How to DIY Your Author Website
As an author, your website is your digital HQ. It’s where your readers and potential readers will get to know you, learn about your books, view upcoming events, shop your products, and get on your email list. A website is a super important piece of your author brand.
So, in this post, I want to go over how to DIY your website without spending a ton of time or money.
You may be wondering where to build your website. While there are many options, I cannot recommend Squarespace enough. It’s simple to use and has all the features you need, from email marketing to online selling features.
Domain & Platform
First up, you’ll need to secure your domain name. This is your URL where people find you. For example, mine is marinreadsthrillers.com. I recommend using your name or pen name, but if it’s not available, you can do a variation. For example, let’s say I were creating my author site, and marinjohnson.com wasn’t available. I could do something like:
marinemilyjohnson.com
marinwritesthrillers.com
marinjohnsonauthor.com
You can purchase your domain right through Squarespace or through another service like GoDaddy. They’re typically around $20 per year.
Once you have your domain, you can connect it to your website. If you purchased your domain through Squarespace, it’s super easy to add it to a website. If you purchased your domain through GoDaddy or another provider, you will have to update the records to point it to your site. Don’t worry, your domain service and website platform will have instructions on how to do this. It’s not the most fun part of setting up your website, but it’s usually pretty quick and painless.
design your essential pages
Once you have your domain attached to your website, it’s time to design! You can either use your website platform’s page builder (platforms like Squarespace have pre-made page designs you can use, but they also have a very easy-to-use drag and drop editor) or purchase a template. Check out this blog post for my favorite template recommendations for authors.
Start with the essential pages to get your site up and running, and you can always add other pages later on.
So, what are the essential pages?
Home: This one is pretty obvious. It’s where people will land when they type in your URL. You can keep this page pretty simple, just use it to give a quick introduction to you and your books and direct people to the other important pages.
About: This is where you’ll share more about you and your author journey. While this page is important for letting people get to know you, use it to relate back to what they want as well. For example, talk about the types of books you write or the tropes you love to use in your stories. This will help people relate to your work and know if you’re writing is for them or not.
Books: Perhaps the most important page is your books page! This can be one page where you share all of your books, or you can create different pages for different books or series. The key is to share what books you have and where people can buy them.
Contact: Include a contact page with a form and/or your email address where readers, reviewers, event organizers, media, etc. can easily reach you. If you’re using Squarespace, they have form features you can add directly to your pages. You’ll also get an email alert when someone fills it out.
There are also some other optional pages you may want to include:
Events: If you have author events in your schedule, like signings and readings, include a page where people can view the calendar and reserve tickets. If you’re using Squarespace, they have built-in elements to help you easily share your events schedule.
Blog: A blog is a great way to connect with readers. You can share behind the scenes tidbits from your writing process, talk about upcoming books, or share what your life as a writer is like. If you’re using Squarespace, they have built-in blogging features. (Many other platforms do as well—Squarespace is just the platform I’m most familiar with!)
Shop: Finally, a shop is a great addition to any author website. Not only can you sell books, but you can also sell merch, digital products, courses, or exclusive content. If you’re using Squarespace, you can sell directly from your website. They also have membership features where you can charge for access to a VIP community or other membership.
set up email marketing
Finally, you’ll need a way to collect email addresses so you can grow your email list. Most email service providers have ways you can embed opt-in forms onto your website, no matter which platform you’re using. If you’re using Squarespace, they have built-in email marketing you can use that makes it simple. I will mention that Squarespace’s email marketing doesn’t have some of the capabilities that other email service providers do, such as advanced tagging and segmenting. However, for me it’s totally worth it to keep my website, shop, blog, and email marketing all on one platform.
Curious about how to get people on your email list? While you can offer a newsletter that people sign up for, it’s more enticing to offer a freebie that they get for signing up, like a bonus epilogue or an official book playlist. Learn more about the types of lead magnets you can offer—and get templates to help you make them—in this lead magnet template pack for authors.
Once you’ve got your website, it’s time to make sure your social media is up to snuff! Download my free guide that walks you through how to audit your Instagram profile to make sure it’s set up for success.
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