Monday, April 24, 2017

15 Steps to Building My Children's Author Website ~ by Patricia Toht

In January, 2016, I made a list of writing resolutions. #1 was to build my author website.
Image by medithIT
Here's how I went about it:

STEP 1 - Secure the Domain 
Possibilities abound for securing a domain name, but I decided to go with the granddaddy, GoDaddy. My last name is unusual, so it was readily available. If you have a more common name, you may need to get creative - add your middle initial or name, or add "books" or "author" to your name.




STEP 2 - Do Some Research
I spent time studying other authors' websites. Many were built by website designers who, for a fee, can transform your vision into a technical reality. But in the end I decided that, a) the price was prohibitive for me, and b) I wanted the ability to change things on my website without incurring additional charges. That led me to...


STEP 3 - Buy a Book 
I decided to look into Wordpress. Like GoDaddy, Wordpress is a platform with longevity and one that offers a lot of options for customization. It came recommended in many articles that I read about author websites. 


STEP 4 - Procrastinate




*************

In January, 2017, I made another list of writing resolutions. The first resolution was to finish the resolutions I vowed to do in 2016. So, back to the website!

STEP 5 - Do Even More Research 
Despite reading the entire, most of, half of the book, I knew little about building and hosting a Wordpress site. It was research time again. I filled out spreadsheets about hosting sites, costs, themes, etc., but still felt stuck. I resorted to an online quiz, which pointed me to a particular host + Wordpress, and a suggestion to use their overlay which would make design "simple." Well, "simple" wasn't what I encountered. I worked on it for days and made NO progress!

STEP 6 - Throw a Tantrum




This may have involved tears, lots of self-deprecation about my small brain, a call to cancel the web hosting order, soothing (but unappreciated) words of comfort from my husband, and a large glass of wine. 

STEP 7 - Phone a Friend
I called my son, who knows a few things about tech stuff.






STEP 8 - Pick a Winner! 
I decided on weebly.

STEP 9 - Select a Theme
A theme forms the basic skeleton for how your website will look. My friend and fellow grogger, Christy Mihaly, has a weebly-built website that I really like, so I begged her to share the theme's name with me, and she generously did.


STEP 10 - Choose Color and Overall Mood
I wanted my website to reflect childhood innocence. My husband photographed an old typewriter and some Hummel-like bookends that reflected that innocence and I chose colors from those photos.

STEP 11 - Pick the Pages 
Which pages did I want on my website? I chose the basics: a Home page, About Me, Books and Magazines, News, Extras, and Contact Me. (On some of the pages, I found that the amount of info was too much, so I made subpages.) Christy's website had used a plug-in to add colorful boxes, and I added that app to my toolbox.

STEP 12 - Create Images and Words
This part took quite a bit of thought and editing. I already had lots of images to use, so it was a matter of choosing the right ones. As for information, of course I wanted to include my books, but what else? Each bit of text was rewritten several times. In fact, I'm still tweaking.

STEP 13 - Get a Critique
I know what I don't know, and that includes what makes for an effective website. Christy Mihaly had enlisted the help of Lisa Amstutz to build her website, so I asked Lisa for a critique. She was reasonably priced and incredibly thorough - I am still working through her suggested changes!



STEP 14 - What about SEO?
Another thing that I hadn't a clue about was search engine optimization - how to get your website to pop up when a web search is done on your name. I asked Lisa for help with this as well.



STEP 15 - Now, PUBLISH! 
Weebly guided me through connecting my website and my domain name, and I sent my website out into the world! Yes, I still have one section that is not completed (the "Extras"). I still have changes to make, and I know some errors have yet to be found, but I expect this will be ongoing. If you'd like to take a peek, you can find my website at: 




If building a website is a goal of yours, then go for it! 
Don't hesitate to ask for help. Don't be afraid to start over if needed. Experiment. Tweak. And I recommend a glass of wine, too.

Do you already have a website? Leave your address in the comments below. I'd love to take a look!

32 comments:

  1. Your step by step tips, Patty, are helpful and filled with humor. I enjoyed checking out your website and learning more about you.

    While I do not have a web site, I occasionally, I share posts on my Word Press account.
    ~Suzy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Suzy! And you're in good company - lots of authors choose to post instead of host a website. I'm a huge fan of your gorgeous photos on Facebook!

      Delete
  2. Thank you, Patricia, for sharing your journey into your fab author's website! The tips and process are a keeper for me. Congrats on all your successes :) I'm still a wannabe-LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're an amazing wannabe, Charlotte! Keep going! Don't give up!

      Delete
  3. Glad you have a site! It looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Patricia I love your website. I too tried to use Wordpress but ended up using WIX - much easier. Take a look. www.elizabethwilcoxsaba.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully you didn't dissolve into a puddle of tears while trying it, Elizabeth. I love George and Bosco on your website!

      Delete
  5. Hi Patricia!

    I looked at your website and I'm impressed. Great job! I turned my Blogger account into a makeshift website back in 2010. You can find it at www.donnalmartin.com and I would love to know what you think...

    Take care,

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think many people follow that same path, Donna. I love your color choice! The site feels sophisticated, yet gentle at the same time. Kudos!

      Delete
  6. Your blog looks fabulous! I use Weebly, too, although mine isn't as fancy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the cherry blossom colors and "Tina's Tidbits". Looks great!

      Delete
  7. I went through a similar hair-pulling out experience. I decided to use Weebly, and went for the free option until I'm published so that I could learn the ropes of websites. Once I have a book to showcase, I'll be buying a domain and then I'll have to decide whether to stick with my current site or create a new (more professional?) site.

    http://lexicalcreations.weebly.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great plan, Jen. Love the poem on your website!

      Delete
  8. :) So many rave about Wordpress, but the rest of us think it's a headache. :)

    Great instructions! I pay for my domain name but use Blogger's free blogging program for my website. (I've been using Blogger since 2009 and find it very user friendly.) For several years I had it just as a website (with the homepage as the landing page without any blog posts). However, I recently decided to keep a bit of a blog, too. So I decided on a bit of a makeover. Weebly seems like a great option! Your site looks great. One additional thing to consider is creating a list of events.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good suggestion, Annette! I like the organization on your site. (And glad to hear that I'm not the only one who was frustrated with Wordpress.)

      Delete
  9. Your website looks great! good job.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just putting together a website is tough enough, then on top of that is creating content. I find I neglect mine a lot - maybe after I publish I'll have more to say. You've done a great job with yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, David! I actually scheduled some reminders for me to check the website, as I'm much more likely to pay attention to Facebook and Twitter. Good luck with your writing!

      Delete
  11. Thanks, Patricia! I'm current on Step 6. I was leaning toward switching from Blogger to Wordpress. Why do you like Weebly better?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, Manju, I just remarked to someone that they should just SKIP step 6! Weebly was so much easier for me to build - it seemed very intuitive, since I was just plopping boxes into other boxes. And I was able to find answers to some of my questions by hitting up weebly forums. I've also heard great things about SquareSpace and Wix. Good luck with your website!

      Delete
  12. Brilliant blog post, Patty. And your website looks terrific, too. Thank you for the shout(s)-out. And -- big congratulations on ALL your forthcoming picture books. Yay, you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Christy! I love your website - the arrangement, the colors, that gorgeous moose by Tanja Bauerle.

      Delete
  13. I loved reading your post! I can so relate to your time trying to read up on Wordpress and the procrastination! I am encouraged to check out Weebly so thank you for sharing. Your website looks terrific :))

    ReplyDelete
  14. Such a helpful post. I shared this with the SCBWI Michigan listserv and several people commented that it was just the information they needed to get started on a website. Thank you! I use Weebly and have been happy with the results. It's so flexible and easily modified when I want to update. www.carriepearsonbooks.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Carrie. I'm glad to hear that it might be of help. I love the book tour movie on your home page -- very clever!

      Delete
  15. The article is very informative and helpful. Do you want to create a professional wordpress blog ?You can hire a WordPress Developer that will be wise decision. Thanks for this nice article.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Reseller hosting in Pakistan or shared hosting is used to upload html, CSS, JAVA, Scripting or PHP data of a website and makes the websites online on internet in the form of a web. A website needs hosting space to upload their significant statistics so that they can be accessible online for easy access. PkDomain is using best available technology to help our customers, if you want to develop your own hosting business we are your support center. Visit today at PK Domain and get information about free domain and cheap web hosting in Pakistan. we are offering shared hosting, dedicated servers and Reseller Hosting in Pakistan. With PK Domain you get 99.9% uptime on all hosting packages. pk domain expiry check

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete