SIBA

Who Needs a Website? (You Do!)

Beginning March 1st, 2008 the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) will began offering free websites as part of its ongoing services for members. The benefit was instituted to ensure that all SIBA bookstores would be able to benefit fully from SIBA’s marketing and outreach programs. Originally based on a simple template, the service has recently been upgraded to a content delivery system built on the Joomla platform.

Hosting the site is free of charge to SIBA members, although there will be a $9.95 annual fee for each domain name registration. A demo site can be viewed at

http://www.demo.sibaweb.com

(Use the username demo and password demo to log in to see all the features)

Request a Free Website

“This is not designed to be an e-commerce site,” said SIBA’s website administrator and newsletter editor Nicki Leone who described the SIBA-created sites as more of a directory listing that will come up on an average Google search, that stores can use in their own promotions, and that SIBA can reference for its own programs and services. “In this day and age, having a website is as necessary for a business as being listed in the phone book” she said, adding that she didn’t think a site needed to be fancy, but every bookstore should at least have something up that says who they are, where they are, and how to reach them. “Many of our members are small stores in small communities,” said Leone, “They don’t need to have large website with shopping carts, searchable databases, and all the bells and whistles.” Here she paused. “But they do need to have something.”

Leone said that the impetus to provide free websites came as SIBA began to develop more online and electronic marketing services that relied on linking to the websites of member stores. She noted that while almost 98% of SIBA member bookstores do have email addresses, there remain a few stores still without websites, or whose existing sites remain undeveloped. This became an issue as SIBA’s own online marketing evolved.

As part of the organization’s program for promoting independent bookselling in their region, SIBA has created a consumer website called Authors Round the South, or “ARTS” (www.authorsroundthesouth.com) with a directory for all their bookstore members and an extensive calendar of author appearances and book signings at member stores throughout SIBA’s entire eleven-state region. “We think it is the most extensive listing of author events in the South” said Wanda Jewell, SIBA's executive director, “it’s a tremendous resource for readers”. SIBA also began producing The Lady Banks Commonplace Book newsletter as a way to promote the events listed on ARTS. But while all SIBA members are encouraged to log on and enter their events, stores without websites can not take full advantage of the opportunity. “The whole point of ARTS and Lady Banks is to drive traffic and interest to independent bookstores” said Leone, but if stores don’t have a website we can link to, they are at a huge disadvantage.”

Having been responsible for website creation, upkeep and maintenance for bookstores she has worked at in the past, Leone knows that they can be confusing, tedious, and time-consuming tasks. “No bookseller really wants to be tapping away at a computer when they could be out on the sales floor talking to customers about books,” she said. “This is an easy and effective alternative for stores who don’t want or can’t justify the expense of an elaborate, full service online store.”

“We’ve worked very hard to create vehicles that will raise the visibility of our stores both throughout the region and within their own communities,” said Jewell, “by developing consumer-oriented--READER-oriented--websites and newsletters. But to take advantage of online marketing, you need to have an online presence. We want to make sure all our members are able to have that presence.”

Bookstores interested in signing up for one of SIBA’s free websites should contact Nicki Leone at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

or Request a Free Website