Make Your Children’s Writing Website Focused (9 Tips) | Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi

Updated February 2026

Is your site on the mark?

As we get caught up in our writing careers, sometimes it’s easy to forget to stay focused.

That’s a no-no! It’s important to present a focused brand and site.

Okay, so what are three website must-haves and six tips?

The Must-Haves

CREATE A WEBSITE USING YOUR NAME

As a writer, whether you’re co-writing with someone or not, you need your own website. And your main (hub) site should have your name. This will be your central site linking to your other related sites.

For example, my children’s writing site is Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

Now, with this title, I have two essential elements covered: (1) my name, (2) the site’s keyword.

The visitor and search engines can quickly determine what the site is about. This is super important for website ranking and authority. While there are a number of other areas that need your keyword for website optimization, the title is one of the top ones.

Note: In this case, when I say “title,” I mean the URL also. Your URL is an optimization tool. It provides the search engines with more information about the site.

So, using my site above, the URL is https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com.

My site’s title and URL both include the always-important keywords. This is focus.

2. INCLUDE YOUR NICHE IN THE URL AND TITLE

Item #1 above touched on this. If you write in only one niche, say children’s historical fantasy, you should have that keyword in the title of your site, as well as in the domain name. Then you can have one site to list all your books. Just be sure to create separate pages for each book.

Tip: It’s really a much better idea to create a separate website for each book, in addition to your central author site. It allows you to create multiple must-have pages for each book. See number 4 in the tips below.

HOT TIP: If your title is too long, it’s better to use the niche keyword, say ‘children’s historical fantasy,’ and omit your name. Unless you’re Eric Carle, or Kevin Henkes, or James Patterson, your name has no search engine value.

3. BRANDING YOURSELF: KEEP YOUR SITE SPECIFIC TO WRITING FOR CHILDREN

I originally had a problem with this. I ventured into a number of writing arenas, including content writing and online marketing. Instead of keeping those areas separate, I brought them into my children’s writing site.

So, why is this a mistake? Well, because of the dilution of expertise.

If you’re branding yourself as a children’s writer, the focus of your site must be children’s writing. If you promote yourself as ‘doing this, that, and the other thing,’ you’ll become known as the ‘jack of all trades and master of none.’ This creates the dilution of expertise.

TIP: If you’re also involved in other writing arenas as I am, create a separate site for promoting yourself as an expert in those areas. You wouldn’t want to have your steamy romance books listed on your children’s writing site.

Remember, whatever your site’s niche is, keep it focused on that niche.

6 TIPS for a Better Website/Blog

1. Always have an about page on each of your sites, include a short bio and photo.

2. Always have an opt-in box (for your mailing list) readily visible on your sites.

3. Always make sure your visitors can easily find how to contact you – a contact page is a good idea.

4. Have a page for reviews of your books, excerpts of your books, testimonials, illustrations, awards, etc. You can also link to interviews others have done about you and your books. (This is where a separate site for each book comes in handy.)

5. Offer a resources and/or tools page. The visitor will appreciate this and, hopefully, share your site with others. As a bonus, they may link back to your site.

6. Get a book trailer or video on your site. Mix it up. People love visuals.

Using these tips will help you create a focused children’s writing website that’s reader and search engine optimized.

MORE ON WRITING FOR CHILDREN

What Makes a Good Story? Plot Driven vs. Character Driven
Editing a Children’s Book – 10 Tips Checklist for Authors
Submitting Your Manuscript – 8 Tips

I’m a working children’s ghostwriter, rewriter/editor, and coach. I can help turn your story into a book you’ll be proud to be the author of, one that’s publishable.

OTHER HELP I OFFER:

HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN’S FICTION BOOK
A DIY book to help you write your own children’s book.

CREATING AN AUTHOR ONLINE PLATFORM
4-week e-course with former WOW! Women on Writing author online platform instructor.

WRITERS ON THE MOVE SELF-PUBLISHING SERVICE
Self-publishing help for children’s authors (picture books and chapter books.

You can contact me at: kcioffiventrice@gmail.com.