I seem to spend a lot of time browsing publisher websites and, with some exceptions, I’m always surprised at how little effort these sites put into attempting to engage me as a consumer. The Internet is a great tool for communicating with your customers, and for direct selling, and publishers just aren’t taking advantage of this. In this post, I’ll try to lay out some of the specific features that should, or could, go into a strong web presence. I’ll develop these ideas separately in future posts.

An attractive design

This should go without saying… but judging by a lot of sites out there, it doesn’t. Your website isn’t a front end for your database. It’s the public face of your business.

A clear front page

This should communicate at a glance what kind of books you publish, and how the reader can use the site to find out more. Remember your users weren’t at your design meetings, so they’re only going to find your content if you tell them it’s there, and show them how to find it.

A well optimized, content-rich page for every title

Every book in your list should have its own page, which is both optimised for search engine visibility and full of useful content for potential readers. Slapping up your Onix data isn’t going to cut it if you want to rank above authoritative reviews, Amazon, and Wikipedia pages for the title: you need to think about the unique content that you can provide, be it excerpts, videos, author interviews, reading group notes, free stories, etc. Imagine that Joe is going to send Jim one link to an information page about your book: what can you offer that will make him send a link to your page, rather than Amazon’s?

A well optimized, content-rich page for every author

Here again, a simple list of the titles you publish by this author isn’t enough. Think about your competition. If you want the chance to establish direct communication with readers about an author, you need to rank highly in Google searches for that author’s name. What kind of unique content can you offer that will beat the offerings on Amazon, Wikipedia, blogs, and other websites? Again, think about videos, think about interviews, extra downloadable content. And don’t abdicate the responsibility for this to your authors: if they don’t know or care about creating great web pages, they aren’t going to be able to do much for you. If they do, they should be busy developing their own sites.

Crystal-clear and versatile newsletter options.

Don’t make it all or nothing. No reader cares about everything a publisher produces, and if you try emailing them about everything you produce, or just about the key titles, whether or not they reflect the reader’s interest, they’re going to stop reading your newsletters. The more that a reader can tailor the communications they receive from you to their interests, the better those communications are likely to convert into site visits, awareness, and sales.

A user-friendly, transparent, direct purchasing system.

These days, customers have pretty high standards when it comes to website purchases. The slicker and more informative you can make the system, the better. Provide shipping information and pricing up-front.

Added value for direct purchases

New customers need a reason to buy from an unknown entity like a publisher website rather than through their usual channels. “Supporting the industry” as a reason might work 2% of the time, but it’s worth chasing the other 98% of potential sales as well. Think about how you can add value to direct purchases from the site. These could be across-the-board promotions (free x with every title) or specific promotions to tie in with specific titles. Some ideas for one or other category include free samplers, free random books (works better within a narrow genre), signed copies, postcards/stickers/posters, free audio downloads, ebooks, or chapbooks. It might help to think of promotions that will help not only sweeten the deal for this purchase, but lead to future purchases too.

A regularly updated blog with good content

A well managed blog can attract both regular visitors and links to your site, but the key here is content. Write about things that matter to your market (if you have a very broad market, think about splitting into different blogs for genres/imprints, or just focus on a key area). Let’s say you print science fiction. What do sci-fi readers want to read about? How about unique interviews and features about their favourite authors? Write up conventions, maybe offer (authoritative) reviews of new TV shows, or revisit neglected sci-fi classics. Talk about what’s going on with other science fiction sites, and make your blog an active part of the online community.

Blogs about a book publicist’s day are great… if you publish books aimed at book publicists, and a blog that talks incessantly about the inner workings of a publishing house might work if it’s engaging enough, and your titles are of a literary bent… or it may increase the size of your slush pile before it increases your sales.

Edit: see more about publisher and author websites in our Book Websites category.