The simple answer to this is yes. If you conduct an internet search of your favourite authors you will most probably find that all of them have their own designated author website and you must too. Every author needs to promote their book and one of the easiest and most effective ways to do so is through an author website.

It is not so very difficult to create a simple yet eye catching and informative website. Here is how to do so.

First, begin with the basics and choose a simple domain name. You want readers to easily find your website so the most obvious choice is your author name. Failing that, choose something that matches the genre that you write in. It is strongly recommended that you do NOT name your site after your published book. You want the site to grow with you as you publish more books and this is not possible if you name it after your first book, so choose wisely.

Ask yourself if you have the skills and knowledge to build your own website? If so then go ahead; if not then you need someone to do it for you. It is not worth your energy in struggling to set up a website if you know you will fail. Call in a professional and concentrate on what you do best; writing.

If you do feel that you have the skills then choose a web hosting site that is easy to use and navigate. Conduct an internet search of popular authors who write in a similar style to your own and note what sites they use. This will give you a good indication of what web hosting sites to choose from. Popular ones are WordPress, Weebly, and Blogger. One of the easier ones to set up and navigate is Blogger.

Make the display easy to read and jargon free. Use simple fonts, no more than two, and only choose a couple of colours for your background. Never under any circumstances use white text on a black background as this is very difficult to read. Also the use of background music that auto plays is very distracting for the reader, so do not add any.

Keep information and language simple. Do include a list of your books that are currently available and state ‘Available to buy now’ as well as making sure to include the blurb of each book so that people know what the book is about. You must also include the book cover so that the book becomes instantly recognisable.

It is also a good idea to add any books that will be available soon and once again add the blurb and book cover.

Finally, make sure to include a photograph of yourself. It is a known fact that readers do not like ‘anonymous’ websites as they like to feel as if they can identify with an author and a photograph helps them to achieve this.

So start creating that website today and have fun while doing so.