by Dan King | Aug 12, 2021 | blogging strategy
If you’re wanting to share the words in your head (and/or heart) out there for the world to read, then you need a website. And because most writers I know are not web designers, you’ll likely be looking for a good website builder for writers. But there are so many platforms out there to choose from, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which one is the best.
Regardless, it’s a tricky balance. You want something that impresses readers. Let’s face it. People do judge a book by its cover, and your website is the cover for all of your online writing efforts. But you don’t want (or need) to get bogged down in lots of complex design.
That’s where a good website builder comes in.
If it’s doing it’s job well, then a good site builder will simplify some of the more complex design work, so that you can focus more on your writing. And the less you need to stress out about the design of your website, the easier it’ll be to just relax and get into writing great content that looks great for the readers you want to impress.
Selecting the Right Website Builder for Writers
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your blog website is deciding on which platform to use. As you decide, there are a few things you should consider…
Blogging Platforms
Using a true blogging platform like Blogger, WordPress.com, Typepad, and many others are great places to easily start a writing online. They’re usually free to start, and have a variety of built in templates that can help you implement a little bit of design into what you’re doing relatively easily. So they are simple to get rolling, which gets you focused on your writing with minimal time/effort.
The downside is two-fold. First, you don’t own the platform. That means the platform maintains a certain amount of rights over your content and can use it in various ways. Sometimes that means they could do things like put ads that you don’t profit from (or even approve of) in your content. Generally, it’s going to be better to pay a little bit to ensure that you have greater control over your environment. The other downside is that it can be a little trickier to move to a better platform later when you want to scale and grow your website. It’s not impossible, but it could end up costing you a more later on as you explore expanding your functionality.
Website Builder Platforms
Site-builder platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and others are usually very attractive to people who want to build a website because of how easy it is to build something “pretty” with little to no website design experience.
But honestly, it’s not always as easy as it seems.
Having a page-builder is great, but you still need a little bit of an eye for design and the ability to piece things together well. There plenty of well-intended sites out there that resemble the website version of nailed it fails and just don’t quite hit the mark. And even more so than the blogging platforms, migration is even more difficult if you ever want to move out into a better platform. All of this really just leads to a lack of flexibility and the inability to keep up with your growth well.
The Best of Both Worlds: WordPress with Divi
The option we really like is a self-hosted WordPress website (often referred to as WordPress.org) with the Divi theme (from Elegant Themes). WordPress is by far the most used platform for building websites. At it’s core is a rock-solid blogging platform. And it has a well developed eco-system of themes and plugins that will allow you to do virtually anything you want.
And with the themes, Divi is more than your typical theme (or layout/skin for the site design). It’s core is the Divi page builder. So it uses a sort of building block method to allow you to create any kind of layout you want. But it also has hundreds of pre-built layout packs that you can use for your design, or that you can use as a starting point to customize for your needs. Each layout pack has several pages, so designs for various pages on your site (home page, about page, contact page, etc.) all have a starting point for you to build from.
P.S. All of our managed WordPress hosting plans include the Divi theme at no additional cost to you, saving you $89/yr!
7 Pre-made Divi Layouts
The Divi layout packs are great because not only do they give you a great, professional design that helps you put your best foot forward, but it’s also flexible enough that you can customize it in any way you want. So when you’re looking for a website builder for writers, the key here is to find something that gets you close to a layout you like, and then you can tweak and adjust as needed to fit your brand image.
With that said, here are a few of our favorite layout packs that provide a great starting point for writers.
- Author – Great for writers, especially those who already have books available for sale. It brings a nice focus on featuring the book(s) and the author.
- Blogger (NEW!) – A fresh, modern layout for bloggers who want to build their personal brand and feature their writing well.
- Influencer – If you want to be an influencer, then this layout will help you look like an influencer. After all, as a writer you are an influencer with your words!
- Travel Blog – You don’t need to be a travel blogger to use this layout. It’ll work well for anyone who wants to feature their writing along with some strong visuals.
- Technology News – In the same way, don’t let technology hold you back from this one! This is a great layout for organizing and featuring your writing.
- Magazine – As a content producer (fancy term for writer), your blog/website can function much like an online magazine. And you can use for your solo writer and if you feature other writers on your site regularly.
- Podcast – Many writers are also becoming podcasters with their content too. And if that’s you, then this layout can help you with that!
The great thing about these layouts is that they can fit any style you want to go for with your website. And the modular structure means that you can add or remove any element you want on any of the pages.
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Let’s take a closer look at each of the layout packs…
1 – Author Website Layout
Divi’s Author layout pack has a simple, clean design that many writers are looking for these days. And it brings a nice balance between showcasing the products (books, or whatever else you want to sell) and you as the author.
The pre-built pages include home, about, landing, events, shop, blog, and contact pages.
Landing pages could be used for individual book pages, and can be easily linked to the online retailers where people can purchase the books online. Alternatively, you can implement WooCommerce (free e-commerce shop plugin) if you want to sell books or other items directly.
This is a great website builder for writers who have any books currently published or expect to be releasing one in the near future.
2 – Blogger Website Layout (NEW!)
The Blogger layout pack Is a great way to build your personal brand and feature your writing. It has a fresh, modern design, and features blog and post layouts that allow you to effortlessly connect with your audience.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, contact, and blog pages. And it has a customized post layout.
This one will certainly help you stand out from the crowd, especially when you start putting your personal style and content with it!
3 – Influencer Website Layout
The Divi Influencer layout pack is a great design for anyone wanting to build themselves as the brand. Often online writers underestimate how much they really are being influencers, and people who read your work are there to read your work. So building your brand requires a website that features you well.
This layout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. It also has four different blog post layouts you can use if you really want your blog posts to stand out.
The focus here is on style and building an image. It brings you an opportunity to elevate your message with a strong visual impact that stands out from the norm.
4 – Travel Blog Layout
With the Travel Blog layout pack, you’ll find a nice balance between the writing and the visual. And that works great if you’re one of those writers how likes to use strong imagery with your blog posts (or feature your own photography). So don’t let the “travel” part keep you from using this layout pack, because it’ll work well for a variety of bloggers. Home and lifestyle blogger? Foodie blogger? Homeschool mom blogger? No problem! You’ll find this one to be a great fit for just about any kind of blogging you might be doing.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. And the trip page layout can be adapted for all kinds of purposes, like featuring a series of content you’re working on.
You’ll love the versatility of this one and how it bring a nice balance of content with an elegant design. You likely won’t find another website builder for writers that gets you a simple and effective blog design like this one!
5 – Technology News Layout
The Technology News layout pack is a cool website builder for writers who want all of the focus to be on the writing (and less on the writer). It works well, especially if you have a few core categories you’re writing about and need a good way to organize the different types of content. So don’t focus on the “technology news” part of this layout, and look at the elements as ways to organize your content better.
This playout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. And it includes two sharp-looking blog post layouts that can be used to improve visual presentation of your written content.
So if you want the attention to be less on you, and more on the writing, then this might be the best starting point for you.
6 – Magazine Website Layout
In the Magazine layout pack you build an strong presence for the content, with the more professional look and feel of an online magazine. You can use this as a solo writer, or if you also like to feature other writers on your website too. And much like the Technology News layout, it’s a great layout for managing content in multiple categories for easier grouping and featuring of various types of content.
The pack has layouts for home, authors, landing, categories, and contact pages. Plus, it includes two blog post layouts you can use.
It doesn’t matter if you want to build an online magazine, this website builder for writers gives you a great looking way to present the content you’re writing!
7 – Podcast Website Layout
While the Podcast layout pack might not look like the typical blog, it certainly works well for writers. Many writers today are also converting their written content into audio content and publishing it as a podcast too. When you do that, this layout pack can provide you with a great way to present your content, both written and audio.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, (all) episodes, and contact pages. It also has two post (individual episode) layouts.
And just to put this out there, you don’t even need to podcast in the traditional sense. You can use audio podcast content or video content (from YouTube, Facebook Live, etc.). And all of that can be shared with the written version of your content too. There are a number of possibilities to take your content production to the next level with this one!
Create Your Own Writer Website Template
The best part about using WordPress with Divi as a website builder for writers is that you can build anything you want with it! Not only can you use these layout packs as a starting point for your development, but you can also start from scratch to build your own layout.
Divi Builder is a modular page builder with a variety of customizable modules that you can use to build out your own design. When you get comfortable with the builder framework (which we are always happy to help our hosting clients with), you can literally look at any website and build the same layout on your website. Granted, some elements will take more customizing than others. But your design options are virtually limitless. And that makes for a great website builder for writers, no matter what your goal is!
Here are a few additional writer websites we’ve worked on with some clients of ours:
- Ginger Harrington – As an author/speaker, this site tries to bring a balance to what she has to offer and building her email list to grow her readership.
- Kim Hyland – An influencer and podcaster, this site pushes the podcast itself to Spotify, but builds a strong brand for everything else about her on the site.
- Robin Dance – Self-proclaimed encourager, seeker, wanderer, Robin features her writing on her blog, other websites, and the book with her readers.
With all of these sites, you’ll certainly find some similarities. But the design of each brings out the personality of the writer well, and helps move their readers towards the things they want to accomplish. And that’s the main goal when working with a good website builder for writers. Whether you’re using a pre-made layout or building from scratch, you should be designing towards putting your best foot forward and accomplishing your goals with your readers.
Wrapping It Up
The bottom line is that you can build an incredible website to showcase your writing! And it doesn’t need to be difficult. If you use the right tools, then you can a place online where your readers enjoy being while they read your (awesome) content. The user experience is crucial to helping you meet your goals. So put your best foot forward!
And that’s what we try to do with our managed WordPress hosting. Ultimately, you can get space on a server to house your website files anywhere. The difference between us and them is not only the additional maintenance (and security) that we take care of for you, or the fact that the Divi theme is included in the hosting plan (saving you $89/yr), but that our team is always here for you to help you learn whatever you need to learn to use these tools to build a great website. Education and support is included, so you never need to worry about feeling lost and on your own! And if you just need us to help out with some of the design/development work for you, we can often get you affordable pricing that won’t break the bank.
If you’re ready to take your writing platform to the next level, the AI Author Lab is a great next step. It’s designed specifically for writers who want to use AI to grow their audience, create content more efficiently, and build a site that supports their goals.
Explore the AI Author Lab →
Or, if you just want the tech handled for you, our [managed WordPress hosting plans] include Divi at no extra cost — and support that actually helps you use it.
by Dan King | Jun 22, 2021 | blogging strategy
Considering the state of social media and other traffic sources the way they are these days, blog SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming more important all the time. Ultimately, you want to drive more traffic to your writing.
But here’s the reality most writers are facing these days…
Social media platforms simply don’t have the “viral” effect that they used to. Sharing on social media becomes limited to reaching your friends. And the algorithms of various platforms make it more difficult for content to be seen by even the people who follow you to get those updates. Email subscription and readership is down for many writers too, simply because subscribers deal with burnout from managing too much content.
Regardless, there are people out there right now who are looking for the exact content you have on your blog.
So the focus for writers needs to shift to how you find those people (and get your content in front of them). And that’s the focus of what we’ll explore in this article. We’ll dig into five questions to help you understand why blog SEO is important and how you can do it well.
How important is SEO for blogging?
Let’s face it. If you’ve been blogging for a while, then you might remember the day when you could share a link to a post on Facebook or Twitter, and watch it generate plenty of clicks (through to your post) and shares (extending your reach). But with algorithm changes that filter what people see, most writers have been experiencing a massive decline in traffic from social media sources.
And traffic studies across many websites are showing the same results. One study shows that social media sources account for just 5% of website traffic. Meanwhile, organic search is bringing in 51% of all traffic.
Source: monsterinsights.com
If you take a deeper look into the data, then you’ll also see that Google accounts for over 90% of all search engine traffic. So when you’re looking for traffic from search engines, getting it right for Google is (or at least can be) the single biggest driver of readers for your writing.
But doing blog SEO well is much more than simply installing a plugin and getting a green light on your blog post for some random (or too generic) keyword phrase.
With around 3.5 BILLION searches performed on Google every day, there’s a pretty high likelihood that some of those searches are for something that you wrote about. The best part about this is that it’s most likely being done by people who you are not already connected to (as through social media). That means you have access to new readers looking for you… if you can get your content to show up (especially on page one) in Google search results.
How to make your blog visible in Google search results
There’s good news and bad news with this one.
Bad news first… It’s not like social media where you can just post it and it’s there for everyone when you publish new content. And the downside, as we’ve already discussed, is that there’s no guarantee that people will even see that. At least with social media, you can share a link anytime you want to get it out there.
Now the good news… There’s really nothing you need to do to have your content available to show up in search results. Search engines use ‘bots’ to crawl websites across the Internet and then work to figure out how to index that content. So while there’s nothing you need to do to get it to show up in search engine results pages (SERPs), there are some things you can do to improve your chances of ranking well.
- Strong technical SEO – One of the first things you need to understand about SEO is that Google wants to provide a good experience for their searchers. That means if they send people to your website, then they need to know that it’s going to perform well. So evaluating elements like page load speed and website architecture can impact your standing on search engines. You should have a plan to ensure you’re running well and providing a great user experience for your visitors.
- Best content available – Just because you wrote a blog post that you’re passionate about doesn’t mean that it rank really high. Again, Google is looking to provide the best experience for their searchers. Part of that is making sure they send people to the best answer to their questions. From Google’s perspective, if they sent you a visitor who saw no value in your content, then the searcher loses confidence in Google as a source of providing good answers. So your content strategy should focus on providing great resources.
- Leverage crawl data – The best SEO strategies are not just a one-time function that you can set and forget. They require an ongoing analysis and adjustments to work towards key improvements. Therefore, understanding and using your analytics and crawl data (which Google will provide for you) is one of the biggest keys to driving your content up the rankings and obtaining more traffic from organic search.
Getting your website to show up in Google search results isn’t really difficult. But it does mean you need to be intentional. You also need to remove barriers (even unintentional ones) that can prevent you from ranking well.
Here’s a little deeper look at some core concepts related to each of these three points.
Which blog platforms are the most SEO-friendly?
I’m just going to come out and say it. I believe that WordPress is hands-down the best platform for blog SEO. Not only is it one of the most widely-accepted platforms out there, but it’s easy to implement all of the elements that help you improve your chances with the search engines.
The biggest of these has to do with how well you can enhance your technical SEO. Standard WordPress is a simple content management system that does a good job of storing and displaying your content. Then you can slap any theme on it to get you the design and style you want. Beyond that, a variety of plugins can be used as needed to improve the user experience. And while there are many more types than what I’ll discuss here, these types that can help you fine-tune your website to get better search results:
- Caching plugins – Without getting too technical, caching is a method used to push elements closer to the user so that they don’t need to ‘download’ every element on the page every time. This helps speed up page load speed, since there is less ‘distance’ for some elements to travel.
- Image optimization plugins – Another factor in page load speeds is the file size of the images you use. Many writers pay little attention to this, and upload larger, hi-res images that take longer to load. A good image optimization plugin will help reduce that file size and help pages load quicker.
- Analytics plugins – Knowing how your website is performing is paramount to building a strong SEO strategy for your blog. Google Analytics will certainly give you some of the best information regarding visitor tracking, and there are some good plugins that can help you integrate and sort through what’s important.
- Security plugins – Few things can kill your search rankings quicker than a security-compromised website. So yes, keeping an eye on how secure your website is, and dealing with potential issues quickly, will help you maintain your earned rankings. So it doesn’t necessarily get you ranking higher, but it can keep you from losing what you have.
- SEO data plugins – A good SEO plugin doesn’t make your website rank by itself. But it can help with some of the extra ‘coding’ that help those search engine bots figure out what your content is about so that it knows how to index you.
Getting the right mix of plugins running on your site can go a long way in improving your search rankings. If you can get your website to load quickly, provide a good and safe experience for visitors, and build in some good ‘coding’ structure, then you’ve just set yourself up for success. From here, the next thing you’ll want to look at is your content.
Note: The exact plugins we would suggest (free and premium) are all listed in the How To SEO a Blog e-course (get 25% off at checkout using that link). And our BASIC+ Hosting plan includes some of the best premium plugins we know of for great SEO performance (plus some cool reports).
How to make your blog content SEO-friendly
Once you’ve built a strong foundation for your website, the content is the next element you can focus on. And while sometimes it’s good to write just to write, with no big blog SEO goals in mind, you’ll want to have a strategy for how you approach your writing to help you get found. There are a few basic phases of content development that you’ll want to consider:
- Keyword strategy – Using search engine data, you can find the best opportunities for keywords to target in your writing. A little bit of research here can pay big dividends not only in how you target terms, but also in the ideation of new blog post topics to inspire your writing.
- Structure your content well – The biggest thing here is to write your content in such a way that it’s the best resource out there for your desired target search terms. That means you’ll need to know what your page one search results competition is talking about, and evaluate what it would take to provide a better resource than what they have.
- On-page optimization – Some of the plugins we mentioned earlier will help with some of this. But getting your post structure right and ensuring you have all of the right elements in the right places will get that post set up for success when the bots come crawling.
Ultimately, it’s important that you write for humans, not for search engine bots. So don’t overthink this stuff! Write great content first. Then go back through an cover your blog SEO steps to ensure you’re doing what you need to do for the bots.
How to use Google Search Console (GSC) to improve SEO
The follow-through is probably the most important element of your strategy, because it’ll show you how you can improve. And while Google Analytics will give you some great information about what your visitors are doing when they are on your site, Google Search Console will give you some incredible insight into how Google is ranking your pages/posts in their search results.
With the data in Google Search Console, you’ll be able to evaluate:
- Which terms you’re ranking for.
- Where the pages/posts on your site are ranking (on average) in the results.
- How many clicks (and the click-thru rate) you’re getting from any of those search results through to your website.
- Errors that Google sees that can impact your rankings.
All of this information can tell you how to optimize your content, including the meta title and descriptions, in order to improve rankings and click-thru visits. And knowing the errors that Google sees when their bots crawl the site gives you the opportunity to correct the issues and keep the crawls running smoothly.
Conclusion: Getting Blog SEO right
Blog SEO isn’t really rocket science. But there are some key concepts that you need to understand. And if you can build a solid plan for how you approach your blog SEO, then you’ll be rewarded with some great traffic from new readers who are looking for you right now. I can’t stress this enough… If you’re a writer, keep writing great content for people. You shouldn’t really be thinking about blog SEO while you’re writing. Think about whatever message you have for your readers. But if you have the strategy built into your publishing process, then you’ll be able to create your content in such a way that it’s more likely to climb the rankings and get found more often.
Better search engine rankings = more traffic for your website = greater readership for your writing.
P.S. We’ve developed a course to help you understand key SEO concepts and build a plan that will drive more traffic to what you’re writing. And just as a thank you for reading this post, you can get How To SEO a Blog for 25% OFF using the promo code of SEO25OFF at checkout!
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by Dan King | Sep 9, 2020 | publishing strategy
Are you looking to self-publish your work? If so, it’s crucial to learn the ins and outs of some of the most common self-publishing mistakes. In learning of these mistakes, you can set yourself up for the most success possible.
What are the most common self-publishing mistakes, you ask? To help, we’re shining a light on the eight most common mistakes that authors make when self-publishing their work. From your blog layout and editing to market research and timelines, we’re covering it all.
Before you publish your work, you’ll want to avoid these mistakes at all costs. It’s time to learn from those who have self-published their works before you!
1. Self-Editing
Of course, it’s always tempting to edit your own work.
While this is a cost-effective means of editing, it’s also setting yourself up for disaster. Not only will a professional editor spot typos and grammatical errors, but they’ll also highlight structural sentences that need improvement. If you’re looking to make money with self-publishing, you need to be serious about hiring an editor. At a minimum, use a tool like the Hemingway Editor for an automated way of checking your work.
Without proper editing, your work is very likely to have some standout mistakes. From the perspective of your readers, this makes your work more difficult to enjoy and take seriously.
2. Insufficient Market Research
In order to maximize the success of your works, you’re going to want to conduct proper market research.
This market research will tell you what readers are interested in right now. It’s also going to help to provide clarity in terms of the length, format, and general structure that readers currently most desire.
Remember, your goal is to create material that your readers are actively interested in. In order to know what the public wants, it’s imperative to spend the time necessary and conduct this research.
3. A Lack of Timelines
In the self-publishing world, you’re essentially only working for one person. For better or worse, this one person just so happens to be yourself.
While there are benefits to creating all of your own rules, this can also be a dangerous game. This is especially the case when it comes to establishing a strict timeline for your works.
When using a professional publisher, that individual will set concrete timelines that you must adhere to. When you’re working for yourself, this simply isn’t the case. With this, it’s only natural for your level of motivation to decrease.
To counteract this, be sure to set strict timelines for yourself. You can also share these timelines with other people to increase your accountability.
4. Incorrect Formatting
Every type of work will require a different sort of formatting.
For example, the formating for regular blog posts could be entirely different than the formatting for a standard novel. If you’re new to publishing, understanding the right formatting won’t always come naturally.
In most cases, the correct formatting will be entirely dependent on the forum in which you’re publishing. For example, one blog may require writers to submit their work in a Microsoft Word document while others require an Adobe PDF file. To ensure that you’re adhering to the right formatting, be sure to conduct the right research and ask questions.
5. A Poorly-Timed Release Date
What’s the best time to release your work?
When it comes to self-publishing, there are good times and there are bad times to release work. Of course, this timeline will also depend on the subject matter of your work. This is where conducting market research comes into play yet again.
Do yourself a favor and dig online for more information. Your goal is to find a relevant time to release your work. This is a time in which your audience will naturally feel more inclined to read works on your subject.
While the average person reads 12 books a year, it’s more important to figure out what time of year people read the most. With this, you may want to release your work during a time that people are more likely to spend their time reading. This is why many authors choose to release their work in the summer when people typically have more time to relax.
6. A Lack of Notable Reviews
At the end of the day, reviews are an incredibly important part of any kind of brand-building.
Just as 90% of consumers will read reviews before visiting a business, so too will your readers. This is why having notable reviews on your work has become a key to success.
Unfortunately, those that self-publish are far less likely to have a variety of reviews. This is as compared to work that has been professionally published and often uses notable people to create an interest in your work.
Even in the event that you’re self-publishing, do your best to get as many people to read and review your work as possible. Once you have these reviews, ensure that you’re advertising them both physically on your work and on other platforms such as social media.
7. Asking for Minimal Feedback
When you choose to self-publish, you’re minimizing the feedback that you’ll receive on your work.
Of course, receiving harsh feedback can be challenging for some. But, it’s also the best way to ensure that what you’re putting out there is your best work possible. When it comes to writing, your reputation is everything.
With this, it’s crucial to ask for as much feedback as possible. Try to get as many people in your network to review your work as possible. From here, don’t be shy in asking for their honest feedback and suggestions. After all, this is the only way to better yourself as a writer.
8. Incorrect Pricing
Sure, you might be a professional writer. But, this doesn’t mean that you know the best strategy for pricing your works.
With this, self-publishing authors will often undervalue their work and price their work far too low. On the other hand, if you price your work too high, fewer people are likely to purchase it.
To help arrive at a fair pricing strategy, be sure to research what other works under the same subject are selling for. And evaluate how well those books are selling at various price points. With this, your best bet is to match this price or come slightly above or below it.
Common Self-Publishing Mistakes to Avoid
To self-publish or to seek professional help? That is the question!
The truth is, self-publishing your work can lead you to success. It’s also a great way to save money and adhere to your own rules. But, in doing so, it’s imperative to ensure that you’re avoiding all the most common self-publishing mistakes.
In understanding these mistakes in advance, you can take extra caution when moving forward with your works. With this, you’re all the more likely to maximize your chances of success!
Are you looking for more guidance on self-publishing? If so, be sure to check out our 30 Days To #SelfPub e-course!
Growing your business requires that you find ways to increase your sales revenue. That’s foundational. New sales are the lifeblood of every business. So I want to show you what we did to get a 154% increase in monthly new sales revenue by making one simple change.
