Book websites... - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T10:35:18Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/book-websites?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A320457&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI know. I'm afraid a lot of…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-04:537324:Comment:3212822011-11-04T21:09:26.714ZBobbi A. Chukranhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/bobbichukran
<p>I know. I'm afraid a lot of us spend more time on the danged websites than we do writing the books. LOL</p>
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<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>bc</p>
<p>I know. I'm afraid a lot of us spend more time on the danged websites than we do writing the books. LOL</p>
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<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>bc</p> Thanks for the advice, Bobbi.…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-04:537324:Comment:3212352011-11-04T08:48:24.431ZJames Fouchehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesFouche
<p>Thanks for the advice, Bobbi. Will look into the keywords.</p>
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<p>Never imagined writing a novel would leave me updating websites, but that is the nature of the beast. I appreciate all the feedback.</p>
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<p>j</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, Bobbi. Will look into the keywords.</p>
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<p>Never imagined writing a novel would leave me updating websites, but that is the nature of the beast. I appreciate all the feedback.</p>
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<p>j</p> James...another comment, if y…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-03:537324:Comment:3211632011-11-03T18:29:13.909ZBobbi A. Chukranhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/bobbichukran
<p>James...another comment, if you can stand it. LOL. I just looked at your site again, and noticed you don't have any keywords on there. Somebody mentioned SEO (search engine optimization) and it's SO important. Do you do your own website? If so, you need to add some titles and keywords in there, preferably in the first sentence, that says what the site is mainly about. IOW, you need the phrase/words in there "mystery" "suspense" "crime novel" etc. Nobody's going to be looking for the…</p>
<p>James...another comment, if you can stand it. LOL. I just looked at your site again, and noticed you don't have any keywords on there. Somebody mentioned SEO (search engine optimization) and it's SO important. Do you do your own website? If so, you need to add some titles and keywords in there, preferably in the first sentence, that says what the site is mainly about. IOW, you need the phrase/words in there "mystery" "suspense" "crime novel" etc. Nobody's going to be looking for the name of your character unless they're already familiar with him and remember his name. They'll be searching for crime novels, or mysteries, or suspense books. You can add a short paragraph introducing yourself on the first page of your site, and then repeat the title on the other pages. I hope this makes sense...</p> Thank you all for your commen…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-03:537324:Comment:3211252011-11-03T12:24:14.157ZJames Fouchehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesFouche
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you all for your comments. So it is unanimous, the music must go. Okay, done. I have removed the music and will consider the YouTube clip at a later stage (thanks for that tip, Clay and Roger!) and make some changes to the landing page.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">That…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you all for your comments. So it is unanimous, the music must go. Okay, done. I have removed the music and will consider the YouTube clip at a later stage (thanks for that tip, Clay and Roger!) and make some changes to the landing page.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">That all said and done I still struggle with the beast of marketing the site address and generating traffic. Guess there is no real easy way...</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">James</span></p> That I don't understand, but…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-01:537324:Comment:3208092011-11-01T13:54:17.157ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
That I don't understand, but I certainly like you and will click when the opportunity arises. :)
That I don't understand, but I certainly like you and will click when the opportunity arises. :) Ah, thanks. The local search…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-01:537324:Comment:3208082011-11-01T13:53:20.220ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Ah, thanks. The local search sounds like posting local ads. I won't do that. The like button appears on Twitter and Facebook. Can one also have it on one's web site, or only on a blog?</p>
<p>The keyword business sounds like the tags you use for your books on Amazon.</p>
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<p>I'm not really doing anything with Facebook and Twitter. Seems to me the trick is to get your book titles etc. in your posts. That may turn people off. Kindle Boards and Goodreads are horrible about calling…</p>
<p>Ah, thanks. The local search sounds like posting local ads. I won't do that. The like button appears on Twitter and Facebook. Can one also have it on one's web site, or only on a blog?</p>
<p>The keyword business sounds like the tags you use for your books on Amazon.</p>
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<p>I'm not really doing anything with Facebook and Twitter. Seems to me the trick is to get your book titles etc. in your posts. That may turn people off. Kindle Boards and Goodreads are horrible about calling authors names for mentioning their work.</p>
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<p>You re really good at this.</p> Sorry I'm so late in commenti…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-01:537324:Comment:3207792011-11-01T12:15:11.238ZMerrill Lockhardhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MerrillLockhard
<p>Sorry I'm so late in commenting. I liked the site and the music was appropriate, but probably wouldn't be missed.</p>
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<p>Sorry I'm so late in commenting. I liked the site and the music was appropriate, but probably wouldn't be missed.</p>
<p> </p> Ingrid, one more comment on t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-10-31:537324:Comment:3207612011-10-31T21:28:36.269ZEDWARD C MORGANhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ECMorgan
<p>Ingrid, one more comment on the "like" think. In essence, it simply makes it easier for me to share your website with my connections on various social media sites.</p>
<p>That helps you reach more people.</p>
<p>Ingrid, one more comment on the "like" think. In essence, it simply makes it easier for me to share your website with my connections on various social media sites.</p>
<p>That helps you reach more people.</p> Benjamin speaks much truth.
A…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-10-31:537324:Comment:3207602011-10-31T21:25:20.641ZEDWARD C MORGANhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ECMorgan
<p>Benjamin speaks much truth.</p>
<p>And I'd argue it is critical for offline sales, too.</p>
<p>Benjamin speaks much truth.</p>
<p>And I'd argue it is critical for offline sales, too.</p> Ingrid, let us say I "like" y…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-10-31:537324:Comment:3207592011-10-31T21:24:01.235ZEDWARD C MORGANhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ECMorgan
<p>Ingrid, let us say I "like" your website and include a comment "what a great writer!" or something like that. That "like" has the potential of being seen by my 330+ friends on Facebook. Maybe 3 or 4 of my friends will click on the link that is automatically included - the link to the website I just liked - your website.</p>
<p>Think of it like this - a reader review. I've read your books. I like them. I'd recommend them to my friends.…</p>
<p>Ingrid, let us say I "like" your website and include a comment "what a great writer!" or something like that. That "like" has the potential of being seen by my 330+ friends on Facebook. Maybe 3 or 4 of my friends will click on the link that is automatically included - the link to the website I just liked - your website.</p>
<p>Think of it like this - a reader review. I've read your books. I like them. I'd recommend them to my friends. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>IF</strong></span> those friends trust my taste in books, they may very well check you out. Maybe one of them will share the site with all their friends, repeating the process.</p>
<p>Each social media platform - FB, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and so forth, require a slightly different strategy. And I do believe strongly that Youtube and blogging needs to be part of the strategy.</p>
<p>A strong social media strategy will absolutely increase your web traffic (or traffic to your Amazon's Author Page, or wherever you wish to direct potential customers). That doesn't mean it will increase sales (that's a whole other ball of wax), but do you have a better chance of selling a book if 100 people or 500 people visit your website?</p>
<p><strong>Local search</strong> (or in this case perhaps niche search is more appropriate) is setting your keywords to reflect location (or niche).</p>
<p>The best example is a pizza joint's website. They could use a variety of keywords to help guide Google to their site. Pizza might be too general. Pizza in Nashville? Or how about Pizza in Antioch, TN? New York style pizza in Antioch, TN?</p>
<p>In your case, I'd have to give some thought to how to "localize" or more appropriately <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>specialize</strong></span> keywords to help you reach a potential audience. However, "historical mystery fiction" is OK, but pretty general. There may be various keywords and phrases that can be used to land high in Google results for people who are searching for (and therefore have an interest in) the history of Japan, mysteries set overseas, etc. "police work in medieval japan" or "Tokyo detective fiction" or "police fiction set in Tokyo" or "police fiction set in Japan".</p>
<p>The idea is this. The more general search terms (mystery fiction, mystery writers, or even historical mysteries) have far more people conducting a search, but can you rank highly under those terms, and compared to tens or hundreds of thousands of sites trying to compete under such broad keywords? And are they <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>strongly interested</strong></span> in your offering?</p>
<p>Or... do you want 10 people who are <strong>highly likely</strong> to be interested in a book like yours to see your book/website in search results, or would you rather 50 people who couldn't care less about historical fiction or Japan to see it in search results?</p>
<p>That is the difference in a good SEO strategy and what most SEO experts out there offer - having your page appear on the first page of Google results from searches by people who are highly interested in the topics of your books.</p>
<p>The nice thing is there are a variety of analytic tools that can track your keyword success so you can see what is and isn't working, and adjust your strategy as needed.</p>
<p>And.... back to Facebook...........Google is working on some "personalized" or "targeted" search ... social media will play a HUGE result in that.</p>