How to optimise your author website’s home page (so it actually works for you)

I feel like I’m on a one-woman mission… to see to it that authors actually have websites that properly reflect them. Because newsflash! If you’re a writer and an author (or one day you will be), it’s you. You’re the brand, not your book! With that in mind, you have to treat your home page with the respect it deserves. It’s got a big job to do and, right now, more author websites’ home pages are failing than not. Consider this the ultimate guide on how to best optimise your author website’s home page so that it actually works for you and the business of selling your books.

Why your home page matters more than you think

The home page on your website is more than just a digital welcome mat. In fact, don’t let me catch you using the words “welcome to my website” on your home page. Consider this a wrist slapping with my trusty old school wooden ruler! No, your home page is the first and most important chance you’ll get to hook the right readers, sell your books (and services if you offer them) and build an audience that loves everything you do, and not just that one book you wrote one time.

The thing is, many authors treat their home pages like a bio page or stuff it with vague words that don’t really mean anything. Your home page needs to guide visitors to your website towards a few choices—learn more about you and your work, and become lifelong fans and followers by doing things like following you on socials or signing up for your mailing list. You do have a mailing list, right? 

The thing is, you became a writer not to figure out how to write your website and home page, but to write books. I get it. Writing website copy definitely uses a different set of writing skills and parts of your brain than the ones you use to create amazing stories in faraway places. But it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Keep reading. I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to do to have the best author home page on the planet.

The Golden Rule: Your home page has one clear job

Your home page has one defined job to do and I’m betting that most of your home pages aren’t doing it right now. 

It’s job is to introduce who you are and what you write (or who you write for) so people can quickly decide if they want to stick around and learn more or not. (By the way, it’s worth mentioning that it’s ok if what they read on your home page isn’t for them and causes them to click away. Do you really want people to stick around and read your work if they’re not going to like it anyway? Probably not.)

Once they’ve figured out this important information, the rest of your home page is all about helping them to get to the right place on your website—whether that’s to learn more about you, to find out about your work, where they can buy your book or sign up with your newsletter, or even make contact with you. 

Now, as a copywriter, I don’t often advocate for multiple buttons and calls to actions on your website, but your home page is the exception to this rule. Because once people have figured out they like the look of who you are and want to learn more, the rest of your home page is one big signpost helping them to find out where to go next. You need buttons and “calls to action” on your home page. Without them, people won’t ever click through to any other pages of your website (yes, even if you do have a snazzy menu at the top of the page). 

So, when it comes to that first job—showcasing who you are and what you write, or who you write for—you need to have clear messaging at the very top of the page so it’s the first thing people see when they land on your website. And it has to catch their attention FAST. 

For fiction authors, this is the place you need to showcase the kind of stories you write about. Nonfiction authors, you’ll need to highlight your expertise in the areas you typically write about. And if you’re a service-based writer (an editor or ghostwriter, for example), you’ll need to highlight how you can help your chosen audience.

The essential elements of an author home page

So, with that in mind… What’s the best way to structure your author home page? Let’s dig into all the elements and not just what to include but WHY it matters and HOW to do it well. 

1.  A killer headline that instantly says what you write

Remember… we’re not welcoming people to your website here. At the top of the page, in those first moments someone lands on your website, you’ve got just seconds to capture their attention. Yes, a photograph or funky design can help here. But the words are what people will connect with. You need a solid headline that states who you are and why those people reading this headline should care. 

Let’s look at a couple of examples.

If you’re a fiction author writing thrillers, you might go for something like this:

Psychological thrillers that keep you up way past your bedtime

A ghostwriter might have something like: 

Turn your expertise into a published book, without spending a year writing it

Do you see how those headlines give a sense of what you do but also highlight why you might be interested in sticking around? Of course, there’s a bit more to a headline. I like to sandwich it between an SEO-friendly eyebrow line of copy to make the Google overlords happy, and a more detailed subheading to add extra clarity so people really know who you are and what you do. 

2.  A strong visual identity

Like I mentioned in my previous point, visuals capture attention. And in the instance where you’re an author or personal brand, a professional photograph of you is going to make one heck of an impact. 

Now, I’m also a photographer so I know I might sound biased here but I see too many websites being let down by a fuzzy, poorly captured selfie and it makes me sad. Because there’s not much point writing great copy for your website if the imagery isn’t going to keep people on the page long enough to read it! 

In conjunction with that, think about the design elements on the page. You don’t need to be a designer but there are a few solid choices you can make to give a more professional appearance: 

1: Consistent brand colours that reflect your vibe—ideally kept to a palette of around 3-5 colours. I love tinkering around on Coolors.co to find complementary colours. 

2: Consistent fonts. Stick to 2-3 fonts max for the entire website. A fancy-ish font for your headlines and subheadings (although make sure it’s readable!) and a clear font for the body copy on your website.

Yes, I’m a copywriter and not a designer. But capturing the reader’s attention is as much about how the page is designed and the where the words are placed, as what they actually say. 

3.  Clear, actionable calls to action

You can write the best words imaginable, but if you don’t tell people what to do next, they’ll never move beyond your home page. Calls to action (CTAs), or those funky little buttons with phrases like “Click me” or “Read more”, help people take the next step through your website in the direction they want to go. 

Now, the general advice with website copy is to not have too many different calls to action on a page. On a page that’s talking all about your book, for example, you want every call to action button to be to go and buy the book. Your home page is a little different though. 

Think of your home page as being the page that captures people’s attention, in the first instance. But then, as they scroll down the page, it becomes a signpost for all the different ways people can explore your website and learn more about you and your work. Your home page needs to have multiple calls to action that clearly offer next steps for your visitors. I’d recommend a section that connects to your About page, a section that connects to your services or book/s, and a clear call to action to your contact page if you want people to reach out. 

And here’s a small design tip: Make sure your call to action buttons are all styled the same way so it’s clear they’re the link between this page and wherever it is they lead to. 

4.  A brief, engaging bio

You’re the face of your brand and people connect with people first and foremost. Include a short bio on your home page. Nothing too long or extensive… you’ve got your whole About page to get into the nitty gritty details. But a few sentences that introduce who you are, what you do and why that matters to the people reading this page. And, just to round it off, a little personal detail that highlights who you are as a human being. If you’re smart, you can incorporate something that shows your credibility too, like how many books you’ve published or how many years you’ve been in business. A well crafted but enjoyable to read short bio is a skill (but it’s ok, you’re a writer, so…). 

It goes without saying that this section also needs a button taking people to your About page. But you knew that already, right? 

5.  Book or service showcase

Now people know who you are, let’s show ‘em what you do! 

If you’re an author, you’ll probably want to highlight your latest release in this section, or your last three books if you’ve written a bunch. If you offer services, this is where you can introduce your three main services. 

Notice how I say “three” in both those examples. I wouldn’t recommend adding any more than that. Three is the magic number as far as design and buying psychology goes. If you’ve got twenty books, or eight services, it can start to get a bit overwhelming so really refine this section to focus on what you’re wanting to sell right now. 

Your call to action here might be to each individual book or service. Or, if you’ve got lots more to offer, a link to an overview page that shares all your offerings. 

6.  An email sign-up that’s actually enticing

Whether you’re an author or you’re offering writing services, it’s important to have a way that people can stay in contact with you. And it needs to be something more reliable than following your social media accounts. I don’t think I need to go into why, do I?! 

I’m a big cheerleader for having a mailing list and emailing your subscribers on a regular basis. And you need a clear spot on your home page where people can sign up for that newsletter. Mostly because, even if they’re not ready to look at the rest of your website right now, or buy your thing, they’ll likely want to be reminded to come back at some stage. I know I often jump onto a website JUST to find the email sign up link, because I don’t have time to dig in right now but I don’t want to forget about this person. 

Your email sign up does need to be something worth signing up for though. It’s not enough now to say “Join my newsletter”. People’s inboxes are inundated so there has to be a compelling reason to hand over their email address. Offer them something concrete, like an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at your next novel, or the promise of something really juicy and useful to them. You don’t have to have a “lead magnet”, but if you don’t, you absolutely must make your emails sound irresistible (and follow through on that promise!).

Common mistakes that tank your home page (and how to fix them)

At this point, I’ve looked at hundreds, if not thousands, of home pages and I’ve got pretty good at spotting the common mistakes people make on them. Here are the top four mistakes (and how to fix them if you’re doing this, too!). 

Making your home page about you, not your reader

I’m going to say this with a whole lot of love and well-meaning, but when people land on your website, they don’t give a shit about you. All they care about is what’s in it for them. Yes, even an author website where they’ve come to learn about you and your book. Focus on using “you” language more than “I”. Show them what you can do for them. 

Trying to cram everything onto one page

I’m a classic one for front-loading all my annual goals into the first few months of the year, I won’t lie. And it never does me any good. 

The same (ish) principle applies to your home page. You don’t need to cram every last detail onto the page. You’ve got an entire website to spread the information out over! 

Space is a key element in helping your website to be more readable, so give your home page room to breathe. Your visitors will likely stick around a lot longer if you do. 

Making it a sales page

Just like cramming all the information onto your home page, it can be tempting to start selling from the moment someone lands on your website. If you’ve ever walked into a store and been followed around by the owner, asking you if you want to buy everything you’re casually looking at, I’m sure you already know just how annoying that is. 

Don’t treat your home page like a sales page. You’ve got plenty of time (and actual sales pages) to sell your books and services. 

No clear CTAs

I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has said to me, ‘I don’t know why people land on my website and never go to any of the other pages.’ And then when I look at their home page, the answer is immediately obvious. There’s not a single call to action there! 

If you don’t give people clear steps to take beyond your home page, then you can’t expect them to move any further past the page itself. Use those CTAs, honey! 

Optimising your home page for SEO (without getting too technical)

Of course, what I’ve talked about so far is all about what happens on your home page once people land there. But how do you get them there in the first place? 

That’s where SEO comes in. Search engine optimisation. And also all the new variants that relate to AI optimisation, too. I won’t pretend to know all their acronyms. Needless to say, they are all ways in which people find out about you and initially land on your beautiful home page. So, how do you write copy for this page and still get found online? 

My top tips aren’t necessarily all about the words you write, although that does factor in. Here’s what I’ve got for you. 

Prioritise readability but include keywords where it feels natural

Yes, we want search engines and AI platforms to find you so they share your website, but the last thing you want is a human landing on your page and immediately clicking away because the copy on there is so keyword dense that it’s hard to read. 

Start with writing your home page for the reader, because they’re who matter most in this. Once you’ve got all the pertinent information down and you’ve structured your page well, then you can go in and apply relevant keywords in places that make sense. 

A general rule of thumb is to have your keywords in your H1, the first paragraph of copy on the page and a few more times through the page where it feels natural. You can also include it in your alt text (but only if it feels appropriate) and image titles. And then include it in your page’s meta description.

Use your name and what you do in your page title

The page title, which is what shows up in the browser tab and Google search results, is prime SEO real estate. So, instead of just using “Home” or “Author Website”, get a bit more creative and change it to include your name and what you do. I.e. “Jane Smith | Thriller Author” or “Mark Chen | Freelance Editor for Nonfiction”. This helps search engines to understand what your website is all about and it helps readers find you when they’re searching specifically for authors or services in your category. 

Add descriptive alt text to your images

So many people add images to their websites and forget to update the alt text field. But you’re going to be better than that, aren’t you? Use this space to add a simple description of what’s in the image. Alt text is typically used for accessibility, but it’s also a great place to add in language that helps search engines understand your images. Don’t try to shoe-horn in keywords here. But if it’s a picture of you sitting at your desk, you can say “Sarah Jones sitting at her writing desk”. Or if it’s a pile of your books, you can write “Stack of published mystery novels” and still have it be useful for search engines to pick up on. As an added bonus, it’s a natural place to mention your name and what you do.

Next steps: Book a home page copy review

It’s all well and good me telling you what an optimal home page looks like, but what if you’ve already got a home page and you don’t know what needs to be done to make it even better? 

Well, guess what? I just so happen to have a freebie that you might find useful. It’s called the Home Page Copy Review Freebie and it’ll be the best 10 minutes you’ll spend on your home page this week. 

Opt in below, fill out the form when it gets sent over to you and then I’ll record a video of myself reviewing your very own home page with my thoughts and tips on how to improve it. Because it might just be a few tiny tweaks that get your home page working harder for you than it ever has before!