Author website checklist: 12 things every author site needs

An author website has three jobs: get found when readers search for you, turn visitors into readers on your list, and send them to buy. Every item below serves one of those jobs. It works on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, an AI builder or anything else.

Get found

1. Your name in the home page title. “Your Name, author of Book Title”, not “Home”.
2. One page per book. Cover, description, series, formats and buy links for every store.
3. Book and author details Google can read. A small hidden block on each book page with the title, author, series and formats.
4. A sitemap submitted to Google Search Console. So new pages are found in days, not months.
5. A page Google can actually read. Check with site:yourdomain.com on Google. If pages are missing or show no description, see why author websites don’t show up on Google.

Turn visitors into readers

6. A signup form on the home page and every book page. Most visitors leave and never come back. The form is how you reach them again.
7. A reason to sign up. A free first chapter or bonus story works far better than “join my newsletter”.
8. Welcome emails that send themselves. The free chapter on day 0, the story behind the book on day 3, the buy link on day 7. See the book launch email sequence.

Sell books

9. Buy links for every store and format, checked before each launch. Broken buy links are one of the most common problems we find.
10. Series order made obvious. Readers who finish book one should see book two immediately.
11. A share image on every page. Your cover or author photo, so shared links look like your book, not a blank box.
12. A media kit page. A short bio, photos, interview topics and a contact, so podcasts, journalists and bookshops can say yes quickly.

Two things to check about who owns it

• Can you edit it yourself? Some providers don’t let you add a page without paying them.
• What happens if you stop paying? With some author website providers, the site goes offline when you stop renewing. Your domain, site and email list should sit on accounts you own.

Want a second pair of eyes?

We run a free author visibility audit against this list, plus your Amazon pages and Goodreads, and send written findings within 2 business days. You can also see an example author website built for a fictional author.