Book website design can be tricky. Mostly because it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to include everything you think should matter, when in actuality you’re making it more challenging for your visitor to simply buy your book.

So we created this simple quiz (it’s only 7 ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions) to kickstart the conversation about whether you’re on the right track with the creation (or maintenance) of your author website.

And try not to look ahead, I promise doing this organically will serve you better in the long run!

Now let me fully explain the biggest mistake authors make.

The biggest mistake I actually see authors make with their book website design, in terms of what really affects that final sale, is giving visitors too many choices.

An overstimulated mind has a hard time making decisions.

In fact, shoppers typically respond more favorably when a site has a strong, clear process for purchasing.

That’s why having more than 3 retail options prominently featured for each of your books can create problems.

Whether you love or hate Amazon, or land somewhere in between, the Amazon button should always be included, but do you really need others?

Hear me out. People know Amazon, they trust the Amazon shopping process, Amazon remembers their billing information, and Amazon has Prime shipping.

So the other retail sites you feature, if any, should be based on your understanding of your buyer market.

Based on your reader demographic some sites will make sense, others will not.

Be intentional with your choices and your visitors will absolutely pick up on the fact that you understand their needs and preferences.

Is “going wide” or “publishing wide” a problem then?

Not at all, but just know that selling more books is not as simple as publishing everywhere.

Everywhere you sell your book needs to be managed. Those retail pages need to be updated, and your metadata needs to be consistent.

So going wide can be lucrative if you have a platform to support it and a strong fan base to justify it.

But if you’re just starting out, it can make a lot more sense to focus on doing really well on Amazon, and maybe one other site, before creating more potential sales funnels to stay on top of.

Hopefully you’re intrigued enough to listen to the minisode that we’ve included in the Resources section below, it’s less than 5 minutes long, but may make a big difference in your book website design and sales potential!

Full-length episodes from our book promotion podcast go live every other Thursday. You can stream episodes from our website, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Plus, you’ll want to follow us on your preferred podcast platform in order to catch our helpful (and often comical) minisodes that go live every other Friday.

The minisodes are a grab bag of topics to include industry rants, publishing predictions and breaking news, basic (yet critical) business advice for authors, and more!

Do you have suggestions for future episodes?

We would love to hear from you in the comments section!

Resources and Free Downloads

Download our free monthly book marketing planner.

Listen to our minisode on book website design that inspired this quiz.

Check out all the episodes of our book promotion podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Check out the media section on our blog.

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