Introduction
Creating and managing individual book posts on a website can be time-consuming and error-prone. Manually updating each post when you need to make changes to the layout, add new elements, or adjust the call to action (CTA) can quickly become overwhelming, especially as the number of books grows.
By utilising a custom post type in WordPress, specifically designed for books, we can streamline the process of creating and updating book posts. This approach allows for dynamic layouts that can adapt to different conditions and automatically display the appropriate elements for each book. With a custom post type, you can set up a template that includes custom fields for reviews, series details, and more, ensuring consistency and saving time.
In this lesson, I’ll walk you through the BOOKS custom post type used on the Dirk Volcano Website and show you how a single custom post type can create a consistent, engaging, and easily updatable layout for all your book posts.
Above the Fold
Let’s start with Above the fold on this post for the Dirk Volcano book Immediate Danger.
“Above the fold” is a term from the print newspaper industry and applied to web design. In the context of a website, it refers to the portion of a webpage that is visible to a user without having to scroll down. This area is considered prime real estate because it is the first thing visitors see when they land on the page. Optimising content above the fold is crucial because it influences the first impression, engagement, and the overall user experience.
- Starting with the left side of the post under the header we have the book cover. I’ve set the book cover as the featured image in the post so it will display in post listings, archives, social posts and search engine results.
- Over to the right we have the book title set as a H1 header which tells the visitor and search engines what this page is about.
- Underneath the title we have the average rating for the book along with the total number of reviews for the book. Placing the review count here is an immediate validation to the visitor this page is worth their time.
- Next we have the series details. In this example this is book 2 of a 6 book series.
- Below the series details we have a text section for the book blurb.
- Underneath the blurb we have the primary call to action. This is the action we want the visitor to take more than any other. In this example we have a big button encouraging the reader ro buy directly from Amazon.
As Dirk has this series available from multiple retailers I have secondary call to action buttons under the Also available from Subheading.
Below the Fold
Below the fold is where we keep the extra information to help persuade visitors who haven’t clicked the primary call to action yet.
- The first item below the fold is the book description. This is a trope rich extension of the blurb written to appeal to genre fans.
- Underneath the description we have some featured reviews as more validation for the visitor this book is worth their time and money.
- Next we have the first chapter as an extract from the book which acts as a strong converter for those who want to try out your writing style before committing.
- We close out the extract with an action button that returns the visitor to the primary CTA at the top of the page.
- The final section on the post shows all the books in the Dylan Danger series in their reading order.
When I click on the other book covers we can see the layout is exactly the same for each book.
Dynamic Layouts
When I go to the Village Detective series, which is exclusive to Kindle Unlimited, the layout is the same BUT notice we now only have a single button with a DIFFERENT CALL TO ACTION. When I scroll down to the bottom of the post we have all the books in the Village detective series rather than the Dylan Danger books. This is still using the same custom post layout BUT the template is able to adapt to different conditions to decide what to show the visitor.
These dynamic layouts are incredibly flexible. If we look at the first book in the Dylan Danger series you’ll see ALL the retailer calls to action buttons have gone. Instead we have a form for the visitor to sign up for a free copy of Adventure Danger.
All done with the same Books Custom Post Type setup.
If you’re looking at this example and thinking you might like to try a different layout with different sections or data types then you can! Everything I’m going to show you over the next few lessons is completely customizable to your tastes.
Time Saver
We COULD manually build each post for a book starting from a blank page every time, but that is going to take a lot longer and adds opportunities for error. Manually building each post also gives us more HUGE issues.
What if you want to change the layout or styling of your book posts?
For example, If you have 30 books on your website and decide you want to add a PRICE to each title that’s 30 posts you have to update not just with the price but with the styling and layout as well.
Or
What if you have a series that’s wide then you decide to take it back into Kindle Unlimited to see how it performs with that audience? It’s back on to each page of that series to add a new button and remove all the old ones. That is not a fun day to have.
Instead we create a Books custom post type with associated custom fields for reviews, series details and more. Then we pull all that together into a Books post template that gives us full control over how to display our books to visitors.
That’s exactly what we are going to start doing from the next lesson.
Summary
In this lesson I showed you the layout of a Books Custom Post Type designed to encourage visitors to click on the primary call to action button. These custom post types not only show the book specific data but are dynamic reacting to pre-configured conditions to show the correct buttons, other books in the series and even a sign up form for free first in series marketing campaigns.
All of this is done from a single custom post type linked to custom fields and a post template in WordPress
Call to Action
In the next lesson we will start setting up our Books custom post type by installing the ACPT Pro plugin.
