Karina Bliss asked writer and website designer Paula Roe to simplify cyberspace for the web-weary and web-wary.

Short answer? Hell, yes! Long answer - let me count the benefits... First, getting your name and brand out there in cyberspace. Second, creating a readership before you 'strike it big'. Third, there are a few authors who have been contracted after an editor discovered their talent via their website. If you have a presence with chat groups, on blogs or via Yahoo lists, people will want to know more about you. And it's a great place to put all your contest achievements. At the very least, a comprehensive list of links will have people returning to your site.

There are two separate purchases - your domain name (or URL) and hosting space. Service providers can offer both or either and I would recommend you choose a provider who is not only within your budget but has a user-friendly site and offers on-line help and support. I always recommend Go Daddy – they’re great to deal with and, if you buy a URL/hosting package, you also get privacy protection (your address isn't advertised on the web) and free email addresses. You simply go to the provider's website then sign up for your package and they will send you a confirm email with all the relevant details. Most sites also have tutorials designed for the most basic of users. I would steer away from free bandwidth from ISPs...UNLESS they provide ad-free space. There is nothing more annoying than ads on an author's site.

First, what are you writing – short, sexy contemporaries (Presents, Desire?); dark historicals? Light regency? Romantic comedy? Your site should create a feel and mood that encapsulates you AND the tone of the line/story. For example, Silhouette Desire author Yvonne Lindsay has lush purples that compliment the "Desire red" on her book covers. Harlequin Presents author Annie West wanted a rich, sexy feel and went for the deep red with tones of gold. Avon Books historical author Anna Campbell needed a dark, brooding sexy feel to match her book's tone, hence the misty woods and smoky blue/grey. Lori Foster and Jenny Crusie both have light, fun designs to compliment their humour.

You'll find a lot of authors have a little tagline that sums up their tone, e.g. Kristi Gold ("a touch of gold"), Jean Adams ("passion that goes soul deep") and Blaze author Mia Zachary (“sensual romance with a touch of sass"). My personal favourite is Patricia McLinn's ("love, laughter and happy ever after"). Just remember to Google your intended tagline with inverted commas to make sure no-one's taken it first!

Most designers recommend learning html, the technical code that websites are created in. I don't. In fact, I have a phobia to html! I've heard FrontPage is easy to use, and you can also design web pages in Publisher too. As much as I love Publisher, I really couldn't get into it for web design, so instead I bought a simple design package called Web Page Maker, a drop-and-drag program, very Windows friendly. I also have a pared-down version of Photoshop called Photoshop Elements (less expensive!) in which I do all my banners, buttons and rollovers in jpeg format (NOTE: when you put fancy fonts into your WebPage Maker program, what you see is NOT what you get on the internet! Unless someone else has the exact same font on their computer, the system will substitute it for the next best thing... usually something clunky and awful). As to books - I recommend The Non-Designer's Web Book by Robin Williams, which gives you ideas on colour, style and user-friendliness. Also Google internet colour palettes and website design... I can't count the times good authors have come up with truly awful colour schemes and busy backgrounds (NOTE: Please, please make your design uniform throughout the site - it's not a forum to show off how many different pictures you can use on six different pages... you are a business and it must reflect your professionalism!)

Which authors’ sites do you love the best? Pick a few and check out the site details, which will give you a link to the designer's site. On that site there should be a list of fees and services, or at least an email address to enquire. Each designer is different - some will charge a design and update fee together, some separately. And if you want extra pages inserted after the initial design, some may charge extra for that. And you own your URL, not anyone else... but it pays to make sure you do before you say yes to any designer.

For pre-published writers I would suggest around four pages - a bio, what you're writing, a links page, a contact page (or email link) and any articles you've written. Another good option is a photo gallery, travel page or blog, where readers can get a feel for your writing in an informal, fun way. I would definitely NOT suggest putting up excerpts or synopses, only because I'm paranoid and would hate to see someone's work get ripped off before it got sold!

For published authors - bio, books, links, articles, contact. Other options are photos (readers ALWAYS want to feel involved with their favourite author's life!) and travels. A latest news section is a must and doesn't have to be a separate page... it can just be a 'grab box' on the home page with a 'read more...' link to another page, or even a link to a blog. Ahhh, a blog! I love the idea of blogs and readers do too. More on that below... Oh, and don't forget to include a 'go home' button on every page of your site - visitors will want to get back to that first page!

What to leave out:

* Intimate photos of family (but that's just me - you may want to, but be aware there are LOTS of weird people out there and a cute photo of your newborn may not be an innocent thing to them).

* Scrolly, fancy text in the body of your site - Arial is the most widely used for a reason.

* A different design on each page - just because you couldn't decide on a background picture, don't use all of them!

* Your home address or phone number.

Get your web address out there - on business cards you hand out at conferences/meetings, on the "author's note" inside your books, as a signature line at the bottom of your emails, on all snail mail correspondence and on every bio line of every article or interview you do. You can also submit your site to Google and they will put it on their search engine for free. Paid search engines are all very well and good, but why pay for something you can get for free? The trick is to get repeat visitors, so think about contests, giveaways or even an interactive blog. If you're published, update at least once a month. Readers need to know that you're giving them something new every month, even when your next release may be 6-12 months away. The point is to keep you in their minds so they will want to buy your next book - which is why a mailing list is great. For every person who contacts you personally about your book or your writing, add them to a mailing list. Provide a link on your site for visitors to join up. But remember not to abuse the privilege... two newsletter emails every year, plus a reminder when your latest release is coming out is perfectly acceptable.

Blogs are great if a) you have something to say regularly and b) you can afford the time. Readers like that perceived closeness with their author, plus they can make comments and get involved. Some authors however, would just prefer to write. And that's fine too.

It provides you with a list of how many "hits" your website is getting i.e. how many people are visiting your site. Bravenet has a lot of free web resources and Stat Counter is also very user friendly. There's also a little site called Cluster Maps, which puts a world map on your site with red dots, indicating where in the world your visitors are from.

When I took over designing my website the first priority was to make it easy for visitors to find their way around, and to find their way OUT. I had been annoyed by sites that were hard to navigate and wouldn't let me leave. It took me a long while to discover that some have pop-up pages that won't respond to the Back command on the toolbar, but need to be closed to see the page behind. Every page should have an easy and visible way to leave it when you want to. I use a butterfly that will fly you home when you click it. And at the bottom of every page is a row of buttons to other pages, including the web-rings on the home page, from where those who arrived that way can return to them and find another site – Daphne Clair

You MUST have excerpts and information about upcoming books. So many readers have said that that's what they go to author sites for. And regular updates are also a necessity – Nalini Singh

Make sure the screen shot is visible across the whole page. It’s fine to scroll down, but scrolling across is annoying for visitors. A return to top of page button also makes navigation easier – Karina Bliss