the writer's website

No self-respecting aspiring writer should be without a website. It’s cheap, takes minimum fuss to update and makes you look professional.

 

Let’s go through the basics.

 

Also known as your url or website address. This is very important. Your url says everything about you so make sure you choose carefully. For example, in choosing www.christianwriter.co.uk, I wanted a website that encapsulated everything about me; my dreams and my vision for Christian writing in the UK first and then Europe. At the same time, I made sure I had a browser (the name of your website) title (For the Christian Writer) that would bring up the site in searches involving anything to do with Christian writing and writers.

 

So how do you register your domain name? Pretty simple. Go to Google, type in ‘domain name registration’ followed by the country you’re based in and prepare to be stunned by the myriad of domain registration companies clamouring for your business.

 

A website is like a P.O Box. The property is yours but you still have to pay for the privilege of renting the box. Most domain registration companies also offer a hosting service but shop around before making a decision. Your decision has to be based on; the company’s customer service and their technological capacity (you don’t want to host your site with a company whose server is always down making your site inaccessible). You must also ensure that the company is easily contactable. Talk to your friends and family in the ‘know.’ I’m sure they can recommend a company.

 

Money too tight to hire a web designer? No problems. Your Windows package comes with a Web Publishing Wizard. You can start with that and progress as your confidence develops. I will also go one step further by recommending my website hosting company www.churchinsight.com. Their web design and hosting packages are affordable, reliable and packed with fantastic features to enrich your website.

 

Ah. The great blockbuster. What image do you want to project? Do you hope to sell your books on the site? How often do you intend to update the site? Picture or no picture? Generally speaking, your website should have two things on the homepage (the first page visitors see when they come to your site):

Remember, your website is a promotional tool so think about its content. The Internet is content driven. There are some static websites (e.g. travel and hotel) but these are mostly functional. And even these websites ‘jazz’ up their contents with updated travel information, ‘streaming’ news etc to keep people coming back to their sites.

 

In designing your website, think about your favourite websites. Ask yourself why you keep going back to those sites again and again. What would you do differently now that you’re designing and writing the content for your own site?

 

One small thing, avoid the temptation to fill your site with all sorts of ‘freebies’ that do nothing except annoy your visitors. If you do not need it on your site, don’t put it on. There’s nothing more annoying than going to a website that’s packed with useless ‘freeware’ or ‘shareware’ or any kind of ‘ware.’ It takes forever to download and a lot of these ‘wares’ ought to be called ‘spyware.’ You’re a writer. People come to your site expecting words not cutesy pictures or flash graphics. Do that and your visitors will leave—in droves. And don’t assume your visitors are on ASDL connection just because you are. Some of your them will be using dial ups.

 

Some people like having personal pages on search engines e.g. on Yahoo! I’m not a huge fan of those. But if that’s what you want or what is convenient for you, then make sure it’s the best one on that particular search engine. 

 

It’s not rocket science and you don’t need lots of money to make your website e-commerce enabled (i.e. sell your e-novels and paperbacks). There are companies such as http://www.paypal.co.uk and http://www.worldpay.co.uk that take the stress out of e-commerce. You go onto their site, choose from one of their customised shopping trolleys and adjust it to fit your wares. When a visitor makes a purchase on your site, they’re taken to the Paypal or Worldpay secure servers where the payment is processed. That way, you don’t have to worry about credit card fraud and the headaches that come with online trading. They take the risks for you and in the highly unlikely event of fraud etc, they are more than willing to work it through with you.

 

So start writing the content for that website and get ready to make your online presence known.