all of your work in one spot. You can highlight your books, and provide information about the series that you have written, the order of the books to read in your series, bonus chapters, success stories, your favourite reviews of your book, the awards that you have received, and many other details. Your website can serve as your virtual resume, allowing you to demonstrate your skills to the world. 

4. Increase credibility and professionalism.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

A website can help you gain a reputation and appear more professional to your readers and prominent publishers. Publishers can obtain your contact information and quickly communicate with you via the website. Consider that the publishers will not have time to search your social media accounts to contact you, but by conducting a simple internet search, they will be able to obtain your information more quickly and can present you as a professional, and establish you as a reputable author. To get ideas for designing a professional author website, look at this list of top author websites and discover how successful authors promote themselves online.

5. Control Your Online Presence

The biggest benefit of owning a website is that you have complete control over your online visibility. With the recent news of the TikTok ban, many authors and book readers returned to zero, and all of their hard work to establish a following vanished in an instant! Unlike social media platforms, which can change their algorithms or policies at any time, your website is completely yours. You have complete control over the content, design, and operation of your online presence, which ensures consistency. 

How to Create an Author Website? Here’s Exactly How to Do It!

Building a website may appear intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. Here is a step-by-step tutorial to help you get started:

Step 1: Choose a Platform

There are many website-building platforms where you can build your website without the knowledge of coding. They have easy drag-and-drop functionality, by which you can create beautiful websites by just dragging and dropping the elements. You can also find video tutorials on YouTube to help you get started. The beginner-friendly platforms are WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace.

Not sure which platform is best for you? Check out this post to find out the perfect platform for your author website.

Step 2: Pick a domain name

A domain name is the address of your online home – your website. Your domain name should be simple and specific as well as professional so that your readers can remember it easily. You can use your author name or a variation of it as a domain name. For example, if your name is Jane Doe, then janedoe.com or janedoebooks.com works well.

Step 3: Select a hosting service

Consider your website a house; the domain name is the street address, and web hosting is the house itself, complete with all of your furniture, appliances, and valuables (website files). Choosing the right home is crucial, so look for dependable and affordable options like Bluehost, SiteGround, Hostinger, or WordPress hosting.

Step 4: Design your Website

You should design your website which is clean and user-friendly and can grab your reader’s attention. There are many pre-made templates available in the above-mentioned website builder platform. You can choose one of your liking and get started with it but if you want your website to look more professional and clean then you can hire a professional who offers services like Website Design for authors (like me😉!)

Step 5: Add Essential Pages

Every author should have these essential pages on their website. It’s like every house must have basic furniture. The essential pages are as follows:

1. Home Page:

Think of it like a first impression like the exterior of your house. So keep in mind what your readers will think after seeing the exterior of your house while designing your Homepage. You can include your photo, a short bio, your tagline, a section showcasing your books, your social media links etc. You can check this image that I designed as an example.

2. About Page:

You can share your journey, your story, what inspires you as an author and what readers can expect on your website. Readers love to know more about their favourite authors and can deeply connect with you. 

3. Books Page:

On this page, you can show all your published books as well as upcoming books. You can have a blurb of your books, purchase links, book covers, summaries, your favourite reviews of your books, order to read the books in your series, etc. You can check this image that I designed as an example.

4. Blog:

You can use the blog to keep your readers updated on your writing process. You can share writing tips with new authors, cover reveal of your upcoming books, behind-the-scene posts, etc. Readers will love to know about your experiences as an author. You can check this image that I designed as an example.

5. Contact Page:

You can create a simple contact form to make it easy for readers, publishers and media to reach to you. You can also mention your email address on this page so they can directly contact you.

If you want detailed information about the essential pages of an author’s website, check out this post!

Step 6: Maintain and Update your Site

A website is not a one-and-done project. You need to keep updated your website with new blog posts, new information regarding your books, any new updates in your writing process, your new achievements, etc. And you have to run maintenance tasks to keep your website up-to-date and secured. 

Conclusion

A website can be a game-changer for authors like you. It’s like your digital home, your resume, and your connection to your readers all in one place. Don’t get intimidated by the idea of building a website – start small and you can always scale up afterwards.

Your author’s website is your home on the internet—it’s where readers connect with you, discover your books, and stay updated. If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry—I can help! I specialize in creating beautiful, professional author websites that help you stand out. Let’s bring your vision to life. Check out my portfolio or contact me today! Let’s build something amazing together! 😊

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If you have any questions let me know in the comments! On which topic should I write next? Let me know in the comments!