Build an Author Website for As Little as $9.95
By Janean Nusz
As every writer knows, having a website is a must for promotion. However, not many writers know how easy it is to create a website without spending a lot of time, effort and money.
It is not necessary to buy expensive programs like Dreamweaver MX, Photoshop and Flash. You don’t have to know HTML, Javascript and the basics of CSS. Of course, if you are going to be designing pages professionally, these things help. But if all you are after is a slick author’s site, all you really need to get started is an Internet connection and the URL of a couple of good search engines.
First, check with your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to see if you have free site space allocated to you already. Many ISP’s supply this for no extra charge. For instance, SBC DSL users have space at GeoCities provided with their connection. If your ISP does not provide space, there are plenty of places on the Net that do. You just have to know what you want.
If you want your own domain name, for example JaneanNusz.com or AuthorsArt.com, you’ll need to purchase one. I purchased my domain name for $9.95. If you want a domain name but are hesitant to purchase hosting space to go with it, you can simply use your domain name to redirect visitors to a site parked at your free webspace. I think everyone would agree that “visit the author at www.authorname.com” looks much more professional on a business card or bookmark than “visit the author at http://www.freewebhostingwithads.com/authorname/authorname.html.” After you purchase your domain name, you can redirect the URL to go to the free site when visitors type in your domain name. Visitors type www.authorname.com in their browser and get redirected to http://www.freewebhostingwithads.com/authorname/authorname.html.
However, if feel that you need to have a parked domain name, you can purchase hosting space as well. Prices vary from $40-$100 a year, and if you go this route you’ll have all the space you can handle! And this is ad-free space that you can devote to your books, your articles and your promotional efforts.
After you’ve taken care of all of the domain name and hosting questions. You’ll need to start building your website. If you’ve never attempted to build a website before and you don’t have a clue about HTML, then you’ll need a program to help you get started. I recommend you start with a WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get). When you Google for “free WYSIWYG editor”, you’ll find a whole list of editors to choose from.
After you’ve completed a basic page using your free editor, you’ll need a few graphics. Keep in mind that you won’t want to use too many graphics or else your page will load too slowly and you’ll use up too much bandwidth. There are a variety of ways to get graphics for your website. If you need buttons and background tiles, you can download a free copy of Buttonz or Tilez . If you want custom graphic text, go to FlamingText.com and use their free service. Photographs can be scanned or downloaded from a camera and resized to provide graphics for your website. Or, get free animated and static graphics from DramaticImpact.net.
Now for the content - as a writer, most of your content will be self-generated: book blurbs, links to online articles, book review excerpts, etc. But, keep in mind that your website should provide some useful and/or entertaining content to keep visitors interested. You’ll want to keep your content fresh and valuable to promote return visitors. To do that, you might want to consider using a few of the free content widgets and gadgets that are readily available on the Net. For instance, to provide an inspirational daily quote, check out the Daily Motivator or a free ebook such as: . Let visitors put together puzzles made from your bookcovers or photographs by using a free service from Jig Zone or offer to let visitors download free games: . You can also find , free stock photos, free cartoons and many more interesting free content items just by searching for them. Just be careful to read the EULA (end users license agreement) and terms and conditions before adding them to your site. Some free content comes with the stipulation that you provide ad space for the creating website, allow generated pop-ups, or, worse yet, the downloads may contain hidden spyware files.
The last thing you’ll want to do is to add a hit tracker to your site. You’ll find an excellent free tracker at Extreme Tracker. Trackers gather web statistics about how many visitors have viewed your site, what day it was viewed, peak viewing times, and other useful data. Having a tracker on your site allows you to monitor the success of your promotional efforts. Most hosting packages come with a tracker or statistics counter, but if you've chosen to go the "free" route, you'll want to add one to your site.
After adding the tracker, your website will be ready to be uploaded and viewed by your adoring fans. Now, you can sit back, promote the site and watch the hits come rolling in!