designers

Identifying Your Website Needs and Design Preferences a.k.a. Doing Your Homework

Nadia Lee Resources, Topic of the Month 4 Comments ,

If you haven't done so, please read the first installment titled Identifying Your Site's Purpose and Audience, Go-Live Date, Your Budget, and Your Technical Aptitude before reading this week's article.

Once you know your website's purpose, your audience, go-live date, your budget and technical aptitude, you're about halfway there.

Now go to Google or professional writer's organizations websites. Search for author sites. View as many sites as you can. This isn't just procrastination, folks. You have to take a lot of notes while you surf. Note what draws you in. Pay special attention to readability, ease of navigation, loading speed, etc. If something's hard to read or access, make a note on why that may be.

Also almost all author sites tell you who designed them. If you see something you like, find out who did the work. Conversely, if you see something fugly, make a note of that too.

I also found the following articles written from reader / bookseller POV very useful:

Now make a list of all the things you want for your site. Start with color schemes, contents (bio, books / projects, blog, etc.), layout (horizontal menu or vertical / left or right sidebar?), etc.

A few rules of thumb:

  • KISS: Keep it simple stupid.
  • Readability is king: Black or very dark font against pale / light background works the best. Your font should be big enough to not cause eye strain. Remember, your audience -- be it agents, editors, booksellers and/or readers -- probably read a lot. So be kind to their eyes.
  • Fast loading: Too many complex and big graphics will make your site virtually impossible to load. If it doesn't load within 3-5 seconds, people will leave.
  • Easy navigation: Don't get cute and label your bio navigation button "The Great Epic of My Life" or some such. People won't get it.
  • Google-Friendly: Don't do a ton of flash or other bling-bling animations. Don't do stuff that turns Google off. Google is your friend.
  • Be flexible: You may have some "cool" ideas, but the designer you hire may veto it. Trust your designer's aesthetic sensibility. That's what you hired her for.

P. S. While you are browsing author sites, think about whether or not it makes sense for you to have the cool feature you saw on Author Suzie's site. Maybe Suzie has a huge forum. Do you need one if you're a debut novelist or an aspiring author? If you don't need it now, don't put it on the requirement list. It'll only make your site more expensive to launch. Start out with basics first, then move up when you can afford to or need to.

Next week, I'll talk about the actual process of requesting quotes and some of the sites and resources I used.

Identifying Your Site's Purpose and Audience, Go-Live Date, Your Budget, and Your Technical Aptitude

Nadia Lee Resources, Topic of the Month 7 Comments ,

This is the first article of the month of September. I'll be discussing how to hire a web designer, esp. after having done it once. :) I didn't do all these things, and I wish I had.

These days, it looks like every writer, aspiring or otherwise, has a website and/or blog. Here's what Kristin Nelson has to say about author sites & blogs:

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a good website, with solid content, if you are going to have one at all. More on this in a minute.

If you don't have a website, that's fine too. I'll still ask for a full manuscript if I like the sample pages enough. There are pros and cons to footing the bill of a website before you are even published so don't stress about it or run out and get one right now because I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

But if you do have a website or blog and you are currently looking for an agent, or to make your first sale, or what have you, I can offer a couple of words of advice.

Don't have a website/blog unless it can be a professional one. The homemade sites look it and just make me cringe. It won't keep me from asking for your full (or if I like the novel, offering representation) but it's not putting your best foot forward and that's never a benefit.

I don't think Kristin's opinion is unusual. My own agent told me the same thing.

Anyway, let's say that you can't design your own website for various reasons. What should you do? Should you go out and just hire the first designer you find?

Before you ask for a quote from a designer, you must identify the following:

  1. The purpose of your website
  2. Your audience
  3. Go-live date
  4. Your budget
  5. Your technical aptitude (your familiarity with HTML, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, Photoshop, etc.)
1. The Purpose of Your Website

It's incredible how so many people never consider why they have a website. Don't have one just so you can tell everyone you have one.

What are you trying to do with your website? Are you unpublished and trying to showcase your commitment and projects? Are you contracted for a book and trying to attract readers? Are you published and use your site for self-promo?

Know why you need a website. It'll save you a lot of time and money.

2. Your Audience

This is so important. If you're an unpublished writer trying to land an agent, your audience will be different from a New York Times bestselling author.

3. Go-Live Date

You must know when your site is going to go live. Good designers are very busy, and they have a waiting list. Obviously the longer you can wait, the more designer choices you will have.

4. Your Budget

You must know how much you're willing to spend. Or else you'll end up spending more than you should. (This is something I learned from my years in consulting.)

5. Your Technical Aptitude

If just reading the terms "HTML", "PHP", "DB", "CSS", etc. makes your eyes glaze over, you shouldn't be coding your own site, unless you plan to devote the next six months to mastering programming, etc.

Also, this may mean you need to hire someone to maintain your site for you after it's been professionally designed and launched. Do not try to do it yourself if you honestly don't feel confident about it. Sooner or later, you'll break the entire site layout.

That's it for this week.

Any questions, comments, tips, etc.? Feel free to share. Next week, I'll talk about identifying your website needs and design preferences, a.k.a. doing your homework.

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