Before you get lost in the design details of a WordPress website, it’s important to keep in mind what type of site you want to build. For most of our clients, we recommend a site that says “successful, professional author.” But beyond this vague aesthetic, what will your site actually look like? What will it say about you and your writing? What message are you sending about yourself? Don’t let the bells and whistles of technical features distract you from the most important task: putting YOU into your website. If you have personal photos to upload, save them now as jpeg files on your hard drive for later use. If you want to include other images, beware of copyright restrictions. Because you are an author, any images are used with commercial intent. The Creative Commons is a good place to look for images. But just because you find an image there, it doesn’t mean you can use it. You need to determine whether you need written copyright permission, image source credit, or visible attribution. Every image is different, even if it’s from the same Creative Commons source. If you don’t already own the image, assume you need copyright permission to post it on your site. There are lots of free images available at other sites, but be mindful not to violate copyright law. When in doubt, don’t use it. But enough about images! Authors are all about text. Here’s what else you may want to prepare before you begin to…
Now is a good time to update your biographical profile. January starts a new year and every author needs a short (i.e., 250-500 words) description of themselves in addition to a good head shot. The Bio is a big part of an author’s brand. Your book is the product, but you are the brand. And to keep your brand fresh and current, it’s time to… [Read More]
Filed Under: About the Author, Amazon Author Page, avatar, Biographical profile, Facebook, headshot, LinkedIn, personal profiles, Tumblr, Twitter, updates
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What good is all of this information if you can’t put it to use? By now, you know all the lingo to establish a baseline and understand where your site is currently at. A baseline is an essential combination of information – it’s the only way to see meaningful change. There are a lot of tools in Google Analytics for comparing your data – but you are an author,… [Read More]
Analytics for Authors blogs have been edited to reflect the 01/16/2013 Google Analytics update. — To navigate to Visitor Flow, click on its name on the left hand menu when you’re logged into Google Analytics. What you’ll see is a visual map of how visitors used your site. The large veritcal columns are nodes: Nodes represent a single metric – the first column defines where the… [Read More]
Filed Under: blogging, Google, Google Analytics, internet, marketing strategy, social media metrics, WordPress
Analytics for Authors blogs have been edited to reflect the 01/16/2013 Google Analytics update. — You’ve gotten a feel for your audience and how they visit your site using Google Analytics, but you still might not have a clear idea what page is getting the most traffic. To get a good look at your content’s metrics, click on Content then All Pages in the left… [Read More]
So it’s cold outside. Steep a cup of tea and put in a teaspoon of pure, local, raw honey. Then take a sip, close your eyes, and feel that warm golden glow. Give thanks for the angels of agriculture: bees. Homegrown Honey Bees: Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest by Alethea Morrison is an introduction to beekeeping and a recruitment tool for… [Read More]