Hey there and welcome back!
You probably have a Facebook page for your small business, and you might have a small Etsy store to sell online. Those are good enough on their own to help your business grow online, right?
The answer to that is no. In today’s world, if you’re going to be selling your products online and growing your business, that is simply not enough. You’re going to need your own website to accomplish that.
So today, let’s go over why your business needs a website if you don’t already have one.
Before we get started, if you want to see more videos on web design, ecommerce, digital marketing and other website-related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
Now let’s get started.
Your content, your control
Social media sites and websites like Etsy are great places to get started. You just write in some information and they take care of how all of that information looks.
But when you’re trying to grow, you need more control over how everything looks. You need to find a way to stand out from the crowd that all looks the same on that platform.
Having your own website removes all of that. You can do whatever you want with the content and make it look however you want it to. Even if you just use something like a prebuilt WordPress theme, you still have a lot of control over the number of pages that you have and how the content on that page looks. Plus you can control exactly what the content is on those pages. And you can even start a blog.
Your website. Your rules. That can make a pretty big difference for your business.
You can move it anywhere
On a similar note, if you use Etsy or some sort of social media platform just for your business, you are locked into whatever they offer. If they, hypothetically, go under, well you’re out of luck.
With your own website, especially with a content management system or even a plain HTML and JavaScript solution, you can move that website wherever you need it too. If your current web host goes under, well you just take those files and move it to another web host. You aren’t bound to any particular service. And heck, even with content management systems, you can move from one CMS to another fairly easy today.
Social media and even web hosts aren’t forever. Remember MySpace. Make sure you have something set up that’s easy to move in case you need to migrate the site or whatever. It will make everything so much easier.
SEO becomes so much easier
Also, having your own website makes your search engine optimization efforts so much easier.
Social media platforms and Etsy will give your business some SEO boost, but not a whole lot. Really, your profiles are only going to show up in Google searches if you search directly for your business. You probably won’t be showing up for, you know, related topics to your business or those important “near me” searches.
Having your own website, on the other hand, will allow you to show up in those searches that really matter.
Plus, a website built with the correct Schema in the HTML will not only allow you to show up in searches, but also gives you a shot at appearing in those featured snippets which appear above the regular search results. And using the organization schema in the footer of every page helps your local SEO efforts.
Plus, you can have a blog from which you can start your content marketing efforts which all feeds into SEO.
If you want to appear in Google, you need to have a website.
A place to call home
Most importantly, a website is going to be your business’ storefront on the digital main street. It’s a place to call home.
This is where you can control the narrative of your business. You can tell your story to the world here.
You can show them around at what you can offer them and how you can help them and you can show off your latest and greatest work. It’s an opportunity to convince people to become customers or clients, and you control everything.
Doesn’t have to be fancy
Also, if you’re worried about the price of a new website and everything that comes with it, don’t worry. Websites don’t have to be fancy and flashy.
A simple website using a content management system like WordPress using a pre-built template or theme and some plugins can help you create a professional looking website without breaking the bank.
You just need something that presents your information and content in a professional looking way. Plus, during our look into ecommerce, I laid out a way for you to create an online store for less than $500. If you’re on the fence, you might want to check that out.
So don’t let the cost scare you.
Can be a starting point for digital marketing
Finally, a website will be the foundation for all of your digital marketing efforts. Everything you do online will point back to this website.
A website is just a piece in the larger digital marketing puzzle. The other pieces include social media marketing, content marketing and online advertising. And everything you do on those channels will point right back to your website.
And that website is where everything is going to happen. It’s where people will learn everything they need to know about your business and become customers or clients.
If you truly want to grow your business online, a website isn’t just something nice to have. It’s a necessity. And Facebook, other social media sites and Etsy just don’t cut it.
So what questions do you have about creating an online store for your business? Be sure to leave those down in the comments section below.
If you want to learn more about how to create a website for your business, be sure to download the Small Business Website Planning guide from the link in the description below. And if you’re ready to just go ahead and start to create your new website, I would love to help create a professional-looking website for you that fits your budget.
On Wednesday we’ll be discussing the best web hosts for WordPress this year. And on Friday we’ll be going over 10 website trends you can expect here in 2021.
To see those videos and more videos about web design, ecommerce, digital marketing and other website-related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
But until next time, I wish you and your business the best of luck.
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