A Dialogue about Authors' Websites in General and This Author's Website in Particular

by Nancy R. Koerner
(Naples, FL, USA)

Belize Survivor - Author's Website

Author's site: Belize Survivor

This dialogue continues from the Comment section of a self publisher post elsewhere on the site.

STEVE: So let's talk about writing for the web. How should a website be written? I've seen websites that urged me to read them in order but I, the visitor, come armed with a cursor. Don't you dare tell me how to use it! Search engines scan shallowly. Pages need be within a few clicks from the home page. Page 17? Forget it.

NANCY: I agree that we cannot dictate how others move around the internet. As surfers, we can hang two, or hang ten, or fall off our boards, but how we approach the breakers is our own prerogative. I am really not well-versed in the intricacies of search engines. I do know successful websites require very clean content, clean coding, frequent updates on current data, and true reciprocity of links rather than one-leggers, but websites extending beyond ten pages are a mystery to me and any supposition on my part would be presumptuous.

STEVE: So, as a well-considered, self-critical writer, how did you approach your website? Did you view it as a piece of writing? An advertisement? How did you imagine it would attract attention? How did you decide what to write for that home page?

NANCY: It is my opinion that a website, like a novel or painting or sculpture or piece of music, should be mindfully crafted as a work-of-art. Multifaceted, it must have balance and clarity of purpose, and convey the hard factual information in a succinct and concise manner. It is part advertisement and part literature. Yet, for the writer, it should also be a dance of color and intrigue – a poetic and thoughtful articulation specifically contrived to draw in the sensibilities of the reader. Uncluttered, with artful use of “white space,” surfers should not have to “read” your website per se. Their eye should be able to pass over the pages and glean an instantaneous and comprehensive understanding before honing in on the sections that are specifically relevant to their interests.

STEVE: I don't disagree with a word of that (and it was very well put), yet I'm most struck by what you didn't say. Not a word about what a website need do to be found! You state that it's part advertisement, but how is the viewer supposed to even come across it? In your original post you say you "established" your website. Is that enough? What do you do to bring eyeballs to it, or is establishing it enough?

NANCY: On the passive side of the equation, when it comes to “spidering” your website, e.g. making it optimally visible to the major search engines, yes, establishing clean content from the get-go is absolutely critical for the long run. Tricky rank manipulation or repetition of keywords hidden in the white space will eventually work against you. Clean content allows for the easy absorption of information by the WebCrawler mechanism which translates into higher ranking. It just takes time.

Proactively, I have found that press releases deliver the single greatest periodic boost and are extremely effective. Simply stated, a press release is where news meets advertising. They hit with a bang, delivering perhaps four to six hundred hits over the course of about ten days, with a lingering effect in the weeks or months to follow. Upcoming events such as book signings, reading festivals, newspaper articles, interviews, and organizational liaisons are all cause for a press release. Although these follow a very strict format, it’s easy enough to find samples online. PR Web www.prweb.com is self-guided and easy because the information won’t upload until the form is filled out correctly. There is a cost, but you can pick your package according to desired coverage.

Reciprocal links are steadier, delivering substantial longevity, but they must be truly reciprocal with active and relevant partners. According to my venerable webmaster, one-legged links are not only ineffective, but can actually be detrimental in the long run.

Repeated article submissions, regular blog entries in conjunction with your subject or organizational affiliate, and anything else that gets your book and your name in the spotlight generates an aggregate that will work on your behalf.

STEVE: Yes, yes, more yes, and...no. Regarding bringing eyeballs to your website, I'm going to take issue with "It just takes time."

I'm looking at your "meta" keywords, the searches for which you want your site, presumably, to be found. I see:

Belize, survivor, dark, side, paradise, novel, story, book, literary, Nancy, Koerner, author, domestic, violence, women, adventure, tropical, survival, natural, lifestyle, spiritual, growth, courage, travel, Mountain Equestrian Trails, Mountain Pine Ridge, Rio Frio, Browen, Cave, Big Rock Falls, Xunantunich, ruins, Cayo, Central America, blue morpho

Let's consider the first ten. You can take all the time you want, your site - as currently consituted - is NEVER going to rank highly for any of those words (unless you manage to become one of the world's 10 most famous Nancy's).

Why? Because it shouldn't. Because your site isn't a major source of information on any of these subjects. (Some of the choices are a little odd. For instance, "dark" should be paired with "side" - no comma in between - unless you consider yourself an expert on "side.")

Let's take the first word: Belize. Now let's assume I'm Googling for information on Belize. I'm pretty happy with the results. By the 2nd listing on the 1st page, I know practically everything I want to know. I don't need to read the other 168,999,998 listings!

And if your site had come up on that first page? (Or even the first 100 pages?) I would have thought Google was broken! Or that it was 1998 and Search was still in its primitive stages, back when hiding keywords in white space could have worked for even a moment.

Why? Because belizesurvivor.com is NOT a source of information on Belize. That's what I was searching for information on, and that's what my search engine wants to give me. Belize Survivor the book may be a good source of information on Belize, but Google didn't read your book, and it's not their job to send me to sites that sell books that might be good sources.

They'll send me to Wikipedia instead.

Your site, right now, is a decent source of information on your book and on you, and - sure enough - it ranks #1 and #2 on a Google search for Belize Survivor and #9 for Nancy Koerner.

So, other than perhaps needing a little more time (or content) to rise in the Nancy Koerner rankings (if I add your middle initial, you move up to #2), I would make the case that your site has basically arrived at (or near) its final resting place in the rankings. You will be remaining dependent on those press releases for the overwhelming majority of your traffic.

That is, unless you plan on adding some content that'll make the site a better source of information on some other, broader subjects! (For instance, Books About Belize. Currently you rank #85, which isn't high enough to get found, but shows promise. I suspect a little work on the site could zoom you up that list.)

Of course, you're free to disagree. Do tell me if you think you're going to be the #1 site for "side"!

By the way, if you want to start moving up those Nancy Koerner rankings, I'd start by changing the url of your About Me page from

/about_author.html

to

/nancy_koerner.html

NANCY: Excellent insights, Steve. Thank you. It’s true that I have been rather disappointed with my visibility thus far, and what you say definitely makes sense. I am grateful. After all, the purpose of your site is to share information, and you can be sure I will be in touch with my webmaster to see how we can best implement these suggestions.

NANCY: After discussion with my webmaster, we have decided that changing the author page title is a good suggestion. Titles are indeed important, and changing that page to Nancy_Koerner.html does make good sense. Furthermore, he may possibly finesse one or more other page titles accordingly, agreeing that the title does need to have a fair amount of correspondence with the content. Beyond that, it is probably not possible for me to comment any further in this area as it has become more of a discussion between webmasters, and I am but a lowly wordsmith!

STEVE: I see on your About-the-Author page that you are a former professional musician. Did you have a website for your group? And if so, what did you do to gain optimum internet visibility? Was the method effective?

NANCY: I created Celestial Harp and Flute in 1999 and the website went online in 2000. It was simple, straightforward, with very clean content, and I loaded the search engines myself. The only page that regularly changed content was the performance schedule. By the time my website had been up for three years, it came up SECOND on Yahoo search under the keywords "harp and flute." Don't forget, there are a host of potential tangents for harp and flute – CDs, lessons, performances, etc. and, of course, we're talking worldwide. That was another reason for my pre-stated opinions about ranking. My methods have worked well for me in the past.

(Discussion continues in Comments.)