If you want to be a successful writer you need a website.

You want readers to be able to find you and your writing, and one of the ways people will do that is through the internet.

So, you scour the web for examples of sites you like, research the most popular themes for writers, debate between hosting providers, and start choosing a colour palette. All of these are important steps, but too many of us start here. If you want your website to have longevity and impact your business, you need to take a step back before you upload an image and write that killer tagline. It’s the same for any marketing decision you’ll make as a writer.

Photo by Sebastian Mantel on Unsplash

I’ve put together three questions for you to ask yourself before you get started on your web design. Grab a pen and jot down the answers to these questions – I guarantee you’ll come up with a more effective website if you do.

1. What do you want your website to do?

This may sound obvious, but we often forget to start here. There are many valid reasons for having a website but let’s focus on two for now: Sales or Brand.

Sales: Do you want your website to help sell your books or services?

If the answer is yes, then drill down a little more, and consider if you want to:

Promote all your books – highlight these on your home page, starting with your most recent, and think about a dedicated page for each book

Sell books directly – then you’ll need to ensure you have a robust e-commerce functionality

Point people to book sellers – make sure you’re on all the top book sellers’ sites

Create interest in an upcoming book launch/publication – put this front and centre on your home page, include reviews, a giveaway, a promotion or discount, as well as links to online booksellers

Point people to writing-related services – you’ll need to be clear on your home page who you are first and foremost: a writer or an editor/coach/consultant. If you offer more than one service, pick the one which is most important to you if you want your website to be effective.

Brand: Do you want your website to tell people who you are as a writer?

This is a valid reason for hosting a website and doesn’t mean you’ll never sell anything through it. How many times have you read a book or article and wanted to know a little more about the author? Maybe you wanted to know what else they’ve written, or to follow them on social media.

If the main purpose of your site is branding, do you want to:

Answer people’s questions about you as a writer – make sure your home page has a good bio and think about an FAQ page

Create a following, create a community who interacts with each other, or help people – then a blog format will suit you better. You’ll need to create excellent content frequently and share on social media platforms pointing readers to your site

2. What can, and can’t your website do?

You need to be clear on this.

[bctt tweet=”A website is a virtual shop window.” username=”SarahSambles”]

It’s a snapshot of who you are, what you write, what you offer.

It can:

• help people understand who you are
• give people a taste of your writing
• point people to your writing, books, services

It can’t:

• make you an overnight success or a great writer. There is no replacement for lazy writing!
• be all things to all people. The most successful businesses and writers focus on one thing and do it really well. In time, they may add to their services/genres and branch into something else, but they do that on a foundation of having delivered something excellent to just one audience.
• be your only sales tool. It’s true that if you’re self-published you may have a harder time getting your books on the shelves of a bookshop. Therefore, the internet becomes a more important sales avenue for you. However, you need to be exploring as many sales opportunities as possible, not just your website. And if you’re traditionally published, you’ll be using your website to link to booksellers.
• replace relationship. One of the most beneficial things you can do for your marketing is invest in building relationships with your readers – by blogging, through contributing to conversation on social media, by offering things for free, through an email newsletter.

3. Who is it for?

As I talk about in my blog post Why marketing is spelled E-M-P-A-T-H-Y, the first thing you need to do when you undertake any marketing activity is to find out what your reader likes, wants, needs. What are their challenges? What kind of language do they tend to use?

One place to start is looking at the websites of successful authors in your genre.

What pages and services do they have on their sites? How do you find the navigation? What do they include in their bio, their FAQs?

When you begin to plan out your own website, always make sure you’re answering your reader’s questions, not shouting about what you want to shout about.

If you have more than one target audience, decide who is number one. Consider a subdomain or a separate website if you do need to reach more than one audience. You could also have a landing page for a new book.

Have these questions helped you clarify what your website should look like? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

Want to know if your About page or bio is striking the right tone? Sign up to my newsletter and download my FREE tool ‘How to draft my best bio’.