So, I made an author website and I would like feedback on it. I've never made a website before, so be gentle but honest. I want to know if:
A) It looks good overall
The illustrations are really cute, but the site needs more white space and maybe some buttons. Also more pages.
B) It's easy to navigate
It was hard to tell that the images were clickable, since they seemed more like background images. And there's no way to tell (at least on a phone) where the links will take you.
C) You can easily find the Amazon links for my two books
See above
D) You can tell who my target audience is.
While the illustrations are cute, they do make me think of a picture-book audience rather than middle grade. So do the bright, primary colours you use on the site.
E) Any other suggestions
Below
Here's the link:
click here
Thanks in advance!
Hi Second Moon, I just had a look at your site. A few suggestions for you:
Home Page
Remove "Mimi Strom's Author Website" from in front of the hero image, since you already have it in your header.
Consider removing "Welcome To A Place To Learn All About Me And (Most Importantly) My Books." That should be implied by the site itself, and it's a little awkward and clutters up the space unnecessarily.
Consider removing "Hi. My name is Mimi Strom" from your "More About Me" section, since that's not really needed.
On my phone, your book images stretch all the way to the edge, and that makes them seem more like unclickable background images than linked images. IMO, only the hero image should stretch all the way to the edge. Maybe shrink your book images down to create some white space, and consider adding a button that tells the user exactly where the link will take them (like "BUY NOW" or whatever). But I think the book images should link through to your series page instead of Amazon. It's pretty unlikely that someone's gonna buy your books without at least reading a blurb.
Barney and Mr. Thomas Series Page
Remove "A 5-Star Review & Book Blurbs!
(Click the images below to be linked to Amazon)" Seems redundant to me and is distracting.
The image/review stretches all the way to the edges on both my laptop and phone. Some white space would really help. And the review font is HUGE. I just wanna pinch it down.
Also, you share the same last name as your reviewer, so it kinda looks like your mom gave you a review. Might be just me, but I don't think you should feature reviews from relatives because they're not really impartial.
The book blurbs fonts are also too big, IMO, and the images/blurbs need more white space/margins. Again, consider creating a button that tells the user exactly where you're going to take them.
Structure
Consider creating at least two more pages/menu items. Right now, there's no real way to contact you, except through insta. Not everyone uses insta, nor wants to click through just to contact you. You can add a really simple contact page with a form and all your social media and/or email or whatever.
You might also want to make a separate "About" page with a little more about you. If you're not comfortable with adding a headshot, you can break it up with a caricature or cartoon image of yourself, or places you like to go, or something that interests you.
Create a footer and move your instagram button there, along with any other contact information. Remove the "Blog at WordPress.com." No need to give them free advertising!
Create a favicon.
Did you use a template? There are lots of free author templates that make designing your site/adding pages pretty easy and look quite professional out of the box.
That's all I can think of right now (and they're just suggestions; feel free to chuck 'em). Hope it helps!