Author websites

I've been trying to figure out how to distill all of this into a poll, but it doesn't break down easily into a set of poll options, so I guess I'll solicit comment input instead. :)

I want to revamp my author website (again) -- not a lot, because I'm pretty happy having it on Wordpress and generally organized like it is, but I want to do my best to present all the information that people typically want from an author website in an easily navigable format. I also want to get my various social media (real-name blog, Facebook, Tumblr, etc) streamlined into some semblance of a professional web appearance. (Not this blog. This one is for play. :D)

So what I'm trying to figure out, mostly, is what people look for on author websites. Or do you go to them at all? Personally, I Google authors rather extensively, whenever I encounter a new author in the various ways that one does (via library books, via author blogs and comments, via random mentions of Book X on someone else's blog, etc). I have realized that, of the top hits, I'm actually a lot more likely to visit their Wikipedia page than their personal website, because the things that I am mostly looking for are:

- A capsule biography of the author and what kind of books they write
- A chronological list of their books and some idea of what they're about

Basically I want the Author 101. And I can find this information much more easily at Wikipedia, all laid out in a nice standardized format.

When I go to author websites, I've concluded that I'm mostly looking for:

- Information on what other books they have and whether I'd enjoy them.
- Free samples of their writing (short stories, sample chapters)
- Any interesting posts they might have on their blog.
- Contact information (sometimes)

If I'm already familiar with an author, sometimes I'll go to their website to look for interesting extra goodies about their worlds (maps, behind-the-scenes stuff, etc), or to see what they have out that's new, and I'll follow their blog ... but that is way less of a thing for me, I think, than just wanting the Author 101 and to find out what books they have. I've maintained various, ever-evolving incarnations of my original-fic website since the late '90s, but all along, I think I've been approaching it slightly backwards and viewing it as a place for existing readers to find more stuff, rather than a place for new readers to learn a little about me.

But, well ... what do you think? How do YOU use author websites (if at all)? Do you look for the same kinds of things I do, or other things I haven't mentioned?

Do you have any examples of author websites that you consider well-designed and easy to navigate? How about ones where you had a poor browsing experience and couldn't find the things you wanted?

ETA: If you never (or rarely) go to author websites, that's a useful piece of information as well - don't hesitate to comment!