Should You Renovate Your Author Website Or Start Over? | Web Design Relief

Visit a few of your favorite author websites and you’ll see some that just need a little touch-up, while others need a complete overhaul. Where does your author website fall on the spectrum? Is your author website a fixer-upper, or does it need to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch? The experts at Web Design Relief can help you determine whether you should renovate your author website or start over.

Reasons Why You Should Rebuild Your Author Website From Scratch

Much-needed updates. Let’s face it—having an outdated author platform isn’t the best marketing strategy. It can be a big red flag to web visitors that your website, and maybe even your content, is outdated. When your author website design is missing key, up-to-date features like social media widgets, mobile-friendly layouts, and responsive images, it is better to start from scratch than try to extensively manipulate your current website.

Rebranding. While some authors find their niche and stick to it, others take their career in an entirely new direction. For example, if you’re a children’s book author and are now suddenly publishing horror novels, a new website is certainly in order. This can help you better target your new audience and increase your readership.

New concepts or functions. For many authors, their websites serve as an online storefront to sell books and other merchandise. However, now most authors are shifting to selling their books on third-party retailers like Amazon, or simply offering them as e-books on Kindle and Nook. If you’re thinking about ditching the shopping cart or adding a new concept to your website (like creating a platform for blogging), it’s time for a new website!

Writing career relaunch. If you’ve taken a break from writing for a prolonged period of time, you may feel like you simply need to dust off your old author website. However, a new website can actually give your career a boost! How? Rather than emphasizing the gap in your writing career (which may be evident if you’re using your old site), a new website will give your readers a visual treat with eye-catching designs, new logos, updated headshots, and insights into forthcoming projects!

A bigger, better budget. If your website was originally built on a shoestring budget, and you now have the finances available to create something better, the smarter choice is to invest in a completely new author website rather than renovating the old one. You can toss out those overused, standard website themes and opt for a completely customized website! Instead of sticking to basics, you can choose interactive design features like scrolling headers, oscillating color schemes, and more. And even better, you can now have someone else do all the work! Hire the professionals at Web Design Relief.

Reasons Why You Should Renovate Your Author Website (And How To Do It)

Update your color scheme. This is one of the easiest ways to update your author website and give its overall appeal a boost. The latest trends call for neutral shades with a vibrant pop of color, but play around with your settings until you find a color story that suits your writing style and genre!

Add or update your photos. Breathe new life into your existing website! Update your headshot and add some new accent photos of important events in your writing career. 

Social media integration. For a successful writing career, networking is a must. Add social media follow buttons to your header or footer (or both!) so readers and industry insiders can stay connected and follow you.

Your writing career is ever-changing, and your author website should keep up with current design trends as well as your latest writing news. If you’ve undergone a major change in your career, or your website is stuck in the wrong decade, it may be time to start from scratch. Or you may just need a bit of polish in order to shine. Need more tips on how to revitalize your author website? We’ve got you covered.