The Big Mistake of Author Websites and Blogs

Wordpress
Blogger

One of the easiest ways for an author to get a site up and running is to use Blogger or WordPress. As convenient as this is, and as wonderful as I find WordPress, this can lead to a critical error.

Authors end up using a blog as their website, but aren’t interested in blogging.

So their site looks like a neglected, un-updated blog or a lackluster website.

Don’t get me wrong: Both Blogger & WordPress can be used as effective site-building tools. But most new writers don’t go the extra step of structuring their “blog” as a website. Let me explain.

  1. Having a blog means you’ve got yourself a website. (Blog = site.) Blogging is simply a functionality or a way of presenting information or content on a website. A website may or may not feature a blog.
  2. Blogger and WordPress systems focus on blogging functionality. They put the blog front and center, and assume that you are interested in blogging. If you are interested in having a site only, then you have to take steps to change the presentation.

You do not have to blog, and if you don’t have much interest in the form, then please don’t pursue it. As with any form of writing, it takes a considerable investment of energy and time to do it right and get something from it. (See my 101 crash course here.)

But I do recommend every writer have a website, and using WordPress or Blogger is a good way to do that for free and still conquer the learning curve. (See my post here.)

So, how shall we transform your blog-focused site into something more appropriate? We want to make the landing page static. The landing page is what first appears when people visit your site.

While technically such a thing is possible in Blogger, it is not straightforward. (If you want, search Google to view available tutorials.)

For that reason (and others!), I always recommend authors use WordPress when starting their first site. In WordPress, go into your Admin, and click on Settings > Reading.

Wordpress Static Front Page

You want to tell WordPress that the front page (the landing page) should display something OTHER than blog posts. To show you an example, visit janefriedman.wordpress.com. Here’s what I did:

  1. I created a page that I called Welcome. As you can see below, I’ve designated that as the front page of my site. The content you see on this page is what I typed right into the page content field. (Click here for a screenshot.)
  2. I created another page called News & Events, but I left the content field blank. Because I’ve designated this as my “posts page” (see below), the content here is populated by anything I add to “Posts” in WordPress. (Click here for a screenshot.)
  3. You could also designate NO page for posts (leave the option blank rather than selecting a page), and your site will not feature any blog posts, only static pages.
Wordpress close-up static

What I’ve done is basically create a website where blog posts exist, but they are not the focal point of the site. This is probably a desirable situation for many authors, yet they make the mistake of putting their blog at the center of things when it doesn’t deserve that attention.

Take it from me: There’s no need to blog to have a website. But please do set up your site properly to avoid the appearance that you do blog, but very badly!

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Michael Hyatt

Jane, the link to  janefriedman.wordpress.com goes to a page marked private. Thought you’d want to know.

Jane Friedman

Thank you! All fixed.  🙂

Jane Friedman

Thank you! All fixed.  🙂

Piotr Kowalczyk

I’m using this pattern for my ebook discovery site http://ebookfriendly.com and wonder if that affects SEO in any way

Anittah Patrick

No, it does not affect SEO. What will probably affect SEO for your site the most is the fact that your top tabs do not align necessarily with the top search terms related to ebooks. I would recommend conducting some basic keyword research using the Adwords keyword tool (if you do not run any paid search campaigns, you can use the external tool, which is still helpful as you get 100 results vs. 800) to see what people are actually searching in the US / the world related to ebooks. This may help you think about the way you want to structure your top tabs and organize your content. 

I used exactly what Jane is talking about for http://kittylit.com but I also determined the top-level tabs in part by looking at what people search for when it comes to literary magazines. Not only does that mean I can maximize the chances for visibility in search engines, but MOST importantly, it’s basically like having a free focus group tell you how they think about a given topic (/search phrase).

Hope this helps and good luck!!

Piotr Kowalczyk

Thanks so much for the advice, Anittah. The whole idea of a site which is distraction-free is giving me a lot of work. I’ll follow your advice and adjust keywords for navi buttons.
Seen you site, very nicely designed:-)

Jane Friedman

You’re awesome, Anittah! Thank you!

Will Entrekin

Terrific post, Jane. I only recently discovered the functionality. Now that I’ve started posting more, posts seem more recent and consistent, but I’ve definitely had the problem of inconsistency in the past. I think it’s something writers have to explore, too, in terms of to what degree one can maintain constant engagement without becoming exhausted.

I’ve been using my posts page as my landing page, but part of the reason for that is the ability to integrate widgets (so I can put the Twitter timeline and a link to The Prodigal Hour there on the front). I haven’t figured out how to include that sort of functionality on a separate page. Though I’m sure it’s probably possible.

Jane Friedman

Great points.

It is possible to integrate widgets, though much depends on the theme you’re using and its flexibility & customization (assuming you don’t know how to code it yourself). 

Graphene is one theme I like that allows for ultimate customizability on where your widgets are, how your sidebars appear, etc — for either your static front page or a posts-driven front page.

Dawn Groves

Hi Jane, great article and the comments below it are also very good. I’ll tweet it. 
dawn
http://www.yourproductivitysucks.com

Jane Friedman

Thank you!

Daisy Among Roses

Thank you for your invaluable advice as I begin my writer blog.

Jane Friedman

Appreciate you reading & commenting!

Joanne Macgregor

If I blogged, I wouldn’t have time to write, so I have gone the website route. I’m a technological Luddite, but I still managed to build it in an evening on SquareSpace.com. I’ve found their service easy to use and they give exceptional help and person-to-person support.

Jane Friedman

I’ve heard of other fans of SquareSpace! Interesting.

Janice Gable Bashman

My author website landing page goes directly to my blog but that works for me since each week a different guest author blogs about the writing process. If that were not the case, however, I would want a static landing page as you suggest. I find WordPress to be great for my author website. Thanks for the great tips and have fun with the online class. It sounds like a fantastic tool for writers needing to build websites.

Jane Friedman

Thanks, Janice!

Jill Kemerer

This is exactly what my girlfriend has been researching this week–talk about a timely post! I’m e-mailing her your info. Thanks so much!

Jane Friedman

Love synchronicity! Appreciate the comment.

Sgweidener

I love my blog/website – the Women’s Writing Circle – on Blogger. I can place my book cover front and center with reader reviews and links on how to order, provide links to my writing, workshops and editing services and feature popular posts as a colorful sidebar.  And I love how easy it is to download my own photos . . .all for $10 a year and my own domain name to boot.

Jane Friedman

My only advice is just be careful building something of longterm value on a platform you can’t control!  😉  

Sgweidener

Thanks, Jane. Maybe I’m naive, but I think Google will survive – at least as long as I am in the author’s game!

Anjali

Very useful, this. I fumbled my way through this on my own a couple of years ago on WordPress, wanting to set up a site that started out as static but eventually turned into a blog. Thanks for taking it upon yourself to summarize and educate!

Jane Friedman

Thank you for reading & commenting!