In the first episode of Makers TV, I introduced the concept of having  7 core strengths of your business and today we will delving deeper into one of those core strengths and that is your homebase.

So do you really need a website for your business these days? Especially in the advent of social media making it easier to sell anything. The short answer is yes. Yes you do. If you need a little more convincing, I talk about my top 5 reasons you MUST have a website for your business.

Branding

It is not just your logo but it is your messaging and your promise that you give to your customers. It is why you are doing what you are doing and how you are adding value to your customer’s life. Having a website and telling your story can be your Home page as compared to Instagram which only allows you a few lines in your bio. There’s only so much you can do in social media pages to convey and solidify your message into your customer’s mind. 

Having your own website can make you create your shop from scratch and put up details specific to your product and target audience.

Sales Platform

You have more control of the sales process as compared to facebook or etsy which already has a standard. In etsy, you have to create a buyer account before you can browse. This is a barrier so you would want to remove barriers or friction and make it as smooth as possible for your customers to purchase your products. You get to control how everything looks like and how everything works. You get to own your shop without having to abide by other companies’ rules or pay their ongoing fees.

Credibility

Having your own website builds your credibility and fosters customer relationship. You can showcase your services and products better by giving more information through a video or a back story with no extra cost. You can set the images to whatever size you want and make it more detailed for your customers.

Your About Me page also determines your customer’s behaviour. Simon Sinek said that “People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.” So between two people who sells the same product but with one of them the relationship is more intimate because of what is written and shared on their blog or about me page, the customer will choose the seller who most relates to.

Marketing

Your website is your best marketing tool. When selling online, nothing is more important than being found. Having your own website gives you greater opportunities to show up in search engines and you have total control over SEO stuff (keywords, image titles, urls, meta description, etc).

Ownership

I have been mentioning it in most of the reasons above that you own your website and you have complete control over it compared to social media platforms which are owned by facebook, instagram, etsy, and all that. This is probably one of the most important points for why you need to have a website for your business because facebook and instagram can change their terms of service anytime and there is also the possibility of getting your account hacked. With having your own website, you are the sole owner and no one else.

Convinced? You can read more about why you need your own website in a related post here.

If you think you still need help in strengthening your brand, you could consider joining the Maker’s Academy which is a membership for makers and creatives such as yourself wanting to learn how to sell your stuff so you can replace your 9-5 income with something you are more excited about. My purpose is to help you achieve that.