The importance of having one’s own website has become so apparent to me that these days, I create one the moment a business idea hatches. So if you’re wondering: “Do I build my own website?”, the answer is, without a doubt, YES!
Technology has advanced so much these days, there really is no excuse for anyone looking to start a business or trying to make some serious money online to not have their own blog or website.
You do not need much technical expertise if you can get hold of a simple website builder. It is a matter of a few clicks of the mouse to create one (within 10 minutes!). Not a single line of coding is required.
I build all my websites on WordPress from scratch, with zero technical know-how. You just need a user-friendly interface to create your own professional-looking sites.
And the cost is insignificant compared to what you will attain out of it. In fact, I created my very first website for free before investing a very affordable fee on buying my own domain.
You may want to read: how to start a blog on a budget of $5/month.
In this post, let us examine WHY it is so crucial to possess your own website, regardless of whether your business is online or offline.
We discuss these 5 reasons:
1. It opens up numerous possibilities
2. It is an online asset
3. It builds your brand
4. It helps drive your marketing efforts
5. It allows you to diversify
Why do I build my own website for my small business, or even if I just want to make some money online?
If you are serious in making your online ventures work, then you really need to create your own website.
Even if your business is a brick-and-mortar establishment, targeted at your local community, an online presence will do wonders for your sales and reputation.
Or if you think you are just a freelancer trying to find gigs so that you can enjoy the freedom of space and time, choosing when, where and how much to work, with no use for a website, then please read on…
1. Every entrepreneur needs a website – it opens up numerous possibilities
Unless you are running a restaurant in a small town, and are only interested in serving up a hot, piping, nutritious meal to your local villagers, then you may possibly get away with not owning a website.
Even then, in the small town, a website will certainly make an exciting addition to your business. For example, you could update your ‘soup of the day’, or ‘catch of the day’, so your customers can buzz about it and anticipate the lunch that is to come.
You could also capture their feedback using an iPad right after their meals, so it shows you value them, rather than risk having a dissatisfied customer simply walking out of the restaurant and losing him or her.
Collated feedback could also drive your business directions, and show you whether you need to work on the menu, freshness of food, food hygiene, food presentation, waiters’ service, furniture in the restaurant, cleanliness, etc.
A brick and mortar business is great and has its place, along with its limitations. Complement it with a website, and the sky becomes the limit.
It becomes that much easier to scale up, because your reach can be wider.
You can expand your business to do home delivery orders. You can get customers to tag your company website and social accounts on social media, casting a wider net that can entice people from neighboring regions to patronize your restaurant.
If you are a freelancer, creating your own website allows you to showcase your expertise and knowledge in the service that you are offering. It also enhances your credibility score, as well as professionalism.
Moreover, it keeps you strongly rooted, providing an easy means for potential clients to find you.
In today’s world, state of the art, and economy, every business needs a website to survive, to thrive, and to expand locally and globally. And that leads us to the next point…
2. A website is an ASSET
Owning a website is like owning a property, a piece of land, a house, in the internet world. The best thing is, it costs next to nothing!
It forms the basis of your existence and influence. Without a website, nobody can find you except the customers who already know you.
When you own a website, whatever work you put into it stays, and builds upon all your past effort.
It compounds.
Every single page you publish on your website contributes to your content marketing efforts.
You can always start small, and build it up slowly. Nothing on your website will get lost in the vast and endless world of the internet, unlike how social sharing, forum sharing, and many other marketing strategies require constant posting, tweeting, etc. to keep the outreach going.
Of course these other marketing strategies will help your business, but the core of it is still your website. You can work on search engine optimisation. If done properly, the search engines will reward you with consistent quality traffic because your visitors’ needs and what you are offering are the perfect match.
When that happens, your visitors will be the ones doing the social sharing for your business, because what you offer is legitimately helpful.
And you will be on your way to a sustainable passive income. Because you would have acquired a high-income skill – put in the work once, and reap its benefits forever.
That is why a website is such a basic asset that every business and entrepreneur should have.
On the other hand, without a website, all that hustling on social platforms gets buried very quickly under the heaps of posts, ads, news, etc. that are whizzing all over the place. We know how noisy the internet has become these days.
Moreover, you will be at the mercy of these social platforms, which can change their rules anytime, or ban your account in accusation of some violation of policy that you had unknowingly committed, or never even committed.
When that happens, it can possibly ruin entire businesses that heavily rely on such platforms for their online presence.
3. To establish your own brand
With your own website, the branding aspect of your business can be made very prominent. Through your site logo, tagline, and the engagement with your visitors, etc.
It forms the first impression, and helps your new visitors to make the associations that you would like your business to be linked with, be it environmental responsibility, speed and efficiency in delivering your services, etc.
The message can be sent across strongly at one glance of your homepage. And it makes you stand out.
Without a website, there is nowhere to establish your brand, unless you are already an influencer on some social media platforms.
But even then, most, if not all, influencers do have their own websites to begin with, and to build upon.
Another way a website builds your brand is when you set up your email marketing campaigns to build your own list.
Visitors landing on your site may be impressed by how helpful and authentic it is. Having put out your most valuable content to earn the trust of your readers, now is the best chance for you to get them sign up onto your mailing list.
As you publish new articles, or have new offers to promote, send regular updates through your email list, and you will have your fans remember how useful your services had been to them.
You place your brand name at the back of their minds, so that whenever they need your services or products, your name and your business is the one they think of.
4. To analyze and tweak your marketing efforts
When you own a website, the tools that you would set up alongside it would help you tremendously by pointing you in the right direction for your marketing efforts.
Google Analytics serves up tons of information, from which you can base your analysis: which countries your readers are located in, whether they found you through search engines or social media, which pages they frequent, how long your visitors spend on your pages, from which pages do they exit your website, etc.
Google Search Console takes things to another level, by analyzing the keywords through which your visitors found your website.
With the technologies in place, you have a bird’s eye view of what exactly is going on in your business, and can make informed choices, to take appropriate actions.
5. To take your business in whatever direction you wish, and to diversify
You are the website owner, you have the complete say in how things are run. And you can adapt to changes and trends as they make their way through the fast-changing online world.
You can choose to dabble in affiliate marketing, or e-commerce, or drop-shipping. You can make your own handicraft or jewelry and sell them online. You can use your website or set up a new one for some charity cause that lands itself in your life.
There are a thousand and one things you can do with your website, because you own it.
As long as your activities remain lawful, there is nothing that you cannot control on your website.
You can place affiliate links anywhere you deem fit (unlike on many social platforms, as these will be considered spam), or you can place display ads to earn a passive income. Alternatively (or in addition), you can create your own digital products to sell, or leverage some existing e-courses platform to run trainings.
If your business is service-oriented, you can allow clients to book appointments on your website.
Concluding thoughts
I hope you are now convinced of the answer to the question ‘Do I build my own website?’.
Check out this article on Forbes that explains 3 big reasons to having a personal website as
– having control over your image,
– building a reach now that can help you later, and
– allowing you to stand out from the competition.
The benefits are too obvious to ignore. What had possibly been stopping you may be the lack of skills and knowledge in the ‘HOW’ of building a website.
Do not let that be your stumbling block any further.
You just need the right tools and resources (this link will show you the best online website builder that I know of), and to be pointed in the right direction by people who had succeeded in making their websites work for them in driving sales and revenue.
You may feel overwhelmed or frustrated at times (you can get the experts to start the engine for you, if you have the budget – consider Human Proof Designs), but remember, it’s those who never give up, those who dare to dream, and those who never stop learning, who will succeed.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
