Last week we talked about the importance of having a website and making sure it is completely functional before your book is published. This week I want to touch on a mistake that I see a lot of first time authors make - using the wrong URL for their site.
URL stands for "Uniform Resource Locator" otherwise known as the domain or address of a web page.
Although not as common as in years past, using a long, cumbersome url, typically from a free hosting site is still the norm for many. What's the big deal? Plenty. You want your customers to remember your URL so they can find you, and more importantly, your book. If your website's address is: www.yahoo.groups.39245.stacy.com, what's the likelyhood of customers remembering??? The money you save will be lost in lost sales. In addition, it just doesn't look professional. Your book is competing against so many books from the big presses, you need to give it every advantage. Don't hurt the sales potential by saving a few bucks. And having a long url screams "newbie."
Where can you get a better url? Check out Network Solutions or GoDaddy.com. You can find all sorts of names that are available. Do you have a publishing company? If the answer is yes, then choose that name, if available. You might also want to include the name of your book, and/or the author's name. Many authors choose all three and then link the sites together. Whatever you choose, please stay away from those long, freebie urls.
That's why I always tell people - you HAVE to have a domain name!
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