When you have a newly published book – and boxes of that book in the garage – it’s normal to want to start selling them to just about everybody you meet online and off. But, before you launch that big sales drive, make sure your have your act together online. After all, if your goal is to drive traffic to your website to buy your book, make sure you’re ready for the traffic. A badly executed website could put a serious monkey wrench into your book launch.
Make sure you have the following on your website:
- Up to date copy. Lose the old notices of events that are long over. Feature the new book front and center.
- Center your book copy around what your book can do for your reader. What problem will it help them with? If it’s fiction, why should they read it?
- Testimonials on how fabulous your book is and what’s in it for the reader. (See #2)
- Do you have social media links on your website and blog? Click on them to make sure they work.
- A book trailer about your book embedded from YouTube. Great way to get traffic.
- Do you have a sign up form for a mailing list or ezine? With an ethical bribe as a reward?
- Media page on website that includes: Your bio, photo, book summary, cover art, ordering info and/or links, and a press release.
For your blog:
- Have you been posting regularly? (By regularly, I mean at least once a week.) New content gives people a reason to return.
- Is there a prominent RSS (chicklet) icon so people can subscribe to the blog?
- Did you import the blog to your Amazon profile? To your Facebook page? To LinkedIn? To your Twitter feed?
On the backend:
- Did you (or your web person install activate your stats for your site? If your site is in WordPress, did you install WP Stats to watch your traffic.
- Better yet, install Google Analytics on your website and blog. Learn what it all means. Google has tutorials.
A strategy:
That’ll be our topic for next week
