Get Your Website Up To Date

I’m a new member of MWA and in one of their recent newsletters, aptly named “The 3rd Degree” there was a great article about the importance of keeping your website up to date. I hope they don’t mind, but I wanted to share some of their tips:

1. Domain name – Check the expiration date and email address that’s connected to make sure they are still current and correct. Check that the hosting company is still valid. Check that the credit card used by the hosting company is still valid. That will definitely trip you up!

2. Subscribe to your own newsletter. Does the form work well? Is there a “successful submission” message? Can you unsubscribe?

3. Test your website. Ask someone who is not particularly web-savvy to learn the following: what is your latest book? What was your first book? What city do you live in? See how easily they find the find the info. How many times must they click to get it? Is your name spelled correctly?

4. Check your website on the Internet, not just your computer. Try a mobile phone, Android and iPhone. Look at it on different browsers. How does it look on a tablet vs a desktop or e-reader?

5. Confirm that you can get website statistics.

I use WordPress and they just sent me a year-end “annual report” that not only gives me stats but also shows on a world map where my “clickers” come from. Fabulous!

6. Search for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. (I would add Linked-In too.)

7. Click on your author photos. Do they download okay? Are they high-resolution enough for print. Are they named with your name, not just “authorphoto.jpg?”

I would add: Do a search for yourself on the Internet and see what comes up. Your website? Articles about you? Your blog?

These are just a few suggestions for getting your website up to date. Check out the full article through Mystery Writers of America. Good stuff.