Creating a writer's web site

Does a writer really need a web site? Yes.

Next question?

If you are interested in having someone buy your writing, get a web site with yourname.com or yourcompanyname.com as the address. If you just want to write about your kids/cats for your friends and family, most ISPs provide a web site for free. You can even get free blogging space at a variety of sites. Knock yourself out.

If you want to create a web site for your writing business, it will cost you one latte a month. Here's how you do it:

After an exhaustive search, the best deal I found was $2.99/month for a 12- page web site with 1and1.com: http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=8549693, Click on the DOMAINS tab and then click on the INSTANT WEB SITE section in the middle of the page.

(Fair disclosure: I get a $10 kickback if you choose 1and1.com. I was with another provider and switched to 1and1 because I thought it was the best deal I found for beginners and more advanced users like me. They offer very good tech support that will hold your your hand while troubleshooting your problems. Other cheap providers include http://www.fatcow.com/ and http://www.godaddy.com/. For a detailed reviews of many hosting providers, go to CNET.com: http://reviews.cnet.com/Web_hosting/2001-6540_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir. )

GENERAL NOTES:
You may feel like you're not a real writer but that shouldn't show up on your web site. So many writers have web sites that scream "I'm only doing this part time" or "I'm not taking this seriously." I've found one simple trick to avoid this pitfall: don't use the personal pronoun "I." Although you may feel like Bob Dole, write about yourself in the third person. This web site is first and foremost a marketing tool and so write it as if your publicist wrote it. Be professional and sell your assets.

SPLASH PAGES:
Beware of splash pages that use flash, they delay getting to the heart of the matter. Think what either a potential client or a reader/fan would want to find first. Good splash pages:

Static: Cliff Pickover: http://www.pickover.com/ (Best splash page. Sets tone of serious, prolific, well-respected author.)
Flash: Quigley McCormick: http://www.quigleymccormick.com/ (Shows author is very kid friendly)

BLOG:
If you are going to blog, do it on the home page so that people can bookmark it. The more hits you get on the home page, the higher your search engine rankings. If you blog, make it about something that other people will want to read. The most popular blogging software packages are Blogger and MovableType (or Typepad). For more information check out these CNET.com articles: http://reviews.search.com/search?q=Blogging&tag=srch

If you blog, think about what expertise or point of view you can bring to the unwashed masses. If you specialize in a specific beat, write about it. Surf the sites you normally would and when you find something interesting, link to it in your blog and make a short comment or three. That's it. What you are selling here is your time. (You're always selling your time but that's a bigger discussion.) You are telling your blog's readers that this item you've found is worth their time.

If you get good, you'll get noticed. Maybe even have advertising on your blog from the industry you cover or competing blogs. That's great. Join a web ring and be the king of the mountain or the belle of the ball. You can even go multimedia and include daily audio reports that people can download into their iPods!

Sounds like fun, but there is one big catch: THE INTERNET IS AN OPEN MAW THAT CAN NEVER BE FILLED. You stare at the abyss and it stares back at you.

You're selling your time. The time you spend writing your blog is time you should spend selling your writing services. Unless you really market the heck out of it, chances are that only people you personally direct to your site will read it. There might be some word of mouth growth but not the groundswell of your fevered lotto imaginings. If you want to make a go of becoming a blog god/goddess, first check out Guerrilla Marketing for Writers : 100 Weapons to Help You Sell Your Work. From a sanity point of view, invite your readers to contribute items so that you are not the only one rowing this boat.

WHAT GOES IN YOUR WEB SITE?
The Instant Web Site at http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=8549693 is 12 pages. That's a home page telling about your services with lots of testimonials about you. Include a photo if you're not running from the law or you think your age (extreme youth or maturity) will hurt you in a given market. The next page is an about us/bio page. The rest of the site is 10 samples of your work.
If you have tear sheets, convert them to PDFs using Acrobat or scan them as JPGs, but put a thumbnail on the linking page so that readers don't have to click on the large file to get an idea of what it looks like. Great example: Scott Johnston: http://www.scottjohnston.com/. (Very professional. Check out how he displays his collateral materials in his portfolio section.)

You can also see a quick and easy way to do it on our articles page (http://www.writethefirsttime.com/art_working_dead.htm). Some of the articles we've written for major magazines were either before the dotcom era or are behind a registration/paid-member firewall (like almost everything we wrote for any Time, Inc. publication). So how to get around that for the casual reader who just want to see a sample. Go to the magazine's web site, right click on the magazine logo. Select copy. Then go into your sample web page. Right click and select paste. Now the magazine logo is on your sample page. Paste your text underneath it and give the credit information. This also works for dotcom era sites that are no longer active.

If you want to increase your ranking in the search engines, there are a few tricks involving meta tags. Mostly these involve declaring yourself the "premier resource covering" whatever. Fire up your search engine and type in "increase search engine rankings" and read the articles. Remember that 99% of the people who read your site will be directed there by you. Search engines generally aren't a factor in this game.

Below are some of the best writer's web sites according to Writer's Digest Magazine. All of them are worth looking at to give you ideas, but pay special attention to the ones that have my comments in parentheses.

2004 Writer's Digest Best Writer's Web Site
GRAND PRIZE: Keri Smith http://www.kerismith.com/ (Shows illustrative flair which makes navigation difficult)
Runners-Up:
Chad Neuman: http://www.chadneuman.com/
Quigley McCormick: http://www.quigleymccormick.com/ (Shows author is very kid friendly)
Milli Thornton: http://www.fearofwriting.com/
A.J. Vasaris: http://www.ajvasaris.com/
Roxyanne Young: http://www.roxyanneyoung.com/
Randy Ingermanson: http://www.rsingermanson.com/
Derek and Gretchen Roberts: http://www.writeroberts.com/
Alex Beauchamp: http://www.alexbeauchamp.com/
Angela Dickson: http://www.angeladickson.com/ (Check out her freelance writer page: http://www.angeladickson.com/freelancewriter.html for the professional vibe she gives.)

2003 Writer's Digest Best Writer's Web Site: http://www.writersdigest.com/articles/mersch_Web_site.asp
GRAND PRIZE: Scott Johnston: http://www.scottjohnston.com/ (Very professional. Check out how he displays his collateral materials in his portfolio section.)
Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Andrea Campbell: http://www.andreacampbell.com/
Kimberly Edwina Campbell: http://www.luckypenny.net/
Sharon Hegwood: http://www.threeolbags.com/
Lance Hopson: http://www.lancehopson.com/ (Web site expired)
Kathryn S. Mahoney: http://www.crackedatbirth.com/ (Shows good attitude for a humor writer)
Sharron McClellan: http://www.sharronmcclellan.com/ (Very cleanly organized. Good look.)
Susan Richardson: http://www.susanrichardsonwriter.co.uk/
James J. Smith: http://www.wordblindman.com/ (Web site expired)
Jade Walker: www.jadedwritings.com

2002 Writer's Digest Best Writer's Web Site: http://www.writersdigest.com/articles/the_best_site.asp
GRAND PRIZE: David Leite: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/ (Excellent food site that will draw readers on its own and is a great showcase for his writing.)
Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
Ruby Bayan: http://www.oursimplejoys.com/ (Very good organization, see how she addresses each of her potential audiences. Helpful links but the blog is a little too much me, me, me.)
Meryl K. Evans: http://www.meryl.net/ (Professional tone, easy navigation to 2 blogs and RSS [Really Simple Syndication] feeds)
Sharon Fullen: http://www.writesalot.com/ (Very clean, uncluttered design.)
Wendy Lyons: http://www.weathervanecommunications.com/ (Web site expired)
Cliff Pickover: http://www.pickover.com/ (Best splash page. Sets tone of serious, prolific, well-respected author.)
Elizabeth Routen: routen.windriverpress.com
Sandra Smith: http://www.pagesmith.net/
Robert Winkler: pages.cthome.net/rwinkler (Good web site for specialty nature writer)
Robert Woodcox: http://www.theghostwriter.net/ (Excellent professional ghostwriter site.)