SELF PUBLISHING AND THE WEB. How to develop and maintain a web presence for authors

Transcription

1 SELF PUBLISHING AND THE WEB How to develop and maintain a web presence for authors

2 INTRODUCTION My name is Andrew Hicks. I am a teacher at Columbia College, a freelance web designer, an author, and I run my own business. I am writing a book that I plan to self publish in the fall of The book is called Gamer to CEO and it s about video games, learning, and leadership. I have made many, many websites for musicians, artists, and small businesses. These days I d rather make a website using WordPress or SquareSpace rather than making it from scratch.

3 4 MAJOR STEPS 1. Register domain name 2. Get hosting 3. Design online presence 1. Marketing 2. Working with a designer 4. Maintain content 1. Blogging 2. Images 3. SEO Get your name online Find a place to put your files Do it yourself or pay $$ Writing for the web is fun but Let s be honest, It s a business

4 PAID HOSTING OR FREE BLOG? Planning for a website is all about what you want for your site. Do you want to pay about $100 a year and have more control over your site? Or, is a free solution going to work? PAID: You register a domain name and buy hosting. More control over design and features. Can look better on mobile. FREE: Your domain name is not in complete control. The design is not in your control either. May not look great on mobile.

5 BIG PICTURE: HOW THE INTERNET WORKS Internet and www andrewhicks.net Domain Hosting on a Server Content

6 PAID: REGISTERING A DOMAIN NAME What is a domain name? The domain name is your web address, the part that comes after www I own andrewhicks.net, bigshouldersmedia.com, and gamertoceo.com How do I get one? Search for register a domain name and you ll get links to various companies.

7 REGISTERING A DOMAIN NAME I prefer and use: iwantmyname.com Do not use: Godaddy.com Built by nerds Easy to use Very helpful Confusing Hard to use Not helpful

8 PAID: HOSTING What is hosting? When you buy hosting you are buying space on a server. You have access to these files. You point your domain name to your server and the files become visible to the Internet. How much does it cost? Minimal hosting costs about $5 a month, but is purchased by the year. How to get it? Search for best web hosting and you will get links to many companies.

9 HOSTING I prefer and use: Bluehost.com Do not use: Godaddy.com About $5/month Easy to use Very helpful Confusing Hard to use Not helpful

10 OTHER HOSTING CONSIDERATIONS ecommerce Maintaining a mailing list Keeping a blog Event Listings The more stuff you want to do with your website, the more you need your own hosting and domain.

11 BIG PICTURE: PAID Internet and www andrewhicks.net Domain iwantmyname.com $15 Server bluehost.com $70+ html files images audio etc.

12 BIG PICTURE: PAID WORDPRESS Internet and www andrewhicks.net Domain iwantmyname.com $15 Server bluehost.com $70+ WordPress template

13 BIG PICTURE: FREE Internet and www andrewhicks.wordpress.com Server bluehost.com $70+ WordPress free theme

14 This is an example of a free WordPress template FREE SOLUTIONS wordpress.com wix.com weebly.com virb.com but your domain name will look like this:

15 WORDPRESS: INSTALL VIA THE CPANEL If you have purchased hosting through a service like bluehost.com then you will have access to a cpanel. The cpanel is how you install your custom WordPress theme.

16 SQUARESPACE: PICK A TEMPLATE AND GO Hosting, domain name, ecommerce, bloging all in one place Starting at $10 a month or $96 a year

17 DOMAIN NAME + HOSTING RECAP Free if you don t have hosting wordpress.com wix.com weebly.com virb.com Free if you have hosting you ve paid $70 a year for server space and you have a domain name Custom WordPress You have complete control over the look and feel of your website Complete solutions Squarespace.com Hosting, domain name, ecommerce all in one place $10 a month or $96 a year This is my new favorite

18 DESIGN YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE 1. Choose themes to help define your brand 2. Understanding the administration interface 3. Images, video, and audio What do you want from your site?

19 THEMES + TEMPLATES Define your brand Decide what features you want! Blog! Events! Build a newsletter subscription! ecommerce! Social media integration! Photos You as the author need to decide what your site is going to do for you.

20 ADMIN INTERFACES SquareSpace WordPress

21 IMAGES, AUDIO + VIDEO Using a system like WordPress or SquareSpace it is simple to add or link to other media. Easy to embed images Easy to link to existing youtube or vimeo videos Easy to embed your own audio (you could start a podcast) Images are helpful with search engines and can help drive people to your site

22 WORKING WITH A DESIGNER OR FIRM What can you expect to pay? Friend, nephew, beginner: $100 to $1000 Freelance web designer: $500 to $2500 Web Design company: $2000 to $15,000+ The friend option is very tricky. You are likely to be disappointed and have to wait a long time. The freelancer is better, and is probably your best option, but they are very hard to find. The web design company is the best if you have money.

23 PREPARING CONTENT FOR A DESIGNER Images! Reduce in size to 72dpi! Don t make them too huge (under 1000 px wide)! Learn to use a graphics editing program to size images correctly Text! Many developers don t have Word. They may ask for just plain text files Detail and direction! Always provide as much direction and detail as possible

24 GENERATING CONTENT Define what you want your site to do for you 1. Landing page: static or blog? 2. Blogging + communicating with your audience 3. Social Media: twice a week at least. Best daily. 4. SEO (search engine optimization) You need to ask yourself if you want a static placeholder style of site, or a heavily used interactive site. Either way is fine, but it helps to define what you want from the site.

25 WRITING CONTENT Blogging: The importance of fresh content Just because you have a WordPress theme it doesn t mean you have to have a blog. WordPress is just a container. If you do want to have a blog WordPress is great for the task. How often can you write? Want comments? Avoid spam, which means you have to moderate comments as well Installing plugins (sharing, events, calendars, social media, etc.) Link to other writers and blogs

26 WRITING FOR THE WEB Look at what other authors do and copy from them. This website is a business, not a soapbox, not a diary. 4 Rules for writing online Branding, brevity, consistency, and networking SEO (search engine optimization) Paying attention to SEO means writing with search engines in mind. Why do you want to do this? To attract more people to your site.

27 WRITING FOR THE WEB Four simple rules to writing for your blog 1. Branding: Find your value and package it. 2. Brevity: Keep it short and sweet and often. 3. Consistency: Maintain appearance and content. 4. Networking: Link out to other posts and to other pages.

28 OPTIMIZING FOR SEARCH ENGINES If you are writing a blog post, find a unique key word or phrase and exploit it as much as possible. Focus on low-competition key phrases Choose one key word or phrase per post Use Your key phrases in your post title and title tags Repeat the key phrase in your article, especially first paragraph Use the key phrase in your meta description tags Find images related to your key phrase

29 FINAL THOUGHTS Determine what you want your site to do for you. The more you want to tweak the design and features, the more you pay. Finding cheap, reliable, good web designers is nearly impossible. Expect to pay $ $10,000 for quality work. DIY costs $100/year for hosting and domain name. All content should work toward driving customers to your site. Blogging + social media is a daily task.

30 END OF PRESENTATION

31 A bigshouldersmedia.com offer for you one single 2 hour custom session* you go home with your own website, domain name, and hosting solution - You will be able to post fresh content whenever you want - You will know how to link video and audio - You will get content posting guidelines and advice - You will have a beginning understanding of how setup a navigation - You will know how to set up SEO properly for good search results *includes two 30 minute follow up phone calls $500, 2HOURS, AND YOU RE GOOD TO GO