Prepare Your Author Website for the New Year: A Simple Ten-Day Challenge

DAY 1

For most of us authors, the end of the year is when our web traffic dips like a ski slope. Of course it does. Our potential readers are busy spending holiday time with their family and friends.

This year, I’ve decided to take this slower time to focus on creating new content and getting my website prepped for the upcoming busier months. Maybe you want to do the same? If so, here we go.

HOW CAN AN AUTHOR PREPARE THEIR BLOG FOR THE NEW YEAR?

To start, I didn’t know the answer to this question. I had to do a lot of research before I remembered I should save myself some time and consulted my good friend and book marketing coach, Sue Campbell. 

As it turns out, there are plenty of tasks I could tackle to increase traffic and revenue for the coming year. I want to share what I learned with you here in a simple ten-step plan. Complete each step and you’ll be ready to sell more books and gain more time for writing, all year. 

Let’s jump right in!

THE FIRST STEP IS TO GET RID OF THE CLUTTER.

Let’s face it, those of us who’ve been creating blog content for some time need to do some clearing. We have to remove the clutter before we can organize previous content and make room for new high-impact content. 

This first step was easy for me because I’ve been a total slacker on creating new content for my blog. I hope you’ve done better than I have this year and are ready to do some decluttering. Here is what I’ll need to do at the end of this year, and what you might need to attend to first:

REVIEW THE CLUTTER ON YOUR BACK-END.

We’re not talking junk in the trunk. We’re talking plug-ins. If you’re using WordPress like I am, examine each plug-in and ask yourself if you need it. Keep the helpful plug-ins and delete the others to improve page load time and get more content in front of your viewers. 

CHECK FOR FRONT-END CLUTTER

View your page as your audience encounters it and eliminate anything that diverts attention from your author content. If you’re selling books, webinars, or other content, this is important because you have a limited time to grab the attention and purchase power from your web viewers. Sue advises that we don’t let clutter fatigue our viewers with too many choices. We want to limit options to improve the likelihood of viewers acting on our content.

Check that sidebar. It’s where the clutter collects.

Social media widgets — These allow users to input their social media URL’s to display an icon on your sidebar that opens up a separate browser window. What better way to lose your viewers to lip-sync memes and their own Facebook sewer stream? 

Tag clouds — These are those colorful word clouds that became popular several years ago. You might think they’re pretty, but they aren’t useful. Please get rid of them. 

Blogrolls — These are a list of blogs you want to share with your viewers. Sure, go ahead and shout out to other bloggers but only do it within a context like backing up facts in a post and linking to needed information. Anything else is clutter. It’s not selling your content.

Those stupid “social proof” icons & badges — Make sure what you’re displaying actually increases your social standing. Don’t post images that anyone can display. Any viewer who cares what these images mean will do their research.

You get the idea now. Carefully go through your website and remove any content that isn’t helping you or your viewers.

THAT’S IT FOR DAY 1! 

Tomorrow we’re going to give your website a revamped look for the new year.

If you know you need to tackle your marketing to sell more books AND you want some guidance in doing it as effectively and painlessly as possible, then you'll want to take a look at our monthly membership group for authors serious about doing their marketing and growing their audience.

It’s called the Happily Ever Author Club, and it’s designed to help you finish your book, find your audience, and build the author life you’ve always dreamed of.