November 19, 2008

What Should I Include in My Website to Promote My Book?
printable version

I purchased a two-year, 5-page, "website tonight" package from GoDaddy.com for $45/year.

-author of a book on healthy aging

You're lucky in that you haven't already built a website without having a plan in place. Before building/launching a website, you should carefully plan exactly what you're going to do, especially if you only have five pages to fill.

You've heard imitation is the highest form of flattery. I believe that imitation is also the wisest marketing move.

The best advice I can give is to figure out who your most successful competitor is and to emulate him/her. Find that person/company by plugging in your top key words into google and seeing who pops up at the top. For example, if I type - healthy aging - into google, I get this at the top:
http://www.healthyaging.net/

The site features:

1. links to their magazine
2. links to their free ezine
3. articles
4. links to "health news" (which just leads to more links but it does show they have a blog)

If you google - healthy aging book - the top link is an online bookstore page for:

Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being

I found the author's website. I don't like the hard-sell tone of his marketing. However, it's working for him.

One thing I would definitely suggest for any non-fiction author is to have a Q&A on your website. Readers love that and it will help build your reputation of an expert on your book's topic.