As a book publicist, I frequently end up guiding authors into a new or upgraded website. Not only does a website help me promote the author, but if the site is designed well, it helps the author sell books. Even if an author has a great website, it doesn’t hurt to have a commitment to continuous improvement in the URL department, because what goes on with the web is so very dynamic at any given point in time.

There are plenty of articles and checklists out there to overwhelm you with the 10 to 20 things you’re supposed to be doing to make your site magnetic. In the end, however, it comes down to whether Google can find you. If you’re blogging your heart out three times a week and hanging out in the social media sphere all day, you might begin to expect traffic. But do you actually have any or are you invisible?

Google yourself and see.

Without spending two hours on Wordtracker, just input your name, the titles of your books and the search strings that you think most people would use to find your topic. Then write down what happens.

If you didn’t show up on page one using a specific term, then that’s the term you need to use in blog posts more. Maybe you want to use those words in the social sphere more frequently for a while. Try getting yourself listed on another site or attaching your name somehow to the term under which you want to be found.

Incorporate your keywords into your writing vocabulary. Make friends with these words and visit them often.

Share with one another something you have done with your website or blog to help Google find you.