- \n
- Schedulers<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Universal book links<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Amazon Attribute Links<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SEO Blogging<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Google Analytics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Free social media scheduling tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What are social media schedulers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Social media schedulers have been around for a long time. While there are plenty of paid ones that will let you do all of your websites in one place, those are rarely in the budget for indie authors just starting out. Luckily, there are free options for almost every site these days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use them<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Facebook and Instagram<\/strong> have their own built-in scheduling options in each app, but Meta\u2019s Business Suite Scheduler<\/a> (mobile or desktop) will let you do both at once, duplicate posts, and more. You can schedule up to 30 days in advance, which is helpful for anyone who batch creates content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TikTok <\/strong>also has scheduling options. While you can do it in the app<\/a>, you can also do it from your web browser<\/a>, which is good for anyone who creates videos on their computer. The downside of this version over a third-party program is that you can only schedule one post. However, this can be helpful if you don\u2019t post frequently, or if you\u2019re going to be away from your phone at your normal peak posting time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
YouTube<\/strong> will let you schedule videos and shorts <\/a>up to 30 days in advance. Threads <\/strong>also launched scheduling options<\/a> in 2025. X (formerly Twitter)<\/strong> has scheduling options<\/a>. And Tumblr<\/strong> lets you schedule content practically infinitely<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Universal book links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What are universal book links?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re all citizens of the internet, but there still have to be different marketplaces for different countries. If all of your links are only for your country, you could miss sales for people who don\u2019t want to go through the hassle of looking you up in the right marketplace. Enter Universal links. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Universal links automatically change based on a user\u2019s location, giving them the right marketplace. They are also a good way to show all<\/em><\/strong> the places your book is available if it isn\u2019t exclusive to one website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Several websites offer this feature\u2014BookFunnel<\/a> (paid), Draft2Digital<\/a>\/Books2Read<\/a> (free) and GeniusLink<\/a> (paid). Follow the instructions for the site of your choice and use this in your promotions, link in bio and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My website\u2019s link page <\/a>includes an American Amazon link<\/a> so I can use my Amazon Attribute link, and a universal link<\/a> for everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon Attribute Links (and similar tools)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What are attribute links?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Attribute links, sometimes also called UTM tags or referral links, help you figure out where traffic is coming from, and if it\u2019s converting to sales. Amazon is currently beta testing its version of this, called Amazon Attribution<\/a>, through its Amazon Ads platform, however this tool is completely free. By using these specially created links in your marketing, ads, \u201clink in bio\u201d tools, and more you can see which of those links is getting the most clicks, and how many of those clicks are converting to sales and page reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: This is a new feature and not always the most accurate, but it can still give you a good idea of what\u2019s working for sales and not. Personally, the page reads have never reported accurately for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laurelholl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-03-101639-1.png?fit=711%2C249&ssl=1\")
A screenshot of my Attribute metrics page. DPV stands for “Detail page views.” aka: the number of views of the advertised product’s detail pages on Amazon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n If you have a website where you\u2019re using Google Analytics, you can even make your own with a UTM tool.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sign up for their service, and create a new \u201ccampaign\u201d for each type of link and follow the steps<\/a>. Create a new add group for individual links so you can see the impact between them. Here is an example of how I create a new one for each of my blog posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over time it will give you an idea of which places are getting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SEO Blogging and optimization on your website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is SEO blogging?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Okay, I suppose I should start with: Get a website. While that part isn’t free, blogging on it and optimizing it is! People will inevitably search you out on the search engine of their choice, you might as well show up for them, right? Even better: showing up for what you aspire to be known for, instead of just your name. Search engine optimization (SEO) blogging and optimizing on your website will help make that happen. By making your website both appealing to our search engine overlords and using keywords to help people find you for things you aspire to be known for, you\u2019ll show up in more searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to do it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lucky for you, I have a whole post on SEO For Indie Romance Authors<\/a>, complete with tools, tips for optimization and blog posting, and blog post ideas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google Analytics and Google Search Console<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is Google Analytics and Google Search Console?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
These marketing tools are harder to set up and use, but they\u2019re also free<\/em>.<\/strong> For people who love data, figuring out what people are engaging with on their website, what searches you\u2019re showing up for and where, these tools are incredibly helpful, however, they\u2019re a bit more complicated to set up and use. You can hire someone to set them up, but it\u2019s not impossible to do it yourself, especially if you\u2019re familiar with using website plug-ins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can also get Google Analytics training for free <\/a>by Google (as well as other tools<\/a>), and it\u2019s such a universally used tool, there are a lot of resources on how to use it and set it up the way you want. While you might want to utilize someone with more knowledge to set up specific things, like sales conversion data if you are selling on your website, you can set up the basics yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Examples of custom metrics I set up for my Google Analytics include seeing what outbound links people are clicking to leave my website. This helps me see which links on which pages and blog posts are getting clicked, letting me know which pages are doing the best and what other books I am mentioning are popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laurelholl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-03-103007.png?fit=629%2C288&ssl=1\")
A screenshot of a graph of my google analytics showing which outbound links people are clicking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n How to use them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can set it up by pasting the GA code into your website, or you can use a plug in that will automatically connect them. Once you\u2019ve got your GA set up, you can also set up Google Search Console<\/a> to help you see what you\u2019re showing up in searches for, and where those are ranking on Google. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both of these tools can help you figure out how to tailor your website content to show up the way you want and rank higher, how people are using (or not) your website, and what content is doing well. This is one of the most powerful marketing tools for indie authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are built in analytics tools on a lot of website providers or plug ins for them, but Google Analytics and Google Search Console are going to be the most comprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Final Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Marketing can be overwhelming, especially when it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s working right away or going slowly. Do what\u2019s sustainable for you, don\u2019t try to do everything all at once. Consistency is key and will pay off over time! Utilize these free marketing tools for indie authors to make the most impact with the least effort and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Universal book links<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n