In the past, we have talked about how important it is to promote your book. After all, it’s a bit hard for someone to buy your book if they have no way of knowing it even exists. But one thing that is equally as important is having a central online hub for your viewers. Whether it’s a full website or a simple blog, having a reliable place for readers to go is a great way for fans of your book to not only connect with you and learn more about you as an author, but also learn about upcoming events and new projects in the works. Some authors even include “contact me” pages where they can directly answer fan questions about their book, and get into contact with potential publishers.
Of course, the idea of making an entire website may seem daunting at first. Not many of us know how to code, and learning HTML or CSS can be very intimidating to even those experienced with computers. Luckily, there are a number of valuable resources that you can use to build a website without ever having to learn how to code.
WordPress:
WordPress is a robust, online website building and development tool that is used to develop websites. It’s even the site we use to build this blog! Although it may seem daunting at first, and is probably the most difficult to use of the three website builders here, it is by far the most powerful of the three, and with enough time you will be able to understand the quirky way that it operates more.
The way that WordPress is structured is that there are a number of “Themes” or “Templates” that you can use to base your website off of, so that every page on your website is designed after one theme. You upload content to your page through “Posts”, regular small entries detailing specific topics or events, and you also have standard “Pages”, places where readers can get regular information from you (such as a personal bio, or contact information). You can even create forms for people to fill out if they want to inquire more about your business!
Best of all, WordPress is free to use, though you are limited in the amount of features that you can use and you are limited to the same few templates. Luckily, they offer payment plans ranging from $4 a month to $45 a month that offers more robust features at your disposal.
For more information, you can access a 30 minute tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd5_MN-6kqs
SquareSpace:
SquareSpace is another great tool that you can use to develop your own website. Compared to WordPress, it’s far easier to use and much more user-friendly, as navigation is simpler and there are far less tabs to sort through. Like WordPress, the site offers a number of templates for you to use that you can change and edit. When you want to create a page, you simply go to the left toolbar, click the plus button, and click “Blank page” or “Page Layouts”. When you want to change a page, you drag and drop different elements onto a grid, which snap right into place. It even comes with the ability to place an online shop on your website, that way viewers can buy books directly from your website!
Unfortunately, it can be a bit finicky to use; the grid-based system means that images of certain sizes placed on the site will either be cropped to fit that space or left with an awkward amount of space between elements. Unlike WordPress, you will also have to pay a monthly fee to publish your website publicly, and it is a fair bit steeper than WordPress’s cheaper plans (at around $16 per month).
For more information, you can access a 15 minute tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onr0mJ8aGM8
Wix:
Wix.com is another useful, more recent tool that you can use to build your website. It is harder to use than SquareSpace, but it’s not as hard to use as WordPress.
Similar to SquareSpace, it comes with a number of templates that you can use and edit for all sorts of websites. The website gives you more freedom to change the font size, color, and size of images that you can use. You can add all sorts of interactive features to your website, such as maps and forms. You can even change the ‘theme’ of the website, which changes all the colors of every page across your whole website. It also offers you the ability to preview your site as if it was being read on a mobile phone.
You can also publish a website on Wix for free, though like WordPress you are limited by features and Wix will feature ads on your page.
For more information, you can access a 30 minute tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjInFSQ5C8
While these three are the most popular options for building a website without learning how to code, there are a number of other options to build your own website, such as Webflow and Canva. If those don’t work for your needs as an author, try some others! There are plenty of options out there.
Hire a website designer:
If all else fails, you may want to look into hiring a professional website designer. This is by far the most expensive option, and can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. But if you want a special, uniquely designed website that requires features that you can’t get from other websites, then a professional website designer is the way to go. They are capable of developing systems and features not available in simple “drag and drop” website builders, and as long as you have a good idea of what you want, can guide you through the process of developing a website. Best of all, because everything is built for the website, you no longer have to pay monthly fees for premium features: The only payment is to build the website and potentially the hosting fees. If you already have a decent budget and a decent following for your books, this is a good place to make an investment.
One final tip: Before building your website, you are going to want to make sure that the “domain name” isn’t taken. A domain name, also known as the URL, is the name of the website that is used. For example, Google’s domain name is www.google.com. Zip, Print & Copy’s domain name is www.zipprintcopy.com. You’re going to want to double check and make sure that someone else hasn’t already taken the domain name.
A good rule of thumb is to name your personal website after yourself or whatever you call yourself online. For example, if your name is “John Smith”, you might want to register “www.JohnSmith.com”. If that’s already taken, you could add “Books” or “Author” at the end which states what you sell or what your job is. For example, “www.JohnSmithBooks.com” or “www.JohnSmithAuthor.com”.
If you hired a website designer to develop your website, services such as GoDaddy are a great tool for obtaining these domain names. If you made your website using WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, they offer both built-in domain names, usually with their name included (such as www.Zipprintcopy.wix.com) or as individual domain names in premium price plans.
We hope that this is enough information to give you the confidence to start your own website as an author. If there is still any doubt about creating your own website, there are a number of tutorials that you can freely access online. Once you are all set with your website and books, Zip Print Copy can print your books at a low, affordable price.
Connor Mayhorn