June 2025 marked two years of me operating and writing for The Steady Read. These past twenty-four months have seen lots of experimentation with this website and its layout, alongside some changes in my writing style, tone, and overall approach to the content published here.
Despite the slow start, teething pains, and almost non-existent readership that plagued the first year of this project, the last twelve months have shown a promising uptick in engagement. I also like to imagine quality standards have improved, too.
My self-absorption aside, what I am trying to convey is that I now understand some of the elements it takes to make a good book blog or book-focused website, and I want to impart some of my knowledge and experiences to those looking to start (or improve) their own website.
Of course, I’m no pro—this website is more so a niche passion project and has been kindly nibbling away at my savings, let that make it clear that I am not get-clicks-quick or get-rich-quick guru some of you may be looking for. Regardless, I hope this post can provide at least a few people with some useful information and tips for their own hobbyist site.
You Need a Good Name
Website names are important, because they reflect what content and information lies within. Whilst a generic title like ‘John’s Book Reviews’ gets the point across and is personal to yourself, it lacks a sense of seriousness.
As I mentioned back in my post celebrating the one-year anniversary of The Steady Read, I was originally working under the title ‘Novelistic’ in the earlier months of 2023. I abandoned this name for because I noticed it was being drowned out by irrelevant results, and I also figured that ‘Novelistic’ implied ‘novels’, which inferred fiction-only reviews… so what happens when I want to write non-fiction reviews, as I now do?
Recognising, then avoiding, small dilemmas like these are what results in a solid, relevant website name. You need to strike a balance of being relevant to books, being unique, being general enough to come up in related search results, and not pigeonhole your content through specifics.
Going back to the ‘John’s Book Reviews’ example, there are many future complications that can arise from this seemingly harmless title. Firstly, no one knows who John is, and that calls into question why anyone would be interested in reading his reviews. Secondly, if John invites a friend to write for his website, it is no longer just John’s reviews, instead becoming John and whoever else’s reviews. Third, ‘Book Reviews’ conveys one thing: this website reviews books! But if our hypothetical John decided to review magazines or comics, or opted to not focus entirely on reviews but make them one small piece of his content portfolio, suddenly ‘Book Reviews’ loses its direct relevancy to what is being published on the website.
Equally, try not to be long-winded or patronising in your titles—stick to three or four simplistic words, with at least one or two keywords that are good for search engine optimisation. The Steady Read, for as generic as that sounds, follows good practice: begins with ‘The’ (as many newspapers and other websites do), is a simple triplet of words, ‘Steady’ conveys there is plenty of regular content being published here, and ‘Read’ keeps it relevant to the literary world without locking it down to specific genres or types of books. I am not saying this is a stroke of genius on my part, the name of this website is simply functional, competent, and conveys enough to potential visitors who may stumble upon it when browsing the Internet.
Still, I can point out one flaw in the title of my website: I am a sporadic reader, not a steady one, so there is an irony that I opted for such a name.
Simple Layout
The layout and navigation of your page will make or break it for visitors. To get engagement, you need to funnel people to the best, or most appealing, content on your website. This is why The Steady Read places the fiction and non-fiction reviews at the top of the homepage, and places more niche sections like the Blog, manga reviews, and Book of the Week posts lower down.
As rude as it sounds, think of your visitors like morons with minimal tech literacy. They need to be able to grasp the lay of the land within seconds. The best advice I can give is always ensure they can make it back to the homepage from anywhere—yes, anywhere—on the website, and ensure that clutter is minimised so visitors are not trying to click on irrelevant things or getting swamped with too much information.
If you can, take some care over the mobile layout of your website, which often means hiding or shrinking some needless elements, or rearranging the order in which images or text appears. I confess, The Steady Read is not perfect for devices with small touchscreens, but I consider this a worthwhile compromise to not diminish the layout and aesthetic quality of the desktop layout. For as popular as phones are, always favour the desktop over the mobile user if it comes to a difficult web design choice.
Images Are Important
Make use of images, especially if you want to show the book you are reviewing. Images catch the eye and add some essential colour and variety to the design of your website (which should be comprised of a simple, non-straining colour palette), which is essential to improving the navigation and overall look.
The Steady Read also uses handmade icons for the Blog, which typically only take a few minutes of effort to create. These images, in the case of my website, affirm its blue and white colour scheme and are a mark of content hosted exclusively on The Steady Read; their different aspect ratio and design to the review content also help distinguish the Blog as its own section.
A major thing to keep in mind about images is copyright and ownership. If you are using images and photographs you do not own, that can potentially result in legal trouble, especially if you are profiting; using book covers to show off which book you are reviewing or discussing should be fine, but do exercise caution and give credit if using other, more bespoke images. If you want general images, for whatever reason, try purchasing stock image packs or using free-to-use images from websites like Pexels (do be kind and give credit to the photographer).
Images should be used sparingly, and always keep file sizes in mind. Compression is your friend, as so is browser compatibility, so pick good image formats like .jpg, .jxl, or .webp—reserve .png images for those that require transparency or extremely good quality, which should be rare occasions.
For the book covers hosted on The Steady Read, they are manually cropped and resized to 590×900, then saved as .jpg to save additional space without sacrificing too much detail. This typically results in each image being 50–200 KB in size, which means loading every image on the homepage only takes a few megabytes of bandwidth, despite there being ~32 images present. Additionally, the 590×900 aspect ratio of 13:20 suits most book covers well, only causing issues with particularly tall or wide works. It took some trial and error to find the right shape, resolution quality, and file size.
Do not overlook that last part, the file size of each image. You want the bandwidth requirements to be as low as possible, as this allows your webpage to load faster and doesn’t turn readers away. Additionally, smaller files allow for extra storage if you pay for a hosting plan, which could only be a few gigabytes in size. Compression is a wonderful art, so make good use of it, because you will definitely need images for your website to pop and catch people’s eyes.
Make a Pleasant, Simple Logo
Whilst on the topic of images, take the time to create a logo that reflects some element of your website. It can be symbols, letters, or a simple icon of a book. I am not a graphic designer, so I cannot tell you what will work best, but my understanding is that simplicity is often the key to making a good logo on the Web.
The purpose of The Steady Read’s blue and white ‘TSR’ logo is simply to reflect on the most basic elements of the website, primarily its primary shade of blue and the name of the website. You can do something similar with your site, it is not like this is my patented concept or anything of that nature.
Avoid Relying on AI
Although I hold a rather negative view of generative AI and the ethics, environmental damage, and dreary future surrounding it, I see its allure to the lazy and untalented among us. My advice, as the bottom line, is avoid AI at all costs.
It is not as competent or creative as you think it is for content writing, and people are gradually growing tired of the sewage that is AI content. When a visitor comes to your site, regardless of its focus or content, they are expecting something handwritten and tailored around your personal views, experiences, and qualities as a critic or person.
Sure, it is likely possible to slip in an AI-made sentence or two without being detected, but that is a slippery slope that encourages one to rely on the ease of these generative, soulless models.
If you pay to host the site, respect yourself and your readership, and intend to make any part of your website or writings relevant to your future career, then avoid diminishing it all with AI. I assure you, if people suspect your content is being generated, they will deem it unreliable, unoriginal, or worthless. If they come to such conclusions, it is likely they will leave and never come back, killing your engagement.
AI thumbnails, images, videos, voice narration, writing/content should be absent from your website if you have any integrity.
Do Not Clickbait
Equally relevant to your integrity is clickbait. Whilst this practice does generate short-term engagement and an influx of new visitors, the fraudulent nature of clickbait content often leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of those tricked by it.
Show your readership some decency and focus on accurate, informed, quality content that is titled in a respectable but engaging way. Lying to your audience or fabricating details will not earn you any respect in the long run, regardless of how big or small your website is. Clickbait should be reserved for lousy YouTubers and scummy tabloids, not a book-focused website.
Make an About Page
Never underestimate the importance of the About section of your website. These inform visitors, and perhaps even interested sponsors or businesses, about your website and its goals. They also reflect on your and your seriousness towards the whole thing.
Fortunately, it is not necessary to write much on such a page. Simply highlight the content you intend to publish, perhaps share a bit about yourself and your passions, and maybe include the founding year or date of the website. Also, push visitors to get in contact, and thank them for stopping by, even if they click off and never come back. This page is a great way to break the ice with those curious about your website and its goals—first impressions are everything!
Contact & Comments
On the above note, contact is important. It’s good to provide an email so visitors can get in touch, perhaps they will propose a monetary incentive or suggestion about how to improve what you do. Comments also provide the same opportunity, and invite criticism and praise on a per-post basis.
These elements are also a good reflection of engagement and visitor interest. This isn’t exactly a requirement, just good practice and solid future-proofing if you intend to grow and improve your website or blog. Having a means of contact also protects you should you violate the copyright of someone’s work, allowing them to privately request a takedown without having to do it through legal means.
Be Prepared to Spend
Although there are plenty of options out there, such as Blogger and Google Sites, that offer a free platform to get started with, you will never make a serious project out of them. For one, Blogger is as dated as Y2K, and Google Sites lacks the basic ability to schedule content. Other platforms that offer free hosting, such as Wix or WordPress, often litter your website with ads and lock most practical features behind a rather pricey subscription model.
In short, you need to be prepared to spend for the sake of quality. Buying a domain, paying for a modest hosting plan, and ensuring you have all the right plugins and tools at your disposal is essential. Without these, your overall quality, SEO, and ability to optimise your workflow and website performance may suffer.
I understand that it is not ideal to have to pay, but at least many hosting companies offer multi-year plans at a notable discount for your first time (even more during Cyber Monday and similar consumer holidays). This should lower the bar for entry, especially if you only intend to run your website for a few years at most.
Research SEO & Internet Privacy Rules
Search engine optimisation is your best friend, as is knowing the rules of the web. I strongly advise that you do some reading and research into creating the most optimal SEO to boost discovery and engagement. Alongside that, cover yourself by looking into privacy laws and regulations surrounding personal information, cookies, and other data you may (unknowingly) collect or supply to third parties.
These aspects are boring, but essential. Think of it like school, there is some fun, but also the really terrible, gruelling parts. Dealing with these tedious elements keeps you and your website safe, whilst also giving you knowledge and an edge when it comes to search engine optimisation and how to generate engagement.
The biggest aid is to get your website registered with the Google Search Console!
Patience & Pacing
The biggest hurdle of running a website, especially one where you are investing a lot of time into reading books and writing about them, is understanding that it takes time to grown an audience. I would know, as I was rather impatient for the first year of running The Steady Read, even though I had zero lofty goals in mind.
Even with solid SEO and keywords, alongside a good stream of quality content, it can take months for your site to appear on searches and start being recommended to people riffling through the Internet. Do not go in expecting hundreds, or even tens, of clicks and visits per day. Be grateful for a handful on a good day.
Another important thing is to take your time with content. Do not burn yourself out or try to pump out content overly frequently, especially if it is long-form and your visions for your project are long-term.
It is actually good to keep content in your back pocket and schedule posts in advance. This lets you work at a healthier, less stressful pace and often allows you to refine posts and correct errors that would have slipped through had you rushed each post out to meet some weekly or monthly content quota. Extra time also allows you to research more about topics or brainstorm new ideas that other websites rarely discuss.
Trying to pump out content was something I was guilty of when I started back in June 2023. I tried to write reviews quickly and missed a lot of detail, even as I have went back to bulk up these older posts of mine, they lack the length or quality that my more recent content does.
Nowadays, I have posts that are produced weeks or months in advance, which lets me step away from the website to focus on life and other interests, including reading and relaxation. Scheduling is your friend, and working ahead of the curve nullifies the risk of avoidable stress, so make good use of it.
By keeping your readers waiting between posts, it also creates an element of demand. You become quality over quantity, and that is what tends to form loyal readers and keeps individuals coming back to your website and content.
Hopefully these tips provide a solid idea of what to do and what to avoid. Experimentation is good, so dabble, especially in the earlier stages of your website where the viewership is lower and expectations are less defined.
The most important part is enjoying the process and being grateful for each click. A book website, no matter how hard you try, will take time to build an audience as it competes against larger websites and book-related hubs (like Goodreads). It will likely never earn a profit, or at least take a long time to do so, which means you should be paying yourself in satisfaction and pride.
To anyone starting, or currently running, their own book review site or blog, I do wish you the best with the endeavour. I came into this bright-eyed and naïve, and it took some time to find my footing and refine my style, workflow, and confidence. But needing to do such things has resulted in a better me, better writing, and a better version of The Steady Read for everyone to enjoy.
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