Here’s everything that I’ll cover:
What authors and writers should look for in a website builder ✍️
There are two types of features to consider when you’re looking at website builders:
Let’s go through what to look for in each category…
Core features
Custom domain. Most paid website builder plans include the cost of a domain for at least the first year, with some permanently including the price of the domain. Free plans will typically require you to use a subdomain, which adds the host name to your site name to create a website address, such as “x.jimdosite.com.”
SSL certificate. An SSL certificate helps you add the “s” in the “https://” part of your domain, signaling to Google that your site is safe for visitors.
Bandwidth. This is the amount of data that can be transferred from your site to users’ browsers per month. The best plans have “unmetered” bandwidth, which means your site will never “run out” of bandwidth.
Storage. This is the amount of data you can store on your site. A static author site can generally get away with a low amount of storage, but a blog with new content being added all the time will need more storage to accommodate growth.
Analytics. These tools help you understand who’s visiting your site and what content they’re most interested in so you can make more of what’s already working. Most website builders offer some proprietary analytics tools and several also combine with Google Analytics.
Ecommerce tools. Selling signed copies of your books through your site is a great way to earn additional income. If you want to do this, make sure your website builder has an affordable ecommerce plan and easy-to-use ecommerce tools.
SEO tools. The best website builders let you customize the SEO title and meta description for every page and post. Some may also offer SEO analysis on individual pieces of content or other advanced SEO tools.
Author-specific features
Blogging tools. Every website builder has some kind of blogging tool, but they vary widely in terms of SEO-friendliness, flexibility, and ease of use. Your blog posts should have as many formatting options as regular pages, built-in SEO tools, and an organization system that uses categories and tags so search engines can easily index your posts.
Blog-centric and author-centric templates. The best website builders for authors and writers offer templates designed to highlight what writers do best: create blogs and books. If you’re a writer who wants to start a blog to build an audience while preparing to publish a book, look for a website builder that has both types of templates so you can switch in the lead up to your book launch!
