GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ How effective is your author website? | I Smell Sheep

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

How effective is your author website?

Laurie at http://www.bittenbyparanormalromance.com/ came up with the idea to rate author websites on functionality. As reviewers we visit author sites daily to get information then send our readers to these sites. An author site is a critical resource for new and loyal followers. The first thing a reader does when they hear about an author is stick the name into a search engine. What comes up? Hopefully your site! Now what kind of information is that reader going to find?

As part of the Romance Bloggers Group I plan on visiting author sites with a checklist of things I feel all author sites should have to be reader friendly. Pretty graphics, fancy fonts and smexy pictures won’t sway me, this is about information (okay, smexy beast pictures will get you a special mention <G>)

Here is the checklist I will use at each site:

Did the site come up when the author’s name was searched in Google?
Is the site easy to navigate? 
Does the author offer bio information? 
Is there a way to contact the author? 
Does the author offer a newsletter? 
Does the author have a blog and can you access it easily from the site? 
Is the site up to date with current released books? 
Book cover and blurb by each book? 
Buy link for each released book? 
Does the author have their series in order and is it easy to understand? 
Is there a printable book list? 
Does the author offer any book excerpts or free chapters? 
Does the author have upcoming events, signings, and releases? 
Is the blog updated? 

Rating for the authors site: 
Overall review of the author’s website: 
Things I like and or disliked about the site: 
Any other remarks: 

If you have any suggestions for something I might have missed let me know and I will add it to my checklist. Keep an eye out for my first website review: Dani Harper.

Feature sponsored by Romance Book Bloggers group

8 comments:

  1. That is a great idea! I want to be able to copy the pictures and blurbs to use in my reviews, and not all sites have that. Or it is all protected and you can't copy it, which is annoying. It is to be used for promoting the book after all.

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    1. Some authors do this method to protect their site and I don't blame them. I use Goodreads for all of my information or I just email that author and ask for the blurb and picture.

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  2. I look forward to this. Some author websites have been driving me crazy because I cannot find their series order. Some only have a blog site, so I can't find anything. I hope authors pay attention to your website reviews!

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    1. thanks! Laurie over at Bitten By Paranormal Romance came up with the idea and I asked if I could join in. Series order is soooooo important! I wish amazon did a better job of helping with that, but an author's website is usually the only place to find that information. There is a great website called http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ that lists every book in order for all authors. Great resource!

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  3. This sounds great. As part of the easy to navigate, can you also check there's a home page button? I've seen some author sites with no home page button or a hard to find one. Thanks.

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    1. Now that I think about it, you are right. Usually I just assume you click the banner to get back to the home page, but that might be because I help run a website so I know that is usually the case. thanks!

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  4. I'm glad to see the only one I failed at was the printable book list. I've been meaning to add one for a while now. Everything else is looking tip-top on my website :D

    Felicity

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    1. Cool! It doesn't have to be a printable per say, but just a basic list that can be copy and pasted easily. It is usually the new authors that have website issues. They just don't know what readers are looking for yet.

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