How to Choose a Website Platform for Authors
When it comes to building your author website, the platform you choose is a balance between your pocketbook, your tech prowess, your goals, and your time.
There are platforms where you can build your site with no coding and some where you code everything. Of course, the platforms with the cheapest monetary costs tend to be those that require the most tech savvy approach.
You're always free to hire a software developer to code your website, but truth be told, there's little reason to do this if you're just starting out. Hiring a professional website developer can get expensive. If you're rich, then go for it. It'll certainly save you some headaches. But for most self-published authors starting out, the expense outweighs the benefit.
So what should you do?
Let's start with an overview of some popular website creation platforms. I'll break these up into two categories: website builders and website hosts. In brief, a website builder allows you to create a website through an online interface that provides visual drag-and-drop tools. You've probably heard of many of these.
Website builders have multiple purchasing options that increase in price as more services are given to you. For instance, if you want your site to have an online store, then you'll have to purchase a package that allows this.
The cheapest option is typically a completely free website. Unfortunately, the free site comes with a banner at the top or bottom of your website advertising the builder. Further your domain name will be linked to theirs.
Overall, the advertisement banner along with the linked domain name comes off as very unprofessional. Instead of an address like www.sitename.com, your site would be something like username.wixsite.com/sitename, or something analogus on the other platforms. Not only does this look cumbersome, but it's hard for readers to remember.
The key to success in self-publishing is looking as professional as traditional published authors. In particular, that means owning your own website domain name.
So, the free plan isn't a good choice. The plans that cost money, will allow you to use your own domain name and they'll get rid of all the ad banners linking you to their platform.
The paid plans are great if speed of website creation is more important than cost and if you expect little website customization besides aesthetics and simple forms. However, provided tools can be somewhat limited and the cost is generally more than you'll spend with a website host plan.
Website hosts are just slightly more complicated than web builders at first glance, but the price and flexibility are worth it. Why are they more complicated? Because hosts provide memory space on their servers for your website. After buying a hosting plan, you'll have to install a website building tool onto your site. But don't worry, it's a whole lot easier than it sounds.
Thankfully, the hosts are smart. They know that we want things to be as easy as possible, so many provide one-click installs of common web building apps. It's easy, and the price can't be beat.
One of the Internet's most popular building tools is complete free and a one-click install on many hosting platforms. It's WordPress. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, you have to purchase a hosting plan.
If you go this route, and I highly recommend it, you'll want a host that specifically caters to WordPress sites. Just do a quick google search for "WordPress hosting" and you'll hit the jackpot.
Note: WordPress.com is a website builder service similar to Wix, except they host websites built with WordPress (the software package). The WordPress I'm referring to is found at WordPress.org. This is the free software package for building websites on a host (i.e. HostGator).
Here are three of the top website hosts:
For a bigger list, check out www.top10bestwebsitehosting.com. If you click their link to a host, you'll get a discounted price for purchasing hosting packages. The base package for a HostGator site clicking through their link is $2.75 per month for three years. (price checked on May 10, 2020)
After you've purchased your hosting plan, which usually comes with a free domain name for one year, you'll want to follow the host's instructions for installing WordPress (usually one click). Once you're done, pick a website template and get going!
You can even use drag-and-drop tools just like the website builders, i.e. Wix, Squarespace, etc. To do it, just install and activate the Elementor plugin.
I'll write more about WordPress hosted sites in another post along with how to set them up.
Are you wondering what this site is built from? It's WordPress. (I'll bet you figured that out by now.) And it's hosted on HostGator. Originally I used Wix, but I found that I could have a hosted site for a fraction of the cost.
Action Items
Now it's time to choose. Open up a new Excel spreadsheet or pull out a pen and paper. Go to each provider and note the pricing packages you're interested in.
You'll want to make sure you're comparing apples to apples here, so convert any monthly fees to yearly fees. Why yearly? Because you should plan out yearly operating expenses for your author business, and this will be one of them.
Also, make sure you include important add-on services you need, like site hacking protection, SSL certificates, and site back-ups. These are easier to find for hosting sites than builder sites. Select a plan to see what the add-on's will cost. You'll probably have to pretend your going to buy the plan and go through all the steps for the add-on options to appear.
Once you've got the costs written down. Compare them. Weigh ease of use against monetary cost and your time. Every website provider and host has a learning curve that you'll have to climb. The learning curve comprises of figuring out how to operate their site with the tools they provide and anything else you need to learn to create and maintain your site.
Finally, make a decision and get to work.
Please leave questions and comments below. I'd love to hear from you. Have you found a great host or builder you'd like to share with us? Tell us about them in the comments.
