Mobile Devices

WEBSITE DESIGN & APPLICATION

Below find practical tips for creating effective author websites.

What do readers want to see on a website page for a book? Here is a quick checklist:

• TITLE
• COVER (linked to a larger view)
• DESCRIPTION / BLURB
• PUBLICATION INFORMATION
• FORMATS & ISBNS
• SALES LINKS
• AWARDS
• REVIEWS
• EXCERPT (if available)
• VIDEO TRAILER (if available)

The majority of the above elements are easy to include on most blog and basic website builders. Some blog platforms support video plugins, but not all. Secured book excerpts are the most difficult to program, because most blog platforms do not include automated plugins for this kind of thing. That means either programmers are required to build secured scrollable book excerpts or link to excerpts in PDF or EPUB downloads.

Book pages need to be well-organized with colorful presentations that are easy to scroll. They also must be created in "responsive web" programming that allows the page to adjust its layout to accommodate different screen sizes, from large desktop monitors down to small smartphone screens.

Use clickable (i.e. linked) sales icons, where possible. Add titles to all images, so mouse-hovers show the title messages, such as: "View Larger Cover." Use proper HTML language for all hotlinks.

When possible, avoid third party plugins that collect data, such as hit counters, cookie-loggers, and target market advertising.

A book title page is meant to do one thing: encourage readers to buy the book in question. Example: Read about DRAGON'S DEN

I’ve been in the POD/ebook business and online making websites for twenty plus years now. Website hosts come and go. Book vendors come and go, both ebook and print-on-demand. Social media rises to prominence, pushing aside more secure private email discussion lists. Things change. Right? Well, not as much as some might think.

What I find funny is the so-called new design method for websites and apps. New? Really? Are you sure? Let me see. Do away with big buttons and loud backgrounds in favor of softer graphics, which are smaller and therefore take less time to load. Narrow the layout to 800 pixels wide, which accommodates most smartphones and tablets turned landscape. Avoid sidebars and footers, where possible. Make it soft, compact, and flowing.

Wait. Give me a moment to stop and have a good laugh. This is not a new way of designing web content. It’s how we did it in 1999, designing inside a 800W x 600H (in pixels) template for display on 13-inch to 15-inch monitors (measured diagonally) using slow dial-up internet.

As DSL came into being along with large LED flat screen monitors, websites got bigger, wider, and flashier. Then came smartphones and tablets, creating a generation of squinty-eyed users who turned their phones around and around while scrolling up and down to view regular websites on small devices.

Here’s where it gets really funny. The "new" optimum design model (width by height in pixels) is to accommodate current mobile devices — drum roll, please — on 800W x 600H. If you stopped a moment to laugh, join the crowd. I laughed as I typed this.

Yes, the same design specs used in the late nineties are now being used to make web content fit mobile devices. I guess the old saying that eventually everything old becomes new again also applies to website design.

NOTE: This website is written in responsive HTML5, which means it works equally well on large screens, desktops, laptops, and mobile devices with no third party applications, no cookies, and no data collection.