All writers, both amateur and professional, need to have their own websites - a very easy thing to accomplish on your own. Here are the essentials of what you need to include in your writers website.
A powerful tool for both professional and amateur writers is ultizing the internet for self-promotion. Having an internet presence in the form of their own website, gives writers a fantastic opportunity to showcase their craft and promote their talents.
Many website owners struggle to keep the content on their websites fresh and interesting - they are more focused on making money and creating new products. Instead they enlist the help of freelance writers or ghostwriters to provide them with fresh, topical, quality content.
Because they are internet-focused, they will naturally warm to writers who are in that groove, i.e. who know enough about the internet and its power to have a website of their own.
Your writer's website will identify who you are - and it is no place for modesty. Detailing your successes, your writing specialties, your genre or style of writing, and some point of difference that will make visitors want to contact you.
Here are some "essentials" to include in your website:
- Personality
Don't be afraid to let your personality show on your website. Your writing will usually do this for you, but sharing a little bit of your personality will (hopefully) keep the visitor interested enough to continue reading.
- About you
Where this section appears will depend on what you have decided is the focus of your site. This could be your latest project, if you are promoting a saleable product, or it could be your writing services.
It may be a secondary "About Me" page, or you may decide it is best as the Home Page.
It really doesn't matter as long as it is there somewhere - visitors will want to 'connect' with you. Including a photo of yourself will only help your cause, it will make you 'real'. If you can add a little humor - great!
- Contact Details
You must tell readers how they can contact you, and a dedicated Contacts page is the ideal way to do so.
I wouldn't recommend putting your phone number on the world wide web, and even putting your email address is best avoided. You can use a form builder to add a form to fill in for queries, with a "send" button. In this way your email address is protected from being grabbed by spammers (who will send you hundreds of spam emails until you change your address).
If you have a PO Box, then include this as well.
- Media Page
If you are marketing a product, e.g. a hard copy book or e-book, a media page that contains a short biography and press release about the book, and contact email, will make it easy for the media to find this vital information, enabling them to spread the word about you and your product.
- Writing Samples
Include sample chapters, a table of contents or excerpts of your articles. An editor or future employer will look for these before making contact with you. There are different ways to display these on your website: as text on your site, as downloadable PDF or Microsoft Word files, as links to online articles or even as password-protected documents so only the people you choose get a peek. Avoid having too many links to outside sites, as the links may change - and it takes the reader away from YOUR site!
- Testimonials
Word of mouth is still the best recommendation for just about any product or service. Testimonials can give you more credibility than you could otherwise provide on your website. Quoting what other people say about you, or your product, enables you to print positive comments that might affect your credibility if you said them yourself.
In order to obtain testimonials, it is usually necessary to provide free copies of the product, and ask for a review. Join some forums relating to the topic of your product and once you have identified the key members, ask them to review your product. Such testimonials can then be added to your website.
- Shopping Cart
If you're selling a product from your website, be sure to have a way people can snap it up right then and there, whether it's through a form on your site or a link to your book's page on Amazon.com.
The best thing is that with the website building software available nowadays, there are some stand-outs as far as user-friendliness goes. Even novices find the new generation website building software easy to master, and the ready-to-use templates that are included for free make it a very attractive product for writers. It allows you to concentrate on the writing rather than the technology!
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