No matter what people think, the website is still your most important digital asset when it comes to digital marketing. In fact, as has been touted for years, your website is the center of your entire online marketing endeavor. Everything you do should seek to send people straight back to your website, and then on to an email list. The main reason why your website is the most important is that you own it.
Social Media Can Be Gone Tomorrow
It’s not likely, but any one social media account could change drastically when you wake up in the morning. It can go from free to paid, it can also change the rules, and so much more can happen. All the hard work you put into building up that social media network with content and engagement could be all for nothing tomorrow.
You Own It
If you have a self-hosted website (whether it’s built with WordPress platform or another builder), as long as it’s self-hosted on a server you rent, you can move it and use it how you want to without interference or worry from someone else telling you what to do. Even if you lose all social media accounts tomorrow, your website will still be there.
It’s a Destination
You’re really expected to have a website today if you have a business. If you send people to a Facebook page instead, they will not see it in the same way as they do a real website that represents your business and only your business without distraction. You can use the website to direct people to other media, but your website is first and foremost your storefront.
Everything Leads Back to It
Everything you put out there on the web, on social media, in brochures, your business card, books, games, apps, guest blog posts, bookmarks and other marketing collateral all lead right to your website because that will never change. Your website will always be your website.
You Control It
When you own something, you control it. You can update it, change it, move it, and do whatever you want with it. When you use builders like GoDaddy Website Builder or native builders that can’t be moved, you’re trapped in that space and rebuilding is harder to do. You can have as many features, email addresses, sales pages and more if you control it, and it’s not hard to do.
They’re Inexpensive
Having your own website is not expensive. You can buy a domain name for less than 15 dollars a year and hosting for less than 10 dollars a month. The only expense left is having someone build your site if you don’t want to. But, with self-hosted WordPress you can easily find someone for less than 1000 dollars to build it, or you can pick a theme and give it a go on your own. It’s not hard – at least give it a try. (Hint: If you can use one of the native builders, you can use self-hosted WordPress.)
It’s Your Brand
When you own your own website, you can brand it how you want to. You don’t have to leave any “built by” notes up, or notifications about your hosting company or anything. You own it; it carries your branding. It’s really that simple.
Customers Judge You
If you don’t own your own website and use a builder or try to pass off a social media site as your destination, people will judge you. They’ll believe you’re not a serious business owner and will not want to work with you. Instead, create the best website you can within your budget and reap the benefits.
Owning your own website in order to market digitally to your clients is an imperative in today’s online marketing world. Without it you’ll be wasting a lot of time and money on building up someone else’s empire. Why not build your own?