10 years ago, people were beginning to realise that the internet is turning out to be popular after all, although the websites we saw back then were usually from big businesses as it was almost unheard of for an individual or a small local business to own a website. Besides it was beyond most peoples grasp as they would either have to learn how to write their own pages from scratch or pay a small fortune to have it done for them.
Even just a handful of years ago you it would have been difficult to create your own website that contained more than just basic text and perhaps the odd image. Attractive websites could basically only be created by graphic designers who would happily charge several thousand pounds for their services. The second you needed anything updated you would need to come crawling back to your designer to plead for their very expensive time and expertise once again which meant that a simple text update could cost anything from £40 upwards.
But listen, because I am happy to say that this is not the case any longer!
Even the least techie amongst us are likely to have heard of the relatively recent phenomenon known as blogging. From the youngest child to the oldest great-grandparent, absolutely anyone has the ability to post their thoughts on the internet for the rest of the world to enjoy.
It was as it became apparent that everyone and their mother had something important to say that developers started to realise that they needed to make the web more accessible. As such, Content Management Systems (CMS) were born!
Now don’t worry, I’m not going all technical on you and please don’t panic if you don’t know what a CMS is yet, for now all you need to know is that right now it is both possible and easy for you to create your very own space on the internet. A space that you can use to create blogs or articles, to sell products for a profit or even to review the items that you are selling on other websites, such as eBay or Amazon, to drive that much needed traffic to your listings.
I’ve found that there are quite a few very common misconceptions about setting up a website:
“I’m a beginner; it’s too difficult for me to create a website.”
“Building my own website is too expensive.”
“I don’t have the time to build my own website, surely that takes weeks?”
“I don’t need my own website when I can create my own listings on a website like eBay or Amazon.”
These are perfectly sensible and valid observations, but they are also excuses! Believe me, I’ve heard every excuse in the book when it comes to individuals trying to find a way out of creating their first website. And to be honest I can’t understand why people won’t do it because ultimately having your own website means more potential profits for you!
Why Create Your Own Website – The Benefits
I know it’s easy for me to say that you should create your own website, but if you aren’t convinced as to why it’s worth doing then you may find that you never get started. The following points are just a few of the benefits once you get into gear and start creating your own internet space.
–Increased sales. You may currently use the internet to sell your stock on websites such as eBay and Amazon, but have you ever considered selling your products from your own website? There are no listing or final value fees to pay and what’s more, people may be more likely to remember your website address over your eBay username, increasing the likelihood that they will return to your online store to make additional purchases.
–Increased traffic. As well as selling goods through your website you can also use the space to send traffic to your listings on other websites. Let’s say you regularly sell a specific brand of baby clothes on eBay; you could write a detailed review of this particular product and then include a link back to your eBay page. The great thing about this approach is that many people use the internet to search for a review of a product before making a purchase. When this happens the review page on your website may come up in the search results whereas the product itself on eBay may not.
–Increased followers. Can you imagine how useful it would be to be able to send an email out to all of those people that had bought your baby clothes to let them know that a new style had just become available? With your own website you will be able to create something along the lines of a newsletter signup, where your customers can register their interest in your products and you can continue to stay in communication with them.
–Increased marketing opportunities. With an actual domain name and website that contains useful information for the public you will have many more opportunities to advertise your pages. This is something that will become increasingly important as your website business grows.
–Increased money making prospects. Buying items to resell for a profit is a great way to make money, but there are other methods that you can take advantage of if you have your own website. Systems such as Google AdWords allow you to strategically place adverts on your pages, adverts that allow you to earn a little money each time someone clicks on them. This is just one of the alternative money making prospects you’ll have once you own your own website.
Ok, I’ve only touched on a few of the benefits of creating a website here but I hope that these alone are enough to convince you that it is something worth doing.