Website Tip

Now that I'm taking classes on website development and search engine optimization (how to improve your search rankings on popular search sites such as Google), I'll be sharing simple tricks and tips from time to time. Many authors are now choosing to develop their own websites or enlisting web development firms to create websites for them; either way, it's useful to know some of these ideas.
Today, the tip is how to check which websites are linking to the domain names that you own. All you have to do is to go to a search engine such as AltaVista and type in +link:your domain name. So, if I wanted to check who's linking to my Sara Freeze website, I'd type into the AltaVista box: +link:sarafreeze.com.

Website Advice for Authors

As I was cruising along in the cyberworld today, I landed on the brilliant article on website design for authors by the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels site. The article is called Authors on the Web, and its offers a wealth of advice for authors who are in the process of building their websites. As the article's author notes, authors need to think long and hard about the "content and style of their websites." She also notes some authors with especially good websites, and I have to say Susan Holloway Scott's site was my favorite. My personal favorites are the websites of Elizabeth Hoyt, Rebecca Kohn, Janet Mullany, Cindy Miles, Kristina Cook, and Marly Mathews. Each of these authors clearly considered their audience and purpose and crafted their sites in a way that appeals to their readers. What are some of your favorite author websites?

Authors' Websites

If you're an aspiring author and are wondering about websites and promotion, check out the dearauthor.com article "What Every Author's Website Should Contain." On the sidebar, you'll see numerous comments by published authors, including Nora Roberts.

Once I had completed my first romantic short story and was halfway through my novel, I began considering the issue of the website. Should I have a website? Should I hire a designer? Who would be the potential audience for the site? I think it's important to consider these types of questions before making the investment of time and money because as I've found, a lot more goes into building and maintaining a website than I had anticipated. At first, I did contemplate hiring a web design finally decided to hold off until I have a book under contract. So, in the end, it took about a week of training with much trial and error to get my site up and running.

I recently revised my website, and I've found the best way to make my website as professional and attractive as possible is to gather ideas by visiting as many author websites as possible (read: hundreds). Since I already knew who else was writing in my genre, it was easy to visit the RWA and the Beau Monde websites to find links. One tip that I've found especially useful is to join webrings that share similar interests. Once I started browsing through websites, I discovered several webrings in my genre and promptly applied for membership.

More later on the Internet presence and the author . . .
Happy writing!