An author’s website is the most important component in attracting readers online. As such, it is the primary task of the author to ensure optimized web traffic and make it readers’ magnet.

So you now have published work and are ready to market your book online. The first thing you do is create your own website. The website serves as your base of operation online and every activity geared towards promoting your book is linked to your site. That is why your website should attract traffic or visitors for you to reach the broadest number of target audiences. Your site should also rank in search engines for it to be visible online. This is called search engine optimization or what we commonly refer to as SEO.

So what exactly is SEO?

According to SEO blog expert Backlinko,

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of driving targeted website traffic to your website from search engines.”

Base on the statement above, we now have a basic understanding that making the website SEO-ready is the first step in our goal to attract visitors and increase traffic.

SEO-Ready Website

Before we proceed with the SEO aspect of your website, let us enumerate the key elements of a book website. When creating your website, the foremost consideration is for your site to be user-friendly. Visitors should be able to easily browse all the information they need related to your book. Therefore, it is important that the items below must be present on your author website:

Author Bio

Book Pages

Media Page

Contact Page

Left Sidebar

CTA Button

Search Bar

Testimonials

Blog Section

Having these elements on your website is just the first step. The following are the basic SEO checklist in web traffic optimization.

Keyword Research. Your book is your product and identifying your market is the first thing you must do. Each book has a market niche depending on your book genre, style, or the book itself. Therefore, you must begin with identifying words that are related to your book. These are words your customers will type when searching for your book. This process is called keyword research.

For example, you have a sci-fi novel titled Venus Vengeance: Alien Exile. Your keywords will mostly include:

Venus Vengeance

Alien Exile

Venus Vengeance Sci-fi

Alien Sci-fi or

Your name + any of the keywords above

In essence, keywords are simply putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and analyze possible words they are likely to key in when searching in Google and other search engines for your book.

Optimizing Pages. Optimizing pages for your site deals with five basic features- content, URLs, metas, headers, and images.

Content. Content should be aligned with ‘search intent’ and there are three types of searches visitors make.

Navigational: They are looking for a sci-fi book. Informational: They are looking to learn about a specific sci-fi book. Transactional: They are interested in reading or buying a particular sci-fi book.

Going back to your keywords, most likely you will be sharing those keywords with hundreds, if not thousands of other authors or sites. This is where making original and personalized content comes in. The content and information on your website should satisfy visitors in order to gain traffic and the following.

Brief but Descriptive URLs. Uniform Source Locator or URL address refers to the location of a resource on a computer network. It is important that these URL texts or web address must be able to direct users where they want to go. Using keywords in URLs is one of the effective means to guide users.

Meta titles and descriptions. Creating the appropriate meta-titles is important because it sets the name of the browser tab which Google and other search engines use when showing the page in search results. Meta descriptions, on the other hand, attract traffic by displaying a brief description of what users can expect when visiting a particular page. The clear and compelling your metas, the more likely users will proceed to your site if it matches their search intent.

Headers and Subheaders. This is something that is often overlooked but headers and standard subheaders (H1 to H6) allow search engines to better understand the structure of your page and what each section is for.

Images. Everyone loves pictures. They are easy to identify with and remember. Unfortunately, search engines have a hard time reading them. In order for engines to understand the image you are using, you must optimize each image by creating an alt tag to describe and explain them. A glass of water with ice might have an alt tag of “cold water”.

Indexing Website. The purpose of optimizing your website is not solely for readers. Remember, one of your goals is to rank in search engines as well. This part here usually requires that you hire experts who can provide SEO services particularly in ensuring that your website:

The purpose of optimizing your website is not solely for readers. Remember, one of your goals is to rank in search engines as well. This part here usually requires that you hire experts who can provide SEO services particularly in ensuring that your website: Has optimized Page Speed

Is mobile-friendly

Has an SSL certificate

A sitemap

Has an uploaded robots.txt file

Link Building Tasks. A backlink is a link shared by one website from another website. If your website gets a backlink from another prominent website, essentially your website benefits from that web site’s reputation and popularity. Of course, backlinks should be relevant to your niche and should have the same topics. By sharing the popularity of a linked site, you improve your site’s prominence as well which is very useful in improving your site’s SEO ranking.

Another technique in building links is through guest blogging or posting. It is done by writing for another website within the same industry. Guest blogging can only work if you publish relevant content with authority for both your audiences. By linking to relevant resources on your website that will further educate your readers, you improve your online authority and your reputation.

Monitoring Efforts. Tracking your SEO efforts is easy with the help of multiple SEO tools. Measuring organic traffic can be done using Google Analytics. It is also wise to keep track of your rankings. This will help you make timely and appropriate decisions and adjustments for your website.

Establishing your A.R.T.

Equally important in making your website SEO-ready is building your A.R.T. or Authority, Reputation, and Traffic.

For a website to increase its online visibility, it should display itself as a serious brand that means business. Make sure that you produce content that is not only timely and relevant but also ones that speak with authority and expertise on the subject matter.

A good reputation is something that all brands must possess. Your reputation can spell disaster or success for your book. A way to cement your reputation is to be active in online communities, review sites, and social media platforms. You cannot your reputation if you stay within the confines of your website.

Increasing traffic to your website is easy as long as you follow all the requirements to make your website SEO-friendly. Users are attracted to websites that are prominent, relevant, and user-friendly.

ReadersMagnet WTO Services

Recently, ReadersMagnet launched Web Traffic Optimization services. It aims to help start-up authors increase traffic to their website and make it readers’ magnet. What makes ReadersMagnet’s WTO service great is it’s comprehensive and follows a 6-month campaign covering the areas below:

Keywords

Keyword Group

Website Audit

On-Page Optimization

Off-Page Optimization

Google Tools Integration

Social Media Promotion

Content Publication

Weekly Performance Reporting

With the Web Traffic Optimization service by ReadersMagnet, authors enjoy complete SEO services starting with keywords set which is vital in establishing one’s brand. The website audit and Google Tools Integration ensure that authors are able to monitor their site traffic. Overall, the ReadersMagnet WTO is not your ordinary SEO service. It is designed so that authors get the optimum performance of their site and the support of a committed SEO team.

Lastly, authors can choose from 4 WTO service packages available: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

For more information about our products and services, please call 1-800-805-0762 or email us at info@readersmagnet.com.