Why you should have a website
What you'll learn
- Having a website gives you full control over your content.
- Web content is searchable by users off-app.
- A website grants full access to your audience and allows you to engage how you want to.
- Content posted to the web is potentially relevant
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, influencer or trendsetter, the web can help take your career as a creator to the next level. Read on to learn why you should have a website.
Own your content
When you create a social media profile you agree to their terms and conditions. Many creators have lost their accounts over what should be a minor mistake, such as a false automated copyright flag. Sometimes the company changes its stance on what type of content is acceptable overnight, turning what was once okay to post into a bannable offense.
When you create a website, you're in charge. You decide what you post, how others interact with it, and how long you keep it active. This is a safe hub you can always direct your followers to and keep your content alive.
Be searchable
If you’re a creator without a website, most users are discovering your content because an app has decided to show it to them. If you have a website, your content is indexable and searchable by search engines. This creates opportunities for you to be found through people’s search queries that don’t relate to you or your brand. For example, if you’re a creator with a gardening niche and someone searches “how to grow an eggplant”, there’s a chance your content will appear! Web content enables readers who are looking for new content to find yours off-app.
Full access to your audience
Let’s say you you’ve found your niche and built a solid following excited to engage with you. If you have a website, you get to decide what that looks like. You could build your own discussion forum, encourage users to sign up for newsletters, or keep the conversation going in chat rooms. This gives you direct and full access to your fans. Use this to your advantage to alert them of new content or an exciting merch drop.
Evergreen and always relevant
Each type of social media content has a shelf-life. Sometimes it’s a few weeks, other times it’s as little as 30 minutes. With timelines like that you need to constantly be posting new content or risk losing relevance. Often a social app's algorithms will deprioritize your content if they see a dip in your posting cadence.
With a website, your content lives as long as you want it to. New and existing fans are always able to find it. You can then use your social accounts to promote existing content when it becomes relevant again, like holidays or life events.
Generate passive income
Many social media creators make money through active income. Things like sponsored posting through brand deals or product endorsements. This is a great way to grow as a creator and make some quick cash, but you'll be stuck always chasing the next collaboration.
With a website, you can turn an initial one-time payment from a brand deal into passive income. If you create content on your website you can monetize it through advertisements and affiliate links. Because you decide how long this content lives on your website you have the opportunity to earn revenue from it indefinitely.