is any content on your website that doesn’t change or changes very little over time, such as your author bio, contact information, and what your book is about. The section you are reading here addresses your static content.
Dynamic content changes frequently or is interactive and is great for searchability purposes. All you need is your blog entries and audience comments to form the dynamic content of your site. One beauty of keeping your blog on your site is that it reduces the necessity of bolstering your site with static pages; the dynamic blog keeps your site ever-fresh and highly indexable with Google and other search engines.
According to author client George Plumley, author of WordPress 24-Hour Trainer (Wrox, 2nd edition 2011), a key to maximizing WordPress content (and the same can be said of blog content created in non-WordPress sites, too) is to “keep your content split into the smallest possible pieces. That’s also part of what makes blogs highly effective: Break up content into individual pieces for easy managing.”
Website content works best when paragraphs and sentences are short and clear. Website usability guru Jakob Nielsen performed a study showing that usability increased by 58% by editing out extra words. Website viewers move quickly, so the value of your message must be condensed into the span of a glance. Since there is so much content on the web competing for our attention, we scan by habit, and web users tend to scan down the left side and read only a few lines to the right. If you understand the short attention span of viewers, you can appeal to this kind of speed reading in chunks. Here are the guidelines for creating effective author website content:
Get attention with your first words. Like a good speech, the opening impression of your website has to catch the readers attention and convince them to stay on the site, read more, and interact.
Get attention with attention-grabbing short subheads. Your viewers scan the headlines first, and many of them never get beyond reading the topmost half of the page.
Use lists. They help cut words and keep content scannable for the viewer.
Use only one single, readable font.
Leave enough horizontal space between sentences.
Keep ample margins on both sides. Remember to facilitate ease of viewing and reading. The reactive theme mentioned earlier in this chapter allows clear website readability on all sizes of mobile device screens.
Edit your content. Make sure your text is clear, jargon-free, and error-free.
Add an incentive to interact, such as an invitation to offer feedback, enter a contest or sweepstakes, or get something for free, like a sample chapter or excerpt from your book.
These techniques help lead your audience to an easy path to take action, that is, read your blog, engage and interact with you via your blog, look at the rest of your site, subscribe to your newsletter, and, ultimately, buy your book.
Use Keywords and Tags and Measure Results
When you identify your strategy and tie together the 14 steps of your author platform efficiently, your site continues to attract visitors for many years to come. The first nine months of your site’s life are the most critical to establishing your presence, so ensure that your website is working as efficiently as possible during this initial stage. Test-drive your own links regularly to make sure they are working, that the site as a whole is functioning well, and that the interactivity that you set up on your site initially can work on autopilot in the future. After your site is established, it won’t require spending as much time maintaining or refreshing the content.
Keywords: If you identify and use the same keywords your audience uses to search the Internet, they will find you in the crowded space of the web and you will get a higher SEO ranking and higher numbers of visitors. Ideally you want to be in the number-one slot or close to it when a user types that keyword into the search bar.
Metadata: Learn to create compelling metadata, which is the line or two of text that shows up next to your website name when it’s found by the browser. If your metadata does not compel users to click that link to your website, then the best site in the world will be lost. By default, your search results display the first 156 characters on the page they searched. The Yoast WordPress SEO plugin allows you to write a 156-character meta description for every page and post on your site, giving you complete control over what appears in your search results. Use this option well! Be sure you describe what your readers are looking for to lead them to your site instead of a weak line or two such as “Like what you see? Please subscribe to my newsletter!” every time your site comes up in search results. Test this out when your website is complete: Google your keywords, find your website, and adjust your metadata to get the most powerful impact in searches.
GETTING HARD NUMBERS: GOOGLE ANALYTICS
Through the Jetpack plugin, WordPress gives you wonderful numbers showing you how many visits your site is getting, where your visitors are located geographically, and what pages and articles they visit while surfing there. Your web host also probably gives you a separate set of data. The gold standard for free information about your site’s visitors remains the company that relies on such data to drive its advertising-based business strategy: Google.
You might be a little intimidated, but signing up for and using Google Analytics is pretty painless, even for the technophobe. All you need to know beforehand is the address (URL) of your website and how to copy and paste material from one part of the Internet to another.
Go to google.com/analytics (you’ll have to log in to your Google account, which you already have if you use Gmail, YouTube, or any other Google property). Click the Admin tab, and look for +New Account. The new account screen appears.
You want to track a “website.” Read over the features you’ll get with Analytics, then scroll down to Setting up your web property. Tell Google the name of your site and the web address. Choose an Industry Category, such as Books & Literature, and select your Time Zone. Choose an Account Name, and choose who can see your analytics data.
When you’ve filled out the form, click Get Tracking ID. Google will generate a code that must be copied and pasted into the home page code of your website. The Google Analytics for WordPress plugin will simplify this process, so you’ll want to install that.
Analytics is a very important measure of the size and reach of your author website. It’s the best tool to show you how many people have viewed your site and to quantify your website subscribers, social media activity, and other data. Google Analytics also shows you search results for keywords and most-used phrases, responders to your contact forms, and more information that will help you target your audience further as you grow your site.
Your author website is your own online real estate, your central location to link to and plug in many pieces of growing media and networks, and your central place to tie your platform locations together. Don’t miss out! Start creating or updating, and enjoy the draw of your author website.
Checklist, Step 1: Author Website