Can I be bothered? Do I need a website?
What’s the correct answer and what’s the professional answer? Well, the correct answer probably wouldn’t win me any prizes professionally, so I suppose I’ll tow the line and give a convincing professional answer. Are you still following?
It comes down to one thing really — if you want to sell your writing commercially, you need a platform. Social media is great for live time interactions; Twitter and Facebook Messenger can bring you closer to your favourite authors and professional heroes a lot quicker than a letter with a SAE enclosed or email ever could. You can find out what their portfolio history is, what they’re currently working on, how to write like them (or at least pick up some tips of how to write successfully), as well as purchasing their merchandise too. To get any real sense of the professional person behind the keyboard, the website is the place to go. Social media builds a public persona, an ‘actor’ face for which they must perform, interact and subtly (and in some cases, not so subtly) sell their content to the masses. And let’s be honest, this works pretty effectively. So why should a writer have a website too?
PROFESSIONALISM
First and foremost, having a website makes a writer look more professional. It shows you’re willing to put your head above the parapet and announce yourself as a professional in the writing field. It allows potential readers (customers, if you will) and possible representation (agents, publishers, etc.) to find a writer more easily through a central source. As the Author Website Guide suggests, a website that has a good image and regular content “increases chances for collaboration/partnerships!” Equally, they suggest that by having an emailing list, via a newsletter or subscriber system, you can circulate quality content to your readers and hence drive them back to your website for more. A crafty ploy, but effective all the same.
AUDIENCE
According to Jinand.co, a website design specialist for authors, a 2015 study they compiled of 40 of their clients found that traffic per month consisted of 849 visitors on an average author’s website.
Interestingly, over half of the traffic came from ‘organic’ means, places such as Google and other such search engines. With this in mind, it’s important for author’s websites to be active and sociable in order for their ranking on Google to increase and have more prominence.
Referrals also seem to have a big influence on website traffic so having a social media presence is critical. According to Ignite Visibility, around 90% of marketers have said that social media marketing has increased exposure and increased levels of traffic to their business. It cannot be underestimated the value of using social media to promote a professional website, with social media profiles directly linked to the website.
IT CAN BE A MAJOR BOOST FOR AN UNESTABLISHED WRITER
According to Jane Friedman, an author and marketer with over two decades of experience in the industry, creating an author website is a crucial part of a writer’s professional process, even before they’re published or well known.
“Your website serves as an online home and hub for everything that you do, whether in real life or in the digital realm,” she explains.
Friedman also says that having a website is helpful for agents and editors who may look at a potential client’s online profile (social media and website) to see how professional they are, but does warn that too much content could have the opposite effect, especially if it isn’t edited or presented with a certain level of professionalism. This is worth bearing in mind when any writer creates a website — content is a good thing, but the old adage — quality not quantity must apply here.
TO BE (ON THE WEB), OR NOT TO BE?
The short answer to this is yes. A website for authors and writers is a fundamental part of the business. It can help provide potential employers with a professional image of a writer, it can be used to drive sales and provide readers with more information about current work streams.
The longer answer will ask a writer to consider the content they upload to their website, both in terms of professionalism and frequency. A website can be great to update readers, but it can also very quickly become a platform in which too much mediocre content swamps the quality stuff which jeopardises the support and readership base the writer is trying to retain.
By all means create a website, write, but do it right!
CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE: https://millend11.wordpress.com
SOURCES:
Author Website Guide (2018) 8 Benefits of Having an Awesome Author Website (online) https://authorwebsiteguide.com/benefits-of-having-an-awesome-author-website/
Wang, Jin (2019) A look inside the secret statistics of successful author websites (online) https://jinand.co/articles/look-inside-secret-statistics-successful-author-websites
IgniteVisibility (2019) Powerful Social Media Statistics in 2019 (That You Should Care About) (online) https://ignitevisibility.com/social-media-statistics/
Friedman, Janet (2017) Unpublished Writers and Websites: Should You Have One and What Should It Say? (online) https://www.janefriedman.com/unpublished-writers-websites/
