Publisher websites have a difficult job. They need to showcase thousands of books, introduce authors, support campaigns, help readers discover something new and, increasingly, make it easy to buy.
That is a lot to ask of one website.
Most problems are not dramatic. They are small bits of friction that build up over time and quietly make the experience harder than it needs to be.
So, in no particular order, here are seven sins worth avoiding.
1. Sloth: slow pages
Nobody wants to wait for a book page to load.
Large images, unnecessary scripts and overly complicated page layouts can all slow a site down, particularly on mobile. And when someone has arrived from search, social or an email campaign, even a short delay can be enough to lose them.
A beautiful website is only useful if people are prepared to wait for it.
2. The dead-end book page
A reader lands on a book page, reads the description and then… nothing.
No related titles. No series information. No other books by the author. No obvious next step.
Book pages should encourage discovery, not stop it. If someone is already interested in one title, make it easy for them to find the next one.
3. The disappearing buy button
If somebody wants to buy a book, do not make them hunt for the button.
Buying options should be obvious, whether you sell directly, through retailers or both. Formats, prices and availability should be clear too.
A reader should never have to ask themselves, “So… where do I actually buy this?”
4. Metadata mayhem
Wrong covers. Missing authors. Broken series order. Out-of-date descriptions. Inconsistent formats.
Metadata problems may sound like back-office issues, but readers see them too.
Good metadata powers search, recommendations, author pages, series pages and increasingly AI discovery. When the data is messy, the whole website starts to feel messy.
5. Navigation designed for publishers, not readers
Publishing organisations understand imprints, divisions and internal structures.
Readers generally do not.
Website navigation should reflect how people actually look for books: by author, subject, genre, age, series or interest. If someone needs to understand your company structure before they can find a novel, something has probably gone wrong.
6. Copy that could belong to anyone
“We publish exceptional books by outstanding authors.”
So does everybody else.
Generic copy is one of the easiest ways to make a distinctive publisher feel strangely anonymous. A good website should sound like the people and books behind it.
Tell readers what makes your list interesting. Show some personality. Give them a reason to remember you.
7. Forgetting mobile
A site can look wonderful on a large desktop screen and be completely painful on a phone.
Tiny buttons, awkward menus, enormous images and endless scrolling are still surprisingly common. Yet many readers first discover books through email, social media or search on mobile.
That means mobile should not be the smaller version of the website. It should be one of the main experiences you design for.
A little housekeeping goes a long way
The good news is that none of these sins is irreversible.
Most publisher websites do not need to be completely rebuilt. Often, the biggest improvements come from fixing the basics: making pages faster, cleaning up metadata, simplifying navigation, improving book pages and making the route to purchase clearer.
At Supadu, we have spent years building websites specifically around the way publishers work and the way readers discover books. That means thinking not just about how a site looks, but how metadata, search, recommendations, ecommerce and content all work together.
The aim is simple.
Make it easier to find the book. Easier to understand the book. And much easier to buy it.
Consider yourself absolved.
