Do You Have Your Own Website? Why or Why Not?

[Former_Member]

Whether to have a website or not, and what to do with one, seems to be a consistent topic amongst Etsy sellers and Creatives. I'm working on a new project to help answer those questions and provide information on purchasing domains and setting up websites. I have quite a bit of experience in this area and would love to put that knowledge to use.

What reservations and questions do you have about setting up your own website? I'll be compiling your questions and answering them soon on a new blog. Of course, I'll also try to answer as many as possible here as well.

[PrairiePeasant]

My main reservations are
-cost: will it be an ongoing cost, and will it be worth it?
-do I have, or could I easily acquire the skills to maintain it?

[Former_Member]

Yes, I agree with Laura (above). I am concerned that there will be a big up-front cost and that the monthly fee will be pricey, too.

Thanks for doing this!
Jennifer

[Former_Member]

many people maintain their own sites using the software provided by whoever hosts their site

usually the more time you sign up to have the domain, the less it costs

[VedgeCandle]

I have my own site. I have it now as an info site. I'm ready to sell on there too but I'm updating and it takes a couple of weeks when I do this :) I'm a beginner so I researched the top hosting sites on consumer report and found one I could afford. I'd love to have someone update it all for me and add products :D but this is more cost effective for me for now.

[VedgeCandle]

oops as far as Why...I forgot to answer. My website is like my business card (I don't use them) and gives people more info about my products and a more direct point of contact with me. It used to be that having a website was a luxury, now I think it's a necessity to have one. I want mine to keep getting better and hopefully it will.

[Former_Member]

It's not nearly as expensive as most people think to buy and host a domain. You can usually buy a domain for about $10 a year. Hosting plans vary, but you can get them for as little as $50 a year. The type of hosting plan you need really depends on what you're doing with your website. An ecommerce site will require more bells and whistles, so the hosting will be more expensive than a simple landing page. Oh, and if you're just getting a domain to forward to your etsy shop, you don't even need a host.