SEO for authors part five: tech considerations

While content really is the most important aspect when it comes to your website's SEO, there are also a few technical issues that can have an impact on it too. Let’s talk through them now...

The website should be responsive.

This means that it resizes automatically depending on whether it's being viewed on a mobile, iPad, laptop or large desktop screen. This is increasingly important these days as more than 50% of website traffic comes from mobile phones.

Good news: if your author website is built on Squarespace, it's automatically going to be responsive, and you don't need to do anything!

I’ve written a blog post on responsive web design here.

Your website should be hosted securely, with an SSL certificate installed.

Google takes this very seriously, as it shows your website is not a security threat to visitors' data. This will mean your website address will be at 'https://yourwebsite.com' rather than just 'http'. Again, great news, if you have a Squarespace website, this should be enabled as standard.

And if it's not, there's a simple box to tick under Settings > Advanced > SSL that will sort you out! If your site isn't on Squarespace, have a Google and you'll find plenty of help guides for your particular hosting platform to help you install this security certificate.

Take care with the naming of your page titles and URL slugs

You should name all your page titles and URL slugs (the bits after the initial part of your website address, such as charlotteduckworth.com/books) something relevant to the content on the page. Ideally including those keywords we mentioned earlier. This again helps Google to read the content on the page.

Update your site often

Not a tech thing technically (ha!) but this is something a lot of authors forget to do! But you should see your author website as a 'living' thing that constantly evolves.

Adding new content and tweaking the existing content regularly tells Google that your website is still relevant, and is another important consideration when it comes to SEO.

What about blogs?

Blogs are a brilliant way to bring fresh eyes to your website, and are also great for your SEO, as they mean your website is definitely being updated regularly! And blog posts are often very valuable 'long-form' (800+ words) content, with plenty of keywords in. They give you the chance to go in-depth and provide really useful info to visitors.

For blogging to pay off, it needs to be done regularly and consistently, and be treated as seriously as all your other writing projects. This means spending time to really research the art of blogging, including what subject matter is going to be most beneficial to your audience, how long the posts should be, how to format them so that they are as useful as possible, making effective use of images and making sure you use keywords effectively in the copy and in your blog titles.

I'm planning on covering blogging in detail soon, but my biggest tip here is to find a schedule that works for you (whether that’s daily, once a week, or bi-monthly) and be consistent.

It’s easy to run out of steam after your initial enthusiasm wears off, so make a commitment and stick to it!

Looking for help with your Squarespace author website? Check out my website support services here>>