Today I read an article by Virginia Lawrence about Online Marketing. While I don’t yet have a published book, I do have an online presence—my “author†web site and my blog.
She suggests having a specific goal for each page, including meta tags for search engines, registering the site with the most popular search engines, having other sites link to your site, monitor your web traffic and your web site ranking as well as the page referrers, and to include the web site URL on everything from email to letterhead.
Do keep in mind the old WWWWWH of journaling—it still applies. Navigation and instructions must be clear. Ask for the “sale,†even if all you’re offering is a subscription to your email loop.
Being a web developer by trade, I do most of this stuff all the time and agree wholeheartedly.
That said, I don’t currently promote my author web site in any way other than the occasional email signature line, simply because my books are not yet in print and my blog is somewhat of a self-imposed enforcer to make sure I do something productive every day, even if that something is just reading an article—because you never know when that “aha†moment might come.
