Your author website can be a great hub for potential readers to learn more about you and where to find your work, as well as a great home for other resources you might want to provide to your audience. But discoverability can be a difficult problem. In an endless sea of websites, how do you make sure that yours surfaces in a search? Search engine optimization (SEO) can help you make sure your author website performs better for fickle algorithms.
1.Plan Target Keywords
Target keywords are words or phrases tagged to specific pages in the infrastructure of a website that designate the purpose of a page. They can greatly help a search engine to determine a website’s relevance when a user submits a query.
Choose three to five target keywords per page, and make sure they indicate clear intent. Use different target keywords for each page on your website, so your pages don’t compete with each other. Write naturally, using exact phrases where possible and supporting them with synonyms or related terms to avoid keyword “stuffing.” Keyword stuffing is using repetitive, or irrelevant keywords, and it typically hurts your visibility in search engines.
It may seem logical to keep your keywords short and vague, but being more specific is a better way to go. Specific keywords mean that you’re competing with fewer pages in the algorithm and you’ll target people looking for exactly what you’re offering. For example, “easy recipes” would have much more competition than something like “easy vegan noodle recipe.”
Where to include keywords:
- Main headline (H1)
- Subheadings (H2s and H3s)
- URL slug
- Title tag
- Meta description
- First paragraph, ideally in the first 150 words
- Last paragraph
- In semantic phrases throughout the page
- Image alt text (when applicable)
- Image file name (when applicable)
If you are struggling to find keywords, there are several tools that can help. Google Keyword Planner allows you to plug in your website’s topics and find out what terms users search with to find related information. Google Search Console is a free tool that allows you to link your website to find out which search terms will surface pages from your website.
2.Make Good Use of Space
The different types of text on your website don’t only help viewers with navigating—they also have a huge effect on discoverability. The title or main headline of each page should be tagged with the H1 tag. Each page should only have one H1 tag, and it should be as concise as possible. This headline is also a great place to fit in some of your target keywords—but as you expand your website, make sure that each page has a unique headline. No two pages should share the same title tag, just as no two pages should target the same keywords.
The title tag will typically be a shorter (100 to 160 characters) version of the H1. If you plan on including your brand name, place it at the end: Best Summer Books for Kids | Penguin Random House. Branding can feel like a dirty word, but in this space, it can be helpful in boosting recognition for those who visit your site. If space is tight, it’s okay to prioritize clarity and keywords over brand mentions.
3.Connect Content
Another method that can help your SEO is strategically linking to other pages. There are two ways to do this:
Internal linking means using descriptive anchor text to link to relevant, high-value pages elsewhere on your website to help visitors to navigate your site. This also helps guide search engines in understanding your site structure.
External linking means connecting to resources on other websites. Avoid the urge to include a lot of links that might not be of high quality. While it may seem that including a large amount can drive more eyes to your content, you’ll benefit more from including only relevant links. Reputable, authoritative sources can add context and credibility to your content.
4.Consider Using Splash
Finally, if you’d rather not maintain your own website and handle the SEO for it, Penguin Random House has a proprietary platform known as Splash, where your marketing team can maintain a site for you. It auto-populates with your book information, events, and author info, and is secure and compliant with the latest digital accessibility. Ask your publishing team if it’s right for you!