Many authors will create a website, list their book on it, and never make any changes to their website again. But that’s like opening a store and not advertising or even putting up an “OPEN” sign. People won’t find your website if it’s stagnant because the search engines that determine which websites get the best rankings in search results are constantly looking for new content on websites. Authors who want to sell books should focus on search engine optimization (SEO) by constantly updating content, writing articles, and creating keyword-rich content for their websites.
SEO: Bringing Readers to Your Website
How are SEO results achieved? You are constantly adding new content to your website. There are many ways to create new, keyword-rich content for your site. One of the best is to write short articles and informative pieces. It is also very useful to have a blog connected to your website where you regularly post or publish articles.
“Articles and blogs about what?” you may ask, or “But I’m a fiction writer so what would I write articles about?” Articles can be about anything relevant to your book and its topic. If you have written a non-fiction book, informative or “how to” articles would be appropriate. If you write fiction, you could publish short stories, but you could also publish some informative and educational articles about how to write a book in your genre, about the background of your book, like the story behind it if it’s a historical novel, or the places where your novel It is set. If you write romance novels, post articles on romance, dating, how to find the perfect match, what makes great romance, and what makes great romantic fiction. There are countless possibilities for good articles, and you’re an expert on your topic, so it should be easy for you to find new content once you start looking.
Writing articles is also great for promoting your project with your next book. For example, if you’re doing research for an upcoming book, write a few articles about the interesting information you’re discovering. Such articles are also great for getting feedback and seeing what kind of interest your topic has with your audience. Think of articles as a way to draft your next book, and therefore kill two birds with one stone; you can extract these articles later for the next book, and in the meantime use the articles to drive people to your website to buy the first book.
Have I already convinced you that it is important to write articles and update your content? Good. Now that you know you’re going to write those articles, don’t forget that your purpose is to attract potential readers to your website, and to do so, you need to focus on SEO. To achieve good SEO, you need to plant keywords in your articles and use them frequently without overusing them. So, for example, if your keyword is “romance”, you should plant it a couple of times per paragraph, or at least some version like “romantic”. Just don’t overdo it by using the keyword on every line so it sounds repetitive and the search engines think you’re trying to trick them on purpose. You should have a few keywords for each article, but no more than ten. Less is more, so focus on using the best possible keywords. You may use a couple of them continuously and then the less important ones may only occur once or twice.
Be sure to use long-tail keywords as well; think of them as key phrases of two to five words. For example, if “romance” is your keyword, then your long-tail keywords might include: Victorian romance, Regency romance, romantic getaways, romantic candlelight dinners, same-sex romance, gay romance, paranormal romance, interracial romance, interracial dating, finding the right man, finding love in the internet age, internet dating, finding the right man – you get the idea. The reason long tail keywords are important is that they are more specific. People are less likely to search for “Mr. Right” than “how to find Mr. Right.” So if someone types into the search engine, “how to find Mr. Perfect,” your long-tail keyword will capture results on a website that only has “Mr. Perfect” as a keyword.
Also, don’t overdo it. Leaves readers wanting more. Keep your articles fairly short, the equivalent of 2-3 pages max or no more than 1500 words. People read faster and have shorter attention spans online. If your article is longer than that, break it into parts and run it as a series. Also, by being brief instead of sharing all the details you know, people will feel like they want to know more and then buy your book. Don’t be afraid to let them know that you cover a topic in more detail in your book.
Get readers to stay and return to your website
Beyond attracting readers to your website with your articles, you want them to stick around. Your articles will tell readers that you are knowledgeable about your topic and that you have the information they want. They might then buy your book, but they might also keep coming back to read your latest articles and get more of your experience and knowledge. And you want them to come back, so you want to keep posting new articles as often as possible: once a week is a good goal, three times a week is even better.
It can be a bit of work to keep creating new content, but like I said, it can also be fun and a way to continue working on your next project, and that constantly generated new content can hold readers’ attention and serve as a preview of the content. next book for readers to look forward to and ultimately buy.
Don’t make it all about you: You can review other people’s books on topics similar to yours, and you can invite other experts and authors on related topics to write short articles for your website or make guest appearances by interviewing them on your website. website. website. And hopefully, they will then return the favor by hosting you on their websites. That way you’ll reach their website audience and they’ll reach yours, thus increasing the potential number of visitors and customers you can both have.
Finally, don’t forget to make your site easy to use and open to conversation. Have a place for people to post comments and ask you questions, and always reply to their comments on the site so other visitors know you are approachable, friendly, and knowledgeable. If people ask a good question, instead of writing a short answer of a couple of sentences, use it as an opportunity for the content of a new article. If you don’t know the answer to a question, do some research and find it. If people point out a deficiency in your article or information, thank them for the information and use it as a way to start a conversation. You’d be surprised how many books have been sold to people who initially question and even seem hostile to an author, but with a little friendly retort, end up buying a book and becoming one of their biggest fans. People often just want to be recognized as having something to say.
All of these activities will drive traffic to your website and help keep people coming back, and ultimately keeping your website content fresh can help you sell books.