10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Author Website or Blog

This station was first published successful 2012 and is regularly updated.

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First things first: an author’s website, whether it gets overmuch postulation aliases not, is foundational to your career. It offers readers arsenic good arsenic nan media nan charismatic connection connected who you are and nan activity you produce. If you blog, past it tin besides beryllium a measurement for nan nationalist to prosecute pinch you. But chiefly writer websites thief you style nan communicative surrounding your work—and ought to beryllium recovered erstwhile readers spell searching for you. It allows you to attraction people’s attraction and liking connected what’s important to you—as opposed to what different sites mightiness deliberation is important.

When writers inquire me, “How do I get postulation to my site?” I usually effort to downplay nan value of numbers—especially for unpublished fabrication writers and memoirists. You tin safely presume that postulation to your tract will turn arsenic your profession grows, whether you effort to make that hap aliases not. (Nonfiction authors mightiness beryllium rightly concerned pinch postulation to their tract arsenic a portion of their platform—overall visibility and reach—but level is astir truthful overmuch much than website traffic!)

So, I don’t deliberation it’s worthy unpublished writers’ clip to manufacture postulation to their tract erstwhile they person nary activity disposable to beryllium publication successful nan first place. That said, if you’re progressive connected societal media and/or regularly sharing activity online elsewhere—or person a group merchandise day for your first book—then it tin salary to get superior astir your website strategy and what domiciled it will play successful your platform. But unless you’re generating content, blogging, aliases doing thing absorbing astatine your site, it will beryllium difficult to motivate group to visit.

With that preface retired of nan way, present are immoderate of nan tried-and-true methods of getting postulation to your website.

1. Make judge your societal media profiles ever nexus to your website.

Twitter, Facebook, and different societal media networks always offer—as portion of your fixed profile—an opportunity to nexus to your homepage. Be judge to do so.

An precocious type of this strategy: Send group to a customized landing page connected your website. You whitethorn want to create a typical preamble for group who sojourn your website from your Twitter profile, Facebook instrumentality page, Goodreads page, etc.

If you blog: Share a nexus to caller blog posts connected each societal media web wherever you’re active. But don’t just station a link. Offer an intriguing question, lead in, excerpt, aliases mentation of why nan station mightiness beryllium absorbing to group connected that circumstantial societal network.

While it whitethorn beryllium imaginable to automate your societal postings whenever a caller blog station goes live, it’s much effective to springiness each station a individual preamble based connected what you cognize appeals to that peculiar community. So debar bot-like behavior; readers attraction astir proceeding from you. (Note that scheduling posts successful beforehand is fine—it’s nan automated, unpersonalized posting that you should avoid.)

2. Include your website reside connected each offline materials.

Whether it’s business cards, people books, handouts, flyers, bookmarks, aliases postcards—any people collateral—don’t hide to put your website reside connected it. It’s adjuvant if you concisely explicate immoderate perks only offered astatine your site, e.g., “Visit my website to motion up for my Savvy Reads newsletter” aliases “Visit my website to download free worksheets.”

3. Work toward appearing astatine nan apical of hunt results for your writer name.

Search engines specified arsenic Google should propulsion up your tract whenever group hunt for position highly applicable to you, your books, aliases your content. For astir authors, nan astir important hunt word of each is nan sanction they people under. Unless your sanction is exceptionally common, it shouldn’t beryllium excessively difficult to rank good for your name. But if you are 1 of those unlucky “John Smiths,” past a amended extremity is to rank good for thing for illustration “John Smith author” aliases “John Smith book.”

The astir straightforward measurement to guarantee your writer website ranks good for your name:

• Use a domain sanction that’s akin to nan sanction you people under
• Put your sanction successful nan tract title (e.g., my tract title “Jane Friedman”)
• If you get confused for different group pinch nan aforesaid name, make judge your tract title aliases subtitle differentiates you arsenic nan 1 who writes and publishes

It besides helps to strictly travel #1 above: ever nexus to your writer website from your societal media accounts to thief reinforce, crossed nan board, who you are and what you do.

4. Create pages connected your website for each book you publish.

Beyond your writer name, it’s awesome if you tin besides rank for your book titles and keyword phrases related to your genre. For instance, if you constitute middle-grade spy novels, wouldn’t it beryllium awesome if your website came up erstwhile group searched for that word successful Google?

Some authors spell nan other mile to optimize their tract successful this way. Being accordant successful really you picture your activity crossed your website (and elsewhere—like connected societal media and successful your book descriptions) tin summation nan chances of this happening. Be judge to:

• Create a dedicated page connected your website for each and each book title
• For each book page, make nan page title identical to nan book title
• Use a afloat aliases extended explanation for each book (don’t time off retired mention of your genre/subgenre successful those descriptions)

All of this falls nether nan believe of SEO, aliases hunt motor optimization. SEO tin go rather important if you’re trying to make money online aliases different build a profession done online penning aliases blogging. However, authors don’t request to person specialized knowledge of SEO successful bid to travel champion practices. Mainly, arsenic I’ve instructed here, make judge your writer sanction is successful your tract title, person a dedicated page astatine your website for each book you publish, and usage a plugin for illustration WordPress SEO from Yoast to thief you travel champion practices beyond that.

Here are immoderate beginner guides to SEO:

• The Beginner’s Guide to SEO by Moz
• The Complete Beginner’s Guide to SEO by Buffer

5. Install Google Analytics and study really group find your tract and usage it.

If your tract is self-hosted, past you should person Google Analytics installed. If not, get started today—it’s a free work and easy to group up. (Instructions here.) After Google Analytics has collected astatine slightest 1 period of data, return a look astatine nan following:

• How do group find your site? Through search? Through your societal media presence? Through different websites that nexus to you?
• What pages aliases posts are astir celebrated connected your site?
• If you motion up for Google Search Console (also free), you tin place what hunt position are bringing group to your site.

By knowing nan answers to these questions, you tin amended determine which societal media networks are worthy your finance of clip and energy, who other connected nan web mightiness beryllium a bully partner for you (who is sending you postulation and why?), and what contented connected your tract is worthy your clip to proceed processing (what contented will bring you visitors complete nan agelong run?).

6. Create free assets guides connected celebrated topics.

If you’re a nonfiction writer, past this astir apt comes naturally: Put together a 101 guide, FAQ, aliases tutorial related to your taxable aliases expertise—something group often inquire you about. (My astir visited assets connected this tract is Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published.)

If you’re a novelist, this strategy whitethorn return immoderate imaginative thinking. Good point you person an imagination, right? Consider nan following:

• If your book is powerfully regional, create an insider’s guideline aliases recreation guideline to that peculiar region. Or deliberation astir different themes successful your activity that could animate thing fun: a postulation of recipes; a character’s favourite books, movies, aliases music; aliases what investigation and resources were basal for completing your work.
• If you’re an avid reader, create a database of favourite sounds by genre/category, by mood, aliases by occasion.
• If you person a beardown avocational pursuit (or past profession) that influences your novels, create FAQs aliases guides for nan curious.
• If you’re an established author, connection a database of your favourite penning and publishing resources that you urge for caller writers.

Keep reference for much suggestions!

7. Create lists aliases round-ups connected a regular basis.

A celebrated measurement to make group alert of your website is to nexus to others’ websites; this makes you visible to a broader organization and adjuvant to your readers. If you tin do this successful a genuine measurement (that doesn’t look chiefly engineered to get you traffic), it’s a triumph for you, for your readers, and for nan sites you nonstop postulation to.

In nan penning and publishing community, play nexus round-ups are very common. See Elizabeth Craig for a long-running example.

You tin create specified lists aliases round-ups connected immoderate taxable aliases class that interests you capable to stay dedicated, enthusiastic, and accordant for nan agelong haul—at slightest six months to a afloat year, if you want to spot a tangible benefit.

8. Do thing absorbing connected your favourite societal media site.

If you’re not blogging, see what imaginative task you mightiness undertake connected a community-oriented site. Consider:

• Daily themed notes connected Facebook. (See this feline from 2011.)
• Photographs aliases visuals connected Instagram aliases Pinterest. (See nan Instapoet trend.)
• Twitter chats (ScriptChat is 1 illustration of galore successful nan penning community.)
• YouTube videos. (These guys are nan masters.)

9. Run regular interviews pinch group who fascinate you.

Believe it aliases not, it’s uncommon to travel crossed an informed, thoughtful, and observant interviewer and question and reply bid (and not conscionable personification looking to capable a slot aliases station generic contented based connected pre-fab questions).

Think astir themes, hooks, aliases angles for an question and reply bid connected your site/blog, societal media, aliases email newsletter, and characteristic them connected a regular basis—but only arsenic often arsenic you person clip to put successful a well-researched and value interview. Such bid besides connection you an fantabulous measurement to build your web and organization relationships.

Check these question and reply bid for an thought of what’s possible:

• Creative Nonfiction podcast
• Other People pinch Brad Listi
• The Creative Penn

 10. Be a impermanent blogger.

Whenever you impermanent astatine different websites, that’s an opportunity to person aggregate links backmost to your ain site. This helps complete nan agelong word pinch your site’s authority and visibility successful search.

A meaningful impermanent station intends pitching sites that person a bigger assemblage than you, but they should besides person a readership that’s a bully lucifer for your work. If you request a beardown preamble to impermanent posting how-to, sojourn this fantabulous Copyblogger post.

A statement of caution: Don’t attraction connected impermanent station aliases question and reply opportunities strictly tied to nan penning and publishing organization (unless that is your existent audience). You whitethorn request to investigation websites and blogs that characteristic authors aliases books akin to you to break retired of nan publishing manufacture echo enclosure and find group who aren’t writers, but readers. An easy measurement to commencement this investigation is to Google akin authors aliases book titles—ones pinch nan aforesaid target readership—and spot what sites characteristic interviews, impermanent posts, aliases essays.

Whenever you make an quality connected different site, ever beforehand nan question and reply connected your ain societal networks and create a imperishable nexus to it from your ain website.

While these are immoderate of nan astir celebrated ways to build postulation to your site, location are galore different ways. What has been successful for you? Share your acquisition successful nan comments.