Findability. Visibility. Online exposure. I want you and your books to have more of it.
Being found by readers in the online search results can be the difference between feast or famine for an indie author in charge of their own book sales. I wrote this article to help you Dear Author, boost your online exposure and sell more books. Interested?
Optimising Your Author Website to Rank Higher in Online Search Results
First things first, you’re going to need to have an author website. Groundbreaking, I know. This may be a full author website or a simple, yet focussed, book landing page.
This simple SEO advice works. I should know – I’ve been using a similar strategy for years to target the first page of search results for my book publishing company. Think of this SEO exercise as fine-tuning your website, to be discovered. Without it, you risk irrelevance. *Ominous Silence…*
The Goal of (Good) SEO for an Author?
You may be curious as to the goal of this (or any) SEO endeavour? I want you (yes, you!) to appear in the top 3 positions of the search results for your chosen search terms. For most authors, these search terms should include:
- Your author or pen name
- Your book name
- Specific genre-related keywords. Example: “Saucy Historical Erotica Series”
Question. If I had to Google your book title, using Incognito mode*, where do you currently rank in the search results? (I’m guessing not as high as you would like?)
#BeAPro: * When researching where you or your book ranks in online search results, I recommend using Incognito mode in Chrome. If not, your search results are not a true reflection of what others see, as Google tailors the results to what it thinks you are most likely to be looking for.
Now to the meat of this SEO sandwich.
TIP 1: A SIMPLE YET MEMORABLE DOMAIN
Authorname.com
I recommend for most authors your domain mirrors the name as it appears on your book. If (FirstName+LastName.com) is not available or too lengthy, try using variations of your name.
As unfortunate example, I am in possession of possibly the world’s most common first name. So, I reserved TheDavidHenderson.com as a compromise.
In certain cases, your book name could form part of the URL. This is not usually my first choice however, as I would not want you to build a new website every time you release a new book.
For authors with a business linked to your book, this could mean a different form of short and engaging URL is possible. This was the case for a recent author website I designed for a burnout coach, www.coachingbymandy.com
#JustDon’t: Avoid the common mistake of choosing a domain name too long to share with someone around a braai. www.GreatBooksWrittenbyDavidHenderson.com
#BeAPro: If you already have a domain name however you can think of a better one – consider booking out the simpler URL option and then redirecting it to your existing domain. Now your branding can reflect the shorter and easier to remember URL whilst you still keep the original domain.
TIP 2: SPRINKLE THOSE KEYWORDS
You won’t rank highly online for words that don’t appear on your website.
Ensure that your website contains those specific keywords that you want to be ranked for. This includes your author name, book name and specific words that readers of your genre are likely searching for.
Where to put your targeted keywords?
- In the various headings on your webpage. <h1><h2><h3>
- In the first few sentences of the page that you want to rank higher.
- These keywords should also be used in your Page Title and Meta Description fields, mentioned further down in this article.
#JustDon’t: Avoid keyword “stuffing.” If your text confuses readers due to overuse of keywords, Google will likely not be impressed.
#BeAPro: Include a few common variations of the keywords throughout the page.
TIP 3: (ALT)TAG THOSE IMAGES
How does Google know what appears inside images on your website?
ALT tags or ALT text helps describe to bots scanning your website what exactly appears in the pictures. Think of an ALT tag as something similar to how an image caption helps human readers. I want you to hop on your website quick and update all the images of you or your book to include an obvious ALT Tag description. How?
Note, this is not the same as an image’s filename. Although, on that topic, keep the filename relevant too. AuthorDavidHendersonHoldingHisBook.jpg
#BeAPro: A faster loading website – is ranked higher by Google in the search rankings. Try and optimise the file size of all images used on your website to less than 1MB. I personally use this free Irfanview software to convert and optimise images en masse.
How I test my author website loading speed.
TIP 4: META TEXT NEEDS LOVING TOO
Helping search engines understand your website content.
Meta text should be thought of as text about text. Said differently, you’re helping visitors (both human and bot) understand if your webpage is relevant to their search. Whilst finding and editing this text is not always as simple as it should be, it remains a vital part of how best-selling authors are easily found online.
Examples of this text includes.
- Page Title
- Meta Description
- Image ALT Text. (Mentioned earlier.)
Ignoring your Page Tite and Meta Descriptions, almost certainly means your search rankings will suffer. I want you to hop into your website backend, ensuring that at least your author homepage has the Title and Meta Description fields completed. How?
I want you to be sure that:
- Your homepage has a relevant Page Title (30-60 chars)
- Your homepage Meta Description text contains a relevant description (120–160chars.)
Every website builder or CMS handles the editing of Page Title text and Meta Descriptions differently. A quick Google should point you in the right direction.
Need a recap? Here’s a great explanation of the search results page from Google.
#BeAPro: If you’re using WordPress, my favourite plugin to handle most SEO needs is RankMath.
TIP 5: BE A TOOL
Here are the favorite tools I use to help build and manage my author websites. Many of these suggestions are only relevant to those of you using WordPress to design your website.
Website Visitor Stats | Umami
A little-known, but powerful competitor to Google Analytics. I have been testing the Umami platform for some time now to accurately measure my website visitor traffic. They offer a free tier that keeps visitor records for up to 6 months. As an alternative to Umami, you could use Google SiteKit plugin for WordPress, however this option requires a little more technical knowledge to effectively setup and use.
SEO Plugin | RankMath
My favourite WordPress SEO plugin for author websites is currently RankMath. They have the most comprehensive library of YouTube SEO tutorials for those of you looking to get your hands dirty in the SEO-mud. I have been happily using their free tier.
Website Template for Authors | Divi
Looking for an author-friendly WordPress theme? I have been using Divi from Elegant Themes (my affiliate link) for some time and can recommend their easy-to-use WordPress template for authors. Using their prebuilt templates, I’m able to create the outline of a simple author website in minutes.
Author Website Speed | Google PageSpeed Insights
Whilst it does require more technical expertise, Google’s Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights platform does a great job of analysing how fast or slow your website reacts and loads for visitors. Simply plug in your author URL and drink in the speed-stats. Parental supervision is advised.
Ready to be Found?
That’s it. A few minor tweaks and your website is climbing its way up the rankings. Did I miss anything?
PS. If you would like me to give your website a short SEO audit – pop a comment containing your website link down below. I will try my best to get back to you 😊
Written by a well-caffeinated human| Buy me a coffee to say thanks?
Further Reading
https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-seo-for-authors
https://myebook.online/author-landing-page-design/
