Why Every Etsy Seller Should Also Have Their Own Website

Every Etsy Seller Needs To Have Their Own Website!

I've been selling on Etsy for over 5 years and have been very happy with the traffic and sales I receive on their site. However, I also have my own website and I'm so glad I do.

Launching my website only took me 1 week from start to finish. It's a simple site and at this time, just consists of the following pages:

1. Home - I have a slideshow featuring my jewelry.
2. The Shop - This page links directly to my Etsy store.
3. Blog - Links to my blog.
4. About - This tells my story .
5. Contact - All my contact info (e-mail, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter) is located here.
6. E-Mail Updates - Link to sign up for my e-mail newsletter.

Each page also has direct links to my Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter accounts.

Reasons to have your own site, even if you are selling successfully on Etsy

1. You own your brand name. TheresaRoseDesigns is my name, forever. As long as I pay my $10 every year, no one can take that name. Even if it takes you a while to build the site, grab the domain name asap!
2. Your entire online presence can be accessed from one location. From my main site, you can link to:
• Etsy Shop
• Blog
• Facebook Fan Page
• Twitter
• Pinterest  
• Instagram
3. Increase your web exposure.  The more places you have your name, the more you will be found.
4. Complete control over content. While I love the way Etsy looks, I do not control the picture sizes, color, or logo. I want the first look a customer has of Theresa Rose Designs to be the image that I want to project.
5. SEO, SEO, SEO! I can drive customers to my site via SEO (which I'm still learning). I can't do that on Etsy. 
6. Credibility. Having my own site shows that I'm serious about my business. If I'm invested in my business, then that builds trust with potential customers. It shows professionalism and legitimacy.
7. What is the future of Etsy? I'm pretty sure that Etsy will be around for a long time, but if anything happens, I'm positioned to link to a new store. If Etsy disappears and that's my only on-line presence, I disappear.

Your website doesn't have to be a massive undertaking. I have a few pages. I use it mostly to link to my other sites at this time. Once I realized that this was the way to start, the task didn't seem so daunting and I was able to get to work on it.

All my communication links to my website, not Etsy. I want to drive people to my site and they can select the Shop link to go to Etsy. This serves a couple of purposes:

1. If anything happens to Etsy, whether temporarily or permanently, people still have a link to find me.
2. I can find out (through analytics) how many people are coming to my Etsy shop from TheresaRoseDesigns.com. (good info!).
3. Customers can directly link to my social media sites and blog. 

So, if you haven't started your own site, what are you waiting for? Go for it!