Reason #1 to have a website

[Former_Member]

There have been lots of posts in the forums and teams lately about having your own website in addition to your Etsy shop.

Soooo many people complain about well...everything about paying for one, starting one and keeping up with one.

BUT. Etsy was down for over an hour.

I made THREE sales through my website during this time [my site was just launched a month ago and all prior purchases there were personal friends].

Perhaps they'd have forgotten all about me by the time Etsy finally decided to start working again.

Bwahahaha!

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

I'd love to start my own website, but I'm afraid I'd NEVER make a sale off of it. No one would find me...

[starlightwoods]

Gena- what website do you have? I have a weebly one and I could set it up to sell on their too but i am just not sure how it will all work yet...for now I just have every page redirect visitors to my etsy shop.

[RedOakImages]

I just got rid of my website after having it for over 6 years. I sold items similar to my other etsy shop. In the first couple of years I did ok. Then it slowly lost business. Partly because I had to many irons in the fire. Never had time to update it and it took so much time to do it, unlike etsy.

[Former_Member]

Lisa - it's at www.bakeallthethings.com

I had a web/graphic designer set it all up for me on a wordpress site.

[ShaileeBoutique]

hi I open my company at 3/31/12 .
I also have my onw online store butITS VERY SLOW yet i guess it all about promotion.
althogh i have 1,939 Likes on my facebook page.
keep you hope up it will come !!!

[Former_Member]

Lisa, get thee to Weebly and start setting it up. It is sooooo easy. Click on the Revenue tab while in edit mode and drag and drop your product block. You can upload photos from yourvcomputer, write your description, and charge your price. It links right up to your paypal account. Easy peasy doll.

[EclectasieDesigns]

Amen Sister! I'll be setting up my website starting tonight.

[Former_Member]

For those who have a website- do you do well in terms of revenue, and how do you promote it?

[Former_Member]

I am using Wix.com to set up my free website for my bath & body business. Can't wait to launch!

[starlightwoods]

@Erin- it links to paypal?/? I had no idea! I may just get started right away then! I thought you had to have some google way of paying which I am not familiar with and I would have some new thing to learn....Thanks so much! What's your direct website? I am sure you have one.

[Former_Member]

Mine links to Paypal too - it's fantastic!

[TheSmileEmporium]

HI Im wondering weebly is free? -yes but whats the catch?Do they have adds on the side of page? Sometimes adds on the side of the page can have inappropriate content. So any experienced weebly or other free website users,maybe you can shed some light on this connundrum for me.Thanks Debbie

[WolfandFirefly]

Hi Erin, I was reading what you said about weebly. How do you do the shipping fees? I didn't find a place to put that. Thanks! :)

[pzmdesigns]

I have had my own website for4 years now, with Go Daddy....I also added the Quick Shopping Cart. It is very cumbersome. I have hardly gotten any sales through it, My Etsy shop has finally started to take off (probably because I am putting the time in to it) so I have set the landing page on my website and my Etsy Mini....

I have learned an expensive lesson...

[Former_Member]

I have a question about weebly - are you actually only limited to ONE product photo? I don't know html and have no idea how to add more than one photo...I want to sell from my weebly site so badly but can't seem to figure it out - help!

[Former_Member]

The whole time Etsy was down I was doing website maintenance. Okay, and I ate dinner.

It was almost nice to be able to focus on one thing instead of feeling like I have to have two personalities.

I use bigcartel. Not free but I LOVE IT.

[Former_Member]

Gena - your site looks good, congrats that it is working for you! I didn't notice that Etsy was down today because I was at my desk job, but you bring up a good point. Three sales! I don't have a website right now, but it's definitely something I want to look at in the future.

[Former_Member]

Kelly - get on it!!! :)

[Former_Member]

You might like this article about why Etsy sellers should also have their own website: www.pixelfrau.com/5-reasons-etsy-sellers-need-their-own-website/

Even if you don't want to go all out and have an e-commerce site, I'd still recommend having a landing page with your contact info, links to your Etsy shop and social media, and some basic information about you and your business. This will help start building links and awareness for your site/brand, which will come in handy down the road when you're ready to go e-commerce.

[Former_Member]

Good point, Pixel Frau... this has definitely made me start to think about a website.

Gena - do you feel that any of your Etsy views have gone down from having a site? When you promote, do you direct people to your site of your Etsy shop? Do you have all the same products for sale both places, or completely different products?

[ElectronicGirl]

well after reading this thread and the one in the business team...i went and locked down my domain name. :D

godaddy has a sale going on. its only 2.95 a year for a domain name. and i believe i have a free basic landing page with that. so im just directing people to my shop here and adding basic images and such.
later when im ready i will probably transfer it to a full e-commerce site.

thanks all!

[MVDesignInk]

I would like to start on my own website too, thanks for all the info.
Marilú

[TheDarkFen]

i always start a website and then never finish it. :(

[Former_Member]

Great Idea!