In this day and age, having any type of business is the main reason why you have a website. No matter who you’re trying to attract, one of the first places they will look is online. Even if you don’t have a business, if you’re trying to create an audience, then a website is still important.

Why you should have a website, for reals

Having a website is important because you own it. You get to decide what to post or sell. It’s your own headquarters and you can build a community on it. If you’re thinking that’s what you use social media for, well think again.

Building your own community

Even though you have a community on social media, there’s only so much you can do on it. You can’t post what you want all the time on there. Plus it’s ever-changing. It’s getting harder and harder to start a community because all they (the social media giants) care about is making money now. If you were one of the first people on social media, that was fine, and you probably have lots of followers, but that is not the case now.

You can’t collect emails from social media. What if later down the line you want to start selling products or services or what if you want to start blogging or vlogging? You need a community or a loyal audience for that. Not everyone on social media will want to be a part of your community, but your fans will visit your website and sign up for your newsletter.

A newsletter will help you create an awesome community that is interested in the topics you want to blog or vlog about. They will also be interested in buying products from you because you would have built trust within your community. The easiest way to get people to sign up is through your website.

I’m looking at you, YouTube

I love watching videos on YouTube. I’m one of those people who becomes a super fan when I like a vlogger. The first thing I do, after I binge watch all their videos, is go to their bio and look for a website.

My biggest pet peeve is when they don’t have a website. You have all these followers who adore you and you don’t have a website? That’s crazy. I’m practically ready to stalk your website and buy all the things you like, but nothing.

The craziest thing is YouTubers already have followers AND content. Which means having a website for them is literally easy for them compared to someone with no followers or content. All you have to do is put your YouTube videos into your blog post and then add your affiliate links there. Then, just add your website to your Youtube page and other social media channels.

As your YouTube followers increase, you’ll want to expand your brand. A website is perfect for that. You might want to start creating your own products and services, and creating your own community on your own website will help. I don’t know what the future of YouTube is, and I doubt it’ll change, but it’s best to have your own headquarters for your business.

Look legit

Getting a domain and host isn’t that expensive. I pay $10/year for my domain and I  paid about $80 for 2 years for hosting. This was a special deal, but most hosting sites have deals for first-time buyers.

When you get a website, make sure that it looks legit. Don’t have a website that looks like spam. You know, those websites that look like all your information will be stolen if you click on anything or input any information. No one wants to visit a website that looks like it will scam you and steal all your personal data. Create a professional website.

Non-designers, I’ve got you covered

If you’re not a designer, you can hire a designer to build your website. You can check out my services here. Not everyone has the money for that though. I got you covered, or should I say WordPress and Squarespace have you covered.

Both WordPress and Squarespace have themes that you can choose from. WordPress has free options, while you have to pay for Squarespace. If you have no design skill and no technical skill at all, you should go with Squarespace. I say that because Squarespace themes aren’t as customizable as WordPress themes, it’s harder to make mistakes and mess up your website.

WordPress is more customizable if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t then WordPress is still a great option. You can still add all of your content. The only thing is you have to upload WordPress to your host if you’re doing everything yourself to save money. You can read more about WordPress here.

If you build it, they will come

After you launch your website, link it to all your social media accounts. Social media is a great way to market yourself for free. If you already have lots of followers, you can create content that links to your site so your followers can check out your site. You can create a newsletter and keep your audience updated with what you’re up to. I love getting newsletters and keeping up with what people are doing.

Having a website is the easiest way to have a business. You don’t have to pay rent at a physical store and you can test to see if your products will sell well before you dive too deep into selling it. It doesn’t cost a lot to start. You can start off by creating a service that you’re experienced with and then branch off. All you need is enough to pay for a domain and hosting. That’s not bad for investing in your dreams.

If you don’t have a website, what’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments below.

-Paigon | Natasha Lane Design Co.