Etsy Shop vs. Your Own Website
If you have an Etsy shop, you should feel very proud of taking a step towards your dream of having a business and for taking the initiative to put yourself and your work out there. I too had an Etsy shop several years ago. It is a great tool to get started, but I do encourage Artisans to either start with a website or transition to one as you progress in your business.
After several years of building e-commerce sites, online stores and websites on several platforms, I’ve come to the understanding that it benefits us more and saves us time and energy to have our own websites, as I’ll show you below. It also adds to our brand in recognition and credibility.
It doesn't matter if you don’t consider yourself tech savvy. I know the Etsy allure of a done for you template for those that aren't tech savvy is huge! But user friendly website platforms with existing e-commerce templates are everywhere and do not take long to learn. (I’ll show you below)
Here are the reasons to have your own website:
1. Search Engine Optimization or SEO:
Etsy acts like a search engine, just like Google, and therefore strong SEO or keyword search must be implemented in order for people to find you and your products.
In my opinion, and yes I have had an Etsy shop, it is much more beneficial and time saving to do this once on our own website, instead of on Etsy and then again for a website.
The reason is this: If you are going to spend the time not only uploading all your products, descriptions, policies etc, but also the time, energy and money on advertising to build your keywords and get your products in front of people, why not do it for your own website so that search engines like Google can recognize your SEO and build your ranking from it?
Not only this, but you can add pages to your website that help your SEO and get Google to raise your ranking. Pages like a blog, a booking calendar for custom design, videos of your processes, and more.
The more active you are on your website, more pages you have, more edits you make, the more Google’s algorithm works to raise your ranking. (None of this is difficult!)
2. Lack of marketing control as you are subject to their policies.
Yes, Etsy has its benefits, such as an already existing shop template where you upload your products, descriptions, pricing and policies, but you lose the ability for direct calls to action like email signups, putting the marketing control in their hands.
3. You are competing with tons of other products placed right there in front of your potential customer!! You have much better chance of keeping their eyes on your products if they are on your site with no distractions taking them from your product.
My biggest reason is this:
It is empowering to be the one that designs, creates and fulfills your own site! YOU control it. You design it. You are the badass that edits it, as it should be! It is worth it.
So if you are thinking of an Etsy shop, I encourage you to consider the reasons a website will benefit you more. Ultimately though, as I always teach, do what feels aligned for you!
P.S. I show you how to build your own website in my Jewelry Business School! In our website module I show you the exact steps on my chosen software platform, payment processing, pages, products, policies, shipping, domain setup, search engine optimization, and setting up a free email collection software, an email campaign and how to integrate this right onto your site! Basically, build your own badass website with step by step instruction:
Build your own website with step by step instruction (You can even get a website for FREE)
Get your business domain
Add your products with ease
Learn how to add your business policies, terms & conditions, consumer warranty, shipping and cookie policy (these are legally required) with provided templates
Set up your business email and integrate with your domain
Collect and create a customer email list and learn why this is crucial for success
Learn to set up a FREE automatic email responder when customers sign up to your list
Learn how to embed a FREE scheduling system into your website so clients can book custom design appointments