The Best DIY Website Themes to Build your Writer Website

September 8, 2020 by Kimberley Grabas

This is a guest post by Georgie Peru, a Content Contributor for UKWebHostReview on the best DIY website themes to build your writer website. Please find her full bio at the bottom of this post.

More than ever, budding writers are searching for the best website themes to build their portfolio and author websites.

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and even CMS platforms like WordPress, are a great way for writers to build their own websites, without much or any coding knowledge.

DIY builders are appealing for many reasons: they’re easy to use, there’s plenty of templates and themes to work with, and most importantly, most website builders offer a free plan or are incredibly good value for money.

[Read more…]

5 Completely Avoidable Author Website Mistakes That Cost You Fans (And Simple Ways to Fix Them)

December 12, 2018 by Kimberley Grabas

Your author website is the cornerstone of your writer platform and media presence, and it’s the one piece of real estate online that you can (mostly) control. In this guest post, David Loy (Co-Founder and CEO of Leverage Creative Group) outlines 5 mistakes writers often make on their sites that undermine their ability to build an active and supportive community around their work. He also includes simple ways to fix these mistakes. Enjoy!

Let’s say you’ve just read an amazing book or watched a captivating speaker.

They’ve drawn you in, and you want to learn more about them.

So, with high hopes and anticipation of more great content, you go to their website. [Read more…]

Blog Post Ideas for Writers: Solving the “What Do I Blog About?” Conundrum

February 15, 2015 by Kimberley Grabas

Writing your book is enough of a challenge.

Many of us have sat staring miserably at a blank screen, cursor winking mockingly, trying desperately to pull our thoughts together to form a sentence.

And then (hopefully) another.

It’s rarely easy, and even on good days when your Muse is with you, there’s still that niggling self-doubt to contend with.

I have nothing to say.

And even if I did, who’s going to listen?

But if you want to stay ahead of the curve, you also need to consistently craft mind-blowing blog content to grow your audience – while you write your book.

… Ugh.

So, the big question is this:

“What’s the most effective, most efficient way to regularly conceive and produce high-quality posts that attract more readers?”

Because you do have something to say. Your ideas are worth sharing. And people will listen.

You just need a little guidance on how to focus your creative super powers to get the job done.

How to Decide What to Blog About

Ready to solve the “What do I blog about?” puzzle, once and for all?

To do so, we need to lay a little groundwork.

Before we can think about creating amazing content, we need to know three things first: [Read more…]

How to Get Traffic to Your Author Website: 30+ Tips for Discouraged Writers

October 8, 2014 by Kimberley Grabas

Sure is quiet out there.

I mean seriously, with a gabillion people online these days, wouldn’t a few even accidentally stumble across your website?

Isn’t it statistically impossible (or at least, improbable) that you should have so little traffic to this darn blog that you’ve spent hours coaxing into existence, one precious post at a time?

What? Offline rejection isn’t enough, now writers have to be rebuffed online, too?

😉

Don’t be discouraged, dear writer, help is on the way!

Building traffic can take time. It’s not always easy to find the people who are interested in your topic and receptive to your point of view, your voice and your style.

Plus, you also need to consider the “share-potential” of your audience. Do your readers have large followings on social networks like Twitter and Facebook? Or better, do they have their own blogs or websites?

Or does your audience (or potential audience) have small networks of the usual suspects: friends, family and a few peers?

Be careful when comparing your growth with the internet gurus. If your target audience isn’t bloggers, businesses or online entrepreneurs, the share-potential of your readers will be much lower – and your growth, therefore, may be much slower.

Consider changing your goal from quickly growing your traffic, to focusing on ensuring that the traffic you are attracting is right for your author blog. You want the traffic you funnel to your site to be targeted, invested and closely aligned with your way of thinking.

And the results you seek – increased book sales, a supportive community, authority and influence in your genre or niche – are not *necessarily* linked to high traffic numbers. [Read more…]

11 Author Website Must Have Elements

March 29, 2013 by Kimberley Grabas

An author website has a lofty goal: it needs to not just be, but also needs to perform and respond.

No longer just a fancy, static, online business card, it is an author’s ‘homebase‘, a marketing and networking hub and a portal that allows communication to flow between an author and his or her readers.

Visiting an author’s website is one of the leading ways that book readers support and get to know their favourite authors better. The stronger the relationship, the more likely zealous advocates will spread the word about the author to friends, family and peers.

And website visits can translate directly into books sold.

Therefore, even if you are on social media or actively promoting your work offline, operating without a website is just silly. Why invest the time and energy in writing your book, getting it published and developing other marketing strategies only to be absent online? In today’s market, it is a huge drawback and a valuable promotional opportunity missed if your readers can’t easily locate you with a few quick key strokes.

The rub?

Learning how to design a website and incorporating the ‘must have elements’ requires some skills.

[Read more…]

How to Decide What to Blog About

The rub?

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.