This week I’ve had several readers email with website related questions. I will reply personally, but thought maybe we should talk about websites. Websites are what I know. I’ve been building, maintaining and marketing websites since 1999. It’s what I do and how I pay the bills. I eat, breathe and sleep websites. If the websites I work on don’t perform and convert, I wouldn’t eat. Simple as that. Writing is a side gig...
What a great idea. I started to build a website and hired a pro. I dropped the idea as it was going to be garbage. Most of them I see have no value. The purpose seems to be to have a place to sell your product but without any effort to touch the visitor. Hi, I'm, buy my. Pass, and why would the visitor go back?
That's it exactly, Catherine. Most of them are just "hi, this is me, buy my stuff" and people don't even stick around, much less come back. That's the number one problem I strive to solve. lol.
Denise, I can always count on you for a vote of confidence. How to find readers is a BIG part of what I'm working on. So many people struggle with that, and so much of what's "taught" out there is so terribly ineffective for writers. :)
I'm interested in your strategies for drawing traffic into a website. I'm sure SEO is part of that, and I wonder what more there is.
Also, what do you think of the popups which appear on some websites for first time visitors which immediately offer something in exchange for signing up for their mailing list? (Even if that offer is just 'stay up to date on our news')
SEO is part of it, but not as big a part as you'd think.
Popups are an interesting subject because everyone says they hate them, but the dumb things work if they're done right. And by right, I mean not instantly. God, give the visitor time to see the darn site. lol. On exit popups work better than on entry popups. Also worth experimenting with them at top of page vs. bottom of page. People tend to want to put them at the top, up front, get that puppy out there. But I find they work better after people have had some time to look at the page, assuming they don't bounce instantly.
I tried to build a site a while back. I just was interested in learning Wordpress. I knew it was crap, but need to try. In doing so I realized I had a lot to learn.
I didn't know where I was going so the 1st thing I realized I need content. That drove me to Medium to learn to improve my writing.
This experience not only help with my writing but also in refining my niche.
I'm almost ready to I've it another try. Will be looking forward to whatever you produce.
Thank you I've been following you since I started on medium. I liked your easy honest style.
It's a lot, hey? I've worked in web design for over 20 years and one thing I see is that so many people struggle with the technology of building a site, but the real and bigger issue is the content and strategy that drives it. A lot of designers don't even understand that because they just learned the technology and think that's all they needed to know.
I'd be real interested in hearing more about refining your niche. Three little words, but wow, there's a lot behind that, too.
Last paragraph -- thank you very much. Those are kind words and much appreciated.
Wordpress has gotten pretty crazy, it's true. For that reason, I'm working on 2 projects. The first is the book/tutorial that I mentioned. It's purpose is to create a strategy that fits the writer's personality, because we aren't all the same.
The second is a pre-built writer site. I am using wordpress, but only because I hate the other platforms even more. lol. No one will need to "learn" wordpress from the ground up because it's all prebuilt. Just log in and edit the content.
I've had great results making these for small business owners on an individual basis, so I think there's some promise and potential in handing over a site that's already built and just needs to be edited and maintained. Not sure how much that helps, but it's what I'm working on. :)
Margie, just a side note since you don't find WordPress user friendly. Have you ever looked at SquareSpace? I've checked it out recently and it's a lot more straightforward, although not free like WordPress.
A friend of mine introduced me to Rebel website builder. I am not a techie, so I like the idea of just edit what you see. I don't know how it would work for writers.
My question: how do we know when it’s time to build a website? Specifically, when should we move from free sites (eg Medium, LinkedIn, etc) to creating our own?
My biggest piece of input here would be, I don't know wtf I want my writer site to do. I write on Medium and a couple newsletters, etc but as far as "Written by Krist," my actual website, there's no purpose other than to tell people where I write.
Does your book include "How to figure out wtf to do with your life?" 😂😂
Amazing how parallel our lives our lives run, writing, photography and Web marketing, except that you're younger, more motivated and far more talented. I've been in the Web design, maintenance, and SEO business since '94 and I'm completely burnt out, so much so that I haven't updated my own agency Site in at least five years, or created a Writer's Site for myself. Instead of doing the work, I, the proverbial shoeless cobbler, outsource it and spend my days reading Medium articles (and chastising myself for not publishing more ). I like your idea of creating a template for a well functioning Writer's Site. I may well be one of your first customers. If your design, UX and marketing skills are as good as your writing, it's guaranteed to be a winner.
What a great idea. I started to build a website and hired a pro. I dropped the idea as it was going to be garbage. Most of them I see have no value. The purpose seems to be to have a place to sell your product but without any effort to touch the visitor. Hi, I'm, buy my. Pass, and why would the visitor go back?
That's it exactly, Catherine. Most of them are just "hi, this is me, buy my stuff" and people don't even stick around, much less come back. That's the number one problem I strive to solve. lol.
What's the best antidote?
Yes, Pretty please. Especially how to find your readers... xo I know anything you put out into the world will be brilliant.
Denise, I can always count on you for a vote of confidence. How to find readers is a BIG part of what I'm working on. So many people struggle with that, and so much of what's "taught" out there is so terribly ineffective for writers. :)
I'm interested in your strategies for drawing traffic into a website. I'm sure SEO is part of that, and I wonder what more there is.
Also, what do you think of the popups which appear on some websites for first time visitors which immediately offer something in exchange for signing up for their mailing list? (Even if that offer is just 'stay up to date on our news')
SEO is part of it, but not as big a part as you'd think.
Popups are an interesting subject because everyone says they hate them, but the dumb things work if they're done right. And by right, I mean not instantly. God, give the visitor time to see the darn site. lol. On exit popups work better than on entry popups. Also worth experimenting with them at top of page vs. bottom of page. People tend to want to put them at the top, up front, get that puppy out there. But I find they work better after people have had some time to look at the page, assuming they don't bounce instantly.
I tried to build a site a while back. I just was interested in learning Wordpress. I knew it was crap, but need to try. In doing so I realized I had a lot to learn.
I didn't know where I was going so the 1st thing I realized I need content. That drove me to Medium to learn to improve my writing.
This experience not only help with my writing but also in refining my niche.
I'm almost ready to I've it another try. Will be looking forward to whatever you produce.
Thank you I've been following you since I started on medium. I liked your easy honest style.
It's a lot, hey? I've worked in web design for over 20 years and one thing I see is that so many people struggle with the technology of building a site, but the real and bigger issue is the content and strategy that drives it. A lot of designers don't even understand that because they just learned the technology and think that's all they needed to know.
I'd be real interested in hearing more about refining your niche. Three little words, but wow, there's a lot behind that, too.
Last paragraph -- thank you very much. Those are kind words and much appreciated.
And you're just the one to do it! And, do it WELL.
Linda, Wordpress is too hard for me & I have tried to learn. What would be an easier site that I could actually do?
Wordpress has gotten pretty crazy, it's true. For that reason, I'm working on 2 projects. The first is the book/tutorial that I mentioned. It's purpose is to create a strategy that fits the writer's personality, because we aren't all the same.
The second is a pre-built writer site. I am using wordpress, but only because I hate the other platforms even more. lol. No one will need to "learn" wordpress from the ground up because it's all prebuilt. Just log in and edit the content.
I've had great results making these for small business owners on an individual basis, so I think there's some promise and potential in handing over a site that's already built and just needs to be edited and maintained. Not sure how much that helps, but it's what I'm working on. :)
Looking forward to it.
Margie, just a side note since you don't find WordPress user friendly. Have you ever looked at SquareSpace? I've checked it out recently and it's a lot more straightforward, although not free like WordPress.
I will investigate. Thanks, I bought my domain and this might be the way to go.
A friend of mine introduced me to Rebel website builder. I am not a techie, so I like the idea of just edit what you see. I don't know how it would work for writers.
Thank you for responding Linda. I appreciate you taking the time to read it. So many time you'll write to other writers and never hear back.
Good luck to you in new project.
Yes please, write about retaining website visitors and turn them into buyers of your book/writing.
My question: how do we know when it’s time to build a website? Specifically, when should we move from free sites (eg Medium, LinkedIn, etc) to creating our own?
Thank you!
My biggest piece of input here would be, I don't know wtf I want my writer site to do. I write on Medium and a couple newsletters, etc but as far as "Written by Krist," my actual website, there's no purpose other than to tell people where I write.
Does your book include "How to figure out wtf to do with your life?" 😂😂
Amazing how parallel our lives our lives run, writing, photography and Web marketing, except that you're younger, more motivated and far more talented. I've been in the Web design, maintenance, and SEO business since '94 and I'm completely burnt out, so much so that I haven't updated my own agency Site in at least five years, or created a Writer's Site for myself. Instead of doing the work, I, the proverbial shoeless cobbler, outsource it and spend my days reading Medium articles (and chastising myself for not publishing more ). I like your idea of creating a template for a well functioning Writer's Site. I may well be one of your first customers. If your design, UX and marketing skills are as good as your writing, it's guaranteed to be a winner.