Mind Boggling Author Websites
Project Type: N/A
I’ve seen this problem several times on authors websites. Usually from first time authors, and especially from authors who design their own websites. It takes time to get a website set up, work out the kinks, and make sure everything makes sense. I’ll give you that. But I have two things to mention here, there’s a checklist for your website at the bottom.
Secondary Website Pages Have No Navigation
It’s sort of like driving into the big city and your map gets sucked out the window. This is the feeling I get when I’m cruising through a website and suddenly the navigation menu disappears or stops working.
Perhaps it’s an Excerpt page. And it’s just a white page with text. No links to buy (bad, bad, bad!), no link back to your site (also bad), no direction whatsoever.
Have you ever been in a maze? What happens when you get to a dead end? You stop! And then you turn around. But with no navigation, it’s harder for visitors to turn around, find their way out, or continue moving through your site. Not only is this inconsiderate, it’s just plain silly. You want people to move around your site! The more they do, the greater the chance they’ll find a product they’ll love or a detail that makes you memorable.
So… make sure you have links on all your pages (even on excerpt pages!). And make sure your links are clickable! Navigation buttons that don’t actually work are useless.
Pages for Readers with No Information About Your Books
Occasionally I come across a site that has really different navigation. By that I mean the way the author has the links worded is unusual or unique.
Sometimes this unusual navigation leaves me scratching my head. I’m not sure where to go. (Note: If you must have unique navigation, have a more traditional word pop-up when you hover over them with your mouse.)
More than once I’ve come upon a page for Readers (which i suppose is an interesting idea, but your website should really be geared to readers. Period.) and I find all sorts of information. None of it about the author’s book.
Okay, let’s get one thing straight here. You’re an author. Your product is your book. Your job is to write a fabulous book and help sell it.
You are not selling it if you’re not promoting it to readers. So why on earth would you have a page called Books, Bookshelf, My Books, For Readers, etc… and have no information about YOUR books on it? I don’t know either.
Checklist:
__ Make sure all pages have some sort of navigation
__ Make sure all navigation links/buttons work
__ Make sure Book Pages have up to date information about YOUR books on them