Building an Online Presence: Website

Hey guys, this is Social Media Intern Kenny and I've been tasked to give a short and easy guide to building an online presence.  For the inaugural blog on this subject, the best starting point would be on an author's main website.  Since it is 2013 and every author has to have a website, there are a few tips and tricks to make your website more simplistic and more inviting so that you can get more hits.  Let's get started!


Tip #1: Less is more.

In very general terms, the online community hates a website that has too much.  Much like writing, a website should not have too many fillers.  Keep pictures and distracting images to a minimum and have as few tabs as possible.  Here's an example of what not to do:

Yes, this site, arngren.net, exists.  No, you should not go to the site. 

Tip #2: Easy like Sunday morning.

Ease of use is very important for a website.  Much like keeping tabs and pictures to a minimum, do not overcomplicate things.  Include purchasing links to your books on the homepage and put them next to pictures of the book.  The less reading online people have to do, the more they will like your website.

Dennislehane.com

This is author Dennis Lehane's website.  Notice that in the top right corner are links to his other social media and in the banner, he has a total of six tabs.  This provides the ease of navigating through his website and allows his fans to go to where they want to go with appropriate quickness.

Tip #3: Be more social.

Even just five years ago, a good website would have been enough for a successful online presence but now, a good website isn't a luxury, it is a bare necessity.  The point of a website, nowadays, isn't to draw in as many hits as possible, it is to direct fans and other dwellers of the internet towards more important places like an author's Twitter account, Facebook account, blog, or any other forms of social media.  You want to connect with your audience


Tip #4: First impressions matter.

In reality, most people will only see the front page of a website before clicking away.  This means that you have to include all your links on the front page and this can get very messy.  Luckily, there are many ways to make those links more inviting by including links like in icons on your page rather than text links.  It is because of these links that can cause a page to look cluttered and that is why unnecessary pictures and articles should be removed.


These are just four easy tips to build a better website.  Of course, there are always more things you can do to make a website more inviting but these basics are always good to follow.  For more tips to build an online presence, come back to the KC&A blog in the future.

For more up-to-date news, please follow Kimberley Cameron & Associates on Twitter @K_C_Associates and on Facebook at Facebook.com/kimberleycameronandassociates.