Whether you sell ebooks or print books, chances are most sales will come as a result of people finding your work on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, etc., but you can sell quite a few as a result of having a blog and/or author website too.
When I mention my ebooks here, I use affiliate links so I know how many sales originate on my site. You can also URL shortening tools, such as Bitly to see how many people click a certain link on your site (i.e. one going to your book at Amazon).
If you’re not selling many, or any, books through your website, then it may be worth asking if something can be improved. I’m not going to talk about big drastic changes that would require hiring a programmer (heck, I have a long list of those types of changes for my own site), but little things we can do to make things easier on readers and possibly increase our conversion rates, aka, how many books we sell through our sites!
Without further ado…a short checklist:
Are book covers and purchase links prominently displayed?
I usually check out author blogs when new writers follow me on Twitter, and I’m often surprised how much clicking and scrolling I have to do to find a link that’ll take me to a book’s Amazon sales page. (Sometimes I never find that link and give up.)
I may be in the minority here, but I don’t want to mess around with widgets to read sample chapters. I own a kindle, therefore I want to go right to the Amazon page (where I can see all the reviews and get an inkling of whether this is worth my time to even try) where I’ll download a sample (I bought an e-reader specifically so I wouldn’t have to read ebooks on my computer).
You don’t have to list links to every bookstore where your ebook can be found, but at least consider Amazon and Barnes & Noble (I do Smashwords, too, since they have ebook formats for everybody under the sun). And remember, the more clicks people have to make to find those sales pages, the more likely they’re going to give up.
Is it clear what genre you write in?
If someone is checking out your site because of a comment you made on Facebook or Twitter, they might not come in with any prior knowledge of you and your work. Consider making it clear right off the bat what genre you write in so people know if they’ve found something they might be interested in. Don’t make them guess by looking at your book covers.
Is your site organized and laid out well?
I know…. Writers are creative, not necessarily organized (I don’t have to look past my own desk to be reminded of that), but a tidy and clutter-free site (no piles of awards, no poorly integrated ads, no menus full of crazy widgets, etc.) is more user-friendly when it comes to navigation.
Also, think twice about doing something horrible to folks without 20/20 eyesight (i.e. white font on a black background). I have to really love you to stick around if the text is making my eyes cross!
Do you have a newsletter?
I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t done much with my own yet (we all have more things on our to-do lists than we have time, don’t we?), but adding a newsletter to your site can be a powerful sales tool. It’s easy for readers to forget about you in the six or twelve months that pass between your last book and the next one you publish. If you encourage fans to sign up for your newsletter, you can shoot them a note when you have a new book out.
You can also send occasional notes about freebies, contests, etc. to keep your name alive in their minds.
Examples Sites
Since my blog isn’t the best example of a good author website (I find myself more interested in writing about e-publishing right now than my work and my genre), I thought I’d find a couple of examples of indie authors doing a good job.They might not do everything I brought up, but overall their sites are clean and easy to navigate (and it’s clear how to buy their books!):
These are just a few things to look at when it comes to site design. Can you think of others? Or do you want to point out any authors doing a good job with their sites? Please, comment below!
I think including a link to Smashwords in addition to Amazon and B&N is a good idea, because Amazon and B&N would be useless to me. I have a reader that is not a Kindle, so I can’t buy at Amazon, And I don’t live in the USA, so I can’t buy at B&N.
Hey, thanks for the plug. I actually came in here to see if there were any examples listed. Imagine my surprise. Heh.
I had my site designed by a friend who was getting into the business. He really did me a service there. Problem for me is, I really never know if I’m missing something important; if I have too much or too little going on; or if I’m somehow turning visitors off. I’ve never been good with reading analytic reports so it remains baffling to me.
You’re very right and thanks to your recommendation I just took a few minutes to figure out how to post an image link to purchase my book in the sidebar of both my blogs. Since I’m taking advantage of the free wordpress blogs, I’m rather limited in the number of things I can do with my page and up till now I’d assumed putting those image links in was one of them.
I was wrong and I’m so glad I was too!
Now I can look forward to filling up the entire space with all of my work as soon as it becomes available. All in all almost as satisfying as seeing them appear on Amazon the first time!
I gave you a plug on my blog today. 🙂
I’ve noted that, too, that sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to buy someone’s book.
I like your lay out.
Thanks for the tip about using affiliate links, Lindsay. I love being able to track everything.
I don’t have a newsletter myself yet but a few people I know recommend Mailchimp, if anyone is looking for a way to distribute. It’s free up until you have 2000 subscribers or something and is really easy to use. I’ve registered and tried out a few things but haven’t actually put anything on my site yet.
good heavens! I’m so pumped to have made your list! I had a bunch of hits from your blog and thought, “wth!?”
so I had to slip over and found my little ole self on your blog. wow. thanks for the kudos!
and don’t sell yourself short, you have a great looking blog.
Anke, good point about Smashwords. I think a lot of authors forget about it, since it doesn’t account for a lot of sales, but it’s nice that they have formats for everybody, even if someone just wants to grab a .pdf.
Well, Mark, I *am* waiting for you to update your blog sometime (cough, November?), but I like the clean layout of the site, and you’ve even got a newsletter. 😉
Glad you got the book images up, YK! I have a Blogger blog, so I know it’s kind of a pain working with the free ones sometimes. But, hey, they have a zillion widgets nobody would ever need….
Yay, thanks for the plug, Mary!
You’re welcome, Nicole! I use Aweber, but it’s about $15 a quarter. I have more than one list on it, so it’s worth it, but it’s good to hear there are free options too.
Thanks, Thea. Glad to send you some visitors! 🙂
From a reader’s perspective, when I go to the website of a new-to-me author, it’s usually because I want to find out about their backlist.
I want to know genre, books in a series or solos and ideally have buy links for those books. If you mention your works in progress, that’s great as are links to twitter, facebook, blogs…
Big turnoffs – (1)music that automatically plays, (2)a site that doesn’t seem to have been updated for a long while, (3)lack of obvious info about what you’re writing or have written…
Back to lurking.
Another great post with lots to think about.
I actually dropped by, Lindsay, to let you know I picked up “The Emperor’s Edge” yesterday and I can’t put it down. I’m not usually one for steampunk stories, but you’ve grabbed me with Amaranthe’s character. I’m quite eager to see what she makes of Hollowcrest’s assignment.
Thanks for commenting, Elizabeth! Now you’ve got me thinking that I need to update *my* news page with works-in-progress information. 🙂
Thanks for following the blog and for checking out EE, Brondt!
Lindsay, this was very helpful. I actually reorganized my website based on your post, because I realized I wasn’t featuring my books prominently enough on the front page. Thanks!
Scott
Hey Lindsay,
Discovered your site recently, been eating it up!
So much goes on when you’re starting out in indie publishing that it’s easy to overlook stuff. Between formatting the book correctly, getting a cover, setting a twitter following, learning about marketing, and creating accounts (Amazon, Smashwords, etc.), building a website can often take a backseat.
Now I’m off for a bout of self-analysis 😉
Glad the post helped, Scott!
I know what you mean, Steve. I have lots of things on my to-do list still. If you’re not careful, you’ll spend more time working on promotion than writing the next book. 😛
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