How to give your author website an audit
These days, it truly is possible to create your own stunning author website without being an expert. All it takes is time – most web platforms such as Squarespace and Wix are easy to use – once you’ve got over the initial learning curve, and learnt your way around their content management systems.
And that’s pretty easy to do because these days there’s a huge wealth of knowledge and resources out there to help you build your website from the ground up.
I’ve worked with several authors now who have built their own websites on various platforms, and they have largely had really positive experiences.
Most of them say they’re so unbelievably chuffed to have conquered the ‘tech mountain’ of building their own site, and as someone who loves working with technology, this is really gratifying.
But sometimes, they want a bit of reassurance, an expert eye and some hand-holding, and that’s where I come in.
As part of my ‘Squarespace Fridays’ support offering, I provide website audits.
These are especially designed for authors who have built their own websites but want an expert to look it over and double-check that everything is working as well as it possibly can.
Even as a web designer, you can get lost in the design process and there may be things you miss or forget when building a site.
In order to ensure these are minimised, I actually use an extensive checklist before launching a client website, just to make sure I’ve covered everything!
So, I thought it might be interesting to share what’s involved in a website audit.
Hopefully, you can use this information to give your own site a mini-audit, or if you’d like my expert eye on your site, then of course do get in touch!
Here’s how to give your author website an audit:
Step 1: Look at Your Website Through Fresh Eyes
Open your website and pretend you've never seen it before.
Imagine you're a reader who has just finished one of your books and decided to look you up online.
Ask yourself:
Is it immediately obvious who I am and what I write?
Can visitors tell what genre I write within a few seconds?
Does the website feel professional and up to date?
Is the homepage welcoming?
Would I want to explore further?
One of the biggest mistakes I see on author websites is assuming visitors already know who you are.
Most website visitors arrive knowing very little other than that they enjoyed your book and want to find out a bit more about you. This means you have to capture their attention with clear signposts.
Within seconds of arriving on your website, they should be able to answer:
Who is this author?
What kind of books do they write?
Where can I buy them?
How can I stay in touch?
If any of those answers aren't immediately clear, make a note.
Step 2: Check Your Author Bio
Your bio or ‘About’ page is one of the most frequently visited pages on your website.
Read it carefully with a subjective eye.
Ask yourself:
Is it still accurate?
Does it mention your latest books?
Have you won awards, received notable reviews, or achieved career milestones since you wrote it?
Does it sound like the author you are today?
Many authors write their bio once and then leave it untouched for years, but a stale bio can unintentionally make your career look less active than it really is. Make sure you include any and every bit of relevant information or news.
While you're there, check your author photograph too.
Does it still look like you?! (haha, I know I know - but at least on a ‘good day’)
You don't need a new headshot every six months, but if your photo is ten years old and no longer resembles the person turning up to events, it may be time for an update…
Step 3: Review Your Book Pages
Your books are (usually!) the reason most people visit your website.
Every book page should make it as easy as possible for readers to discover, understand, and buy your work.
Check that each book page includes:
A cover image
A compelling description
Buying links
Series information where relevant
Reviews or endorsements
Publication details
Now check for missing books!!
This sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed how many authors forget to add newer releases.
If you're traditionally published, don't assume your publisher's website is doing all the heavy lifting. Your website still needs to showcase every title clearly and professionally.
For upcoming books, make sure visitors can see how to pre-order, and reward them with some exclusive info if you can!
Step 4: Test Every Link
I know, I know. This is SO boring. But broken links create a frustrating user experience and can make a website feel neglected.
Take some time to click through your website and test:
Book retailer links
Newsletter sign-up forms (are they still connected and working?)
Contact forms (are messages getting through?)
Social media buttons (have you stopped using Twitter / X? Then get rid of the link!)
Blog links
Menu navigation
Pay particular attention to external links - especially ones that are meant to help readers buy your books!
Retailer links sometimes change and it looks really crap if these are out of date.
Step 5: Check Your Newsletter Sign-Up
If I could encourage every author to prioritise one thing on their website, it would be building an email list.
Why every author should set up a mailing list →
Social media platforms come and go and algorithms change constantly but your email list is one of the few marketing assets you truly own.
So again, try to visit your author website as if you're a new visitor. Can you easily find the newsletter sign-up? Is it obvious why someone should join?
Are you offering a reader magnet, exclusive updates, bonus content, or something else of value?
Most importantly, test the form yourself.
Submit a test sign-up and make sure everything works as expected - that your ‘thank you’ message is being delivered in a timely fashion, and that their email address appears on the right list in whatever newsletter software you’re using.
And on that note - if you’re not already using Squarespace Campaigns for your author newsletter, please allow me to encourage you to do so…
Why I use Squarespace Campaigns (not Mailchimp!) for my author newsletter →
Step 6: View Your Website on Mobile
I have said this many, many times in blog posts, but more than half of website traffic now comes from mobile devices.
Yet many authors only ever look at their websites on a desktop computer. Such a rookie error!
Make sure you open your website on your phone and work through it page by page.
Check:
Text size
Navigation menus
Images
Buttons
Contact forms
Newsletter sign-up forms
Ask yourself whether everything feels easy to use.
Tiny buttons, oversized images, and awkward layouts can create a frustrating experience for mobile users.
If something feels fiddly or difficult on mobile, it really is worth taking the time to fix it, as it makes a huge difference to your website’s effectiveness.
Step 7: Assess (and Refresh!) Your Homepage
Your homepage is usually your most visited page, and I tell authors to think of it as the ‘shop window’ to your author brand.
A strong homepage should answer these key questions:
Who are you?
What do you write?
Which book should visitors start with?
How can readers stay connected to you to hear about any future books you release?
Many author homepages try to do too much and become really cluttered and off-putting. Another of my mantras is ‘less is more’. Keep things simple and clear and make sure that all the above questions are answered easily when people scroll through your homepage.
Also, don’t be afraid to refresh your homepage from time to time! Mine has had multiple different looks (OK, it’s easy for me as it’s my job) but I do think that mixing it up a bit is a good idea - it gives repeat visitors the sense that your career is still active.
Step 8: Triple-check Your Contact Information
This is a such a massively common issue I see when I take a look at author websites - out of date information.
So when you’re doing your audit, take some time to check that your contact information is current and up-to-date!!
Ask yourself:
Is my email address correct?
Are my agent details accurate?
Have I changed publishers?
Are media enquiries being directed to the right person?
Again, if you're using a contact form, test it and make sure your messages are coming through.
A broken contact form can mean missed opportunities, event invitations, podcast requests, or media coverage.
Step 9: Review Your SEO Basics
You don't need to become an SEO expert to improve your website and I know that this stuff can feel super overwhelming. So I’d suggest starting with the basics.
Which means: searching for your author name in Google! It really is that simple.
When you do so, check:
Does your website appear?
Is the page title correct?
Is the description appealing?
Are your books appearing in search results?
Then log into the back-end of your website and review all your page titles.
Instead of generic titles such as:
"Home"
or
"Books"
consider adding some context to make them more appealing to search engines. Things like:
"Jane Smith | Historical Fiction Author"
or
"Books by Jane Smith"
Small improvements like this give the search engines more information which will increase your likelihood of appearing high up in the results.
Step 10: Check Website Speed
The speed with which your websites load also has a big impact on your SEO. But more than that, it’s really annoying for visitors!
How many times have you visited a website to find that it loads so slowly you give up and leave?
So, take some time to open your website and pay attention to how quickly the pages appear - especially longer ones like blogs. If it’s all super slow and sluggish, then the likelihood is that it’s large image files that are to blame.
Make sure when you upload images to your author website that none of them are above 500KB.
I have some more advice on this in the blog post below.
Step 11: Ask Someone Else to Test It
Last but not least - one of the most valuable things you can do is ask another person to spend five minutes on your website and make a note of anything that bothers them / doesn’t work / confuses them.
Ideally, you want to choose someone who isn't already familiar with it. Even better if it’s someone who loves to read!
Ask them:
What do you think I write?
Was anything confusing?
Could you find my books?
Could you find my newsletter?
Was there anything frustrating?
It’s really difficult to check over something you’ve created yourself - hence why we have so many copy-editors and proofreaders going through our books before publication. Fresh eyes often spot problems we've become completely blind to, and this step can be really illuminating and helpful. They may also come up with ideas for improvement that you had never thought of.
OK, those are the steps to take when you’re doing an audit of your website.
But for those who love a checklist, here are some questions to have to hand as you do so…
Is it super clear immediately on your homepage who you are and what you write?
What does the navigation look like – how many items are in the navigation, do they have straightforward titles (nothing too artistic here – we want things to be simple and easy to use)?
Is there a link to the homepage in the navigation? (top tip: this is not necessary! Your site title/logo can serve as a link to your homepage!)
Is there a short description of the books on the homepage, or at least some idea of what the books are about/what genre they are?
Are all past and future books listed, with clear links to buy or pre-order them?
Are the links to social media clear and easy to find – and more importantly still, do they work!? Eg, people add a Facebook icon to their site but forget to actually link the thing up to their own Facebook page
Is the author bio quick to find, or is it buried somewhere? Is there a professional author headshot?
And last but not least, my personal crusade – is there an obvious call to action on every page, and are you building a mailing list?
Content is clearly a crucial component of your author website, but we also need to look at the design of the site.
Good content poorly designed means that visitors to your website will leave disappointed, without being able to find what they needed.
So, under ‘design’ look at:
Whether the website’s overall feel suits the genre of the books. For example, if you’re writing crime thrillers, you probably don’t want a website that’s flowery with scripty fonts and tons of pink. Bear in mind too that you may have to put your personal taste to one side here – your website should serve your readers, not you, so give them what they expect/are looking for
Is there plenty of white space? Are all elements on the page spaced out nicely so that content stands out, rather than looking crowded or cluttered?
Does the website have a maximum of three fonts? Are different heading sizes used effectively and consistently? Do the fonts work well together, or do they jar?
Is the body font at least 16px big? Small fonts are a real no-no these days. We want content to be easy to read and bigger is better!
How many colours are used on the site, and do they sit well together?
Are the photos high resolution and do they look professional? Are they cropped correctly?
Is the text an easy colour to read? Do links within text contrast properly so that people know they are links?
Is all text broken into easily digestible short and sweet lines? We want to avoid large, unbroken paragraphs of text.
If text overlays an image, is it easy to read? Do buttons line up nicely?
Does all text have plenty of space around it, making sure none runs from wall-to-wall (the full width of the site)?
Is there a contact form and is it easy to find?
How does the website look on mobile and iPad? Is the design fully responsive, or does it go bananas?
Is there a favicon? (a favicon is the tiny little icon that appears next to your website address in your browser window)
If the author used a web platform builder such as Squarespace or Wix, has their branding been removed from the footer?
And finally, some SEO points to explore:
Are all navigation links simple and clear?
Are URL extensions also simple and clear, making use of keywords where relevant and also correlating with the navigation links?
Is there a site title and site description that’s keyword rich and explains exactly what the site is about?
Does the site have a custom domain? (we want to avoid things like lovelyauthor.wordpress.com)
Is the site connected to social media so that visitors can share content from it easily?
Does each page have a dedicated social sharing image?
Does each page have an SEO description?
Does the site have an SSL certificate? (good news, if you built it on Squarespace, it will have one automatically!)
Phew! So, as you can see, there’s quite a lot to cover when building your website to ensure that it’s reaching its full potential, and working its hardest for you.
It’s really worth taking the time to run through all of these elements and take a look at your website with a critical eye, as getting these things right can make a huge difference to how your site is received.
