Should writers have a website?

Websites alternatives for writers, bloggers, and small business owners.

Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

Not every new writer will be able to afford a website at the early stage. But that shouldn’t stop you from reaching your goal.

What exactly does a website do?

A writer is not just someone who would be writing books and uploading them on KDP. Many writers also provide different professional services as well. All these can be roofed under a small website which will contain all the details like -

1. List of all the books written by the author — fiction and non-fiction
2. Freelance writing services such as ghostwriting, guest blog writing, editing and, so on.
3. Courses, workshops and can be listed in one place
4. Any merchandise (if any)

And so on.

I am just naming a few here but I hope you are getting my point.

So having a website is in fact profitable. It’s helpful for your readers to find all your products under one roof.

But when you are starting out and yet to make your first $100, my advice is to not have a website if money is your main concern.

My website stacks if you need some guidance-

1. Domain — GoDaddy and NameCheap
2. WordPress Hosting — NameCheap

I mostly use NameCheap for most of my work now. I have two websites with them. Its cheapest options available. I have hosted with Hostinger in the past but later shifted to NameCheap because of the popularity and recommended by my favorite YouTubers from time to time.

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But what to do if you cannot afford one for now?

I have recently started my website. Before that, I just registered the domain and nothing else.

If there are second thoughts in your mind regarding website hosting then my advice is to simply buy the domain name and leave the hosting part.

Domain — www.hazelparadise.com.

I registered the domain so that others couldn’t take this. Sometimes, it’s hard to find a perfect domain name for your website.

If you cannot get a domain name based on your pen name or your real name then try some additional words like author or books.

Website alternative -

If you are not able to spend money on hosting the website then my advice is to at least have a Bio link for your writing business.

Bio links are the new personal websites. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok only allow for one link in the bio. Using bio links lets you link to all your pages — websites, social posts, videos, music — making it easier for your audience to discover all your content. — from Bio.link website

Beacons — here is my Beacon link for your reference -

Examples of Bio Links -

https://beacons.ai/hazelparadise

Linktree

Bio.link

Koji

Milkshake

And so on.

There are many examples but I am naming a few here. They all almost have the same features like -

1. Linking all social media accounts in one place
2. Insights
3. Traffic details
4. Earnings
5. Embedding Buy Me A Coffee, Shopify and so on.

There are many top writers on Medium who are using this. As a starter, I think this is perfect. But later, make sure you shift to a website so that you have more control on the contents of your bio page.

If you want to know more about making money writing ebooks, then you can check out my book “My Mistakes in Self-Publishing”. Happy Writing Journey!

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