If you’re already selling products on Etsy or another e-commerce site, you may be wondering why you need to create a website or social media presence.

The short answer is the opportunities when you create a strong brand and website are limitless! 

Between having something you genuinely own (outside of third-party platforms) and connecting with your audience on a deeper level, you don’t want to miss out on the benefits of launching a website and building your brand. 

An Opportunity for Storytelling

What is your story? Are you a single mom providing for her three children and two Corgis with your printables? Were you previously working in a law firm and decided to make a career switch to your great passion - creating and selling digital sewing patterns?

People tend to purchase from brands and people that they recognize, trust, and feel a connection to. So, put a face and story to your brand. 

Now, if you’re reading this and feel you don’t have a “dramatic” or “unique” enough story, please don’t worry. Sharing bits of your life, no matter how boring they may seem to you, is enough to reel people in. People are naturally interested in the behind-the-scenes of other people’s lives (just think about how popular vlogs and personal blogs are!). 

Your story doesn’t have to be crazy. It just needs to be authentic. That’s what people connect with.

Here are a few prompts that can help you form a connection with your audience: 

• What is your WHY behind your business or art? Did you make a career change? Have you always wanted to be an artist? Did you share sewing patterns with friends until they pushed you to start a shop selling them? Share your WHY, and you’ll naturally connect with others who have experienced similar situations or find your story compelling.

• Share a little bit about you and your family. You don’t have to divulge too many personal details but give your audience a taste of your everyday life. Are you a parent or a student? Do you have pets? What are your hobbies? Where did you grow up? All these fun details add color to your brand. 

• Share a few pictures of yourself on your website. A smiling face or cute picture of your dog nestled by you as you work on your products creates an immediate connection. Remind people that there is a hard-working, creative person behind the products they are browsing. 

Increases Professionalism and Credibility

A website you can link in your Instagram bio, social media, or newsletter gives your business instant credibility. 

How many Etsy shop owners have a website? (in my opinion, not enough!) 

A website immediately establishes credibility, giving you a leg-up over the competition. It also takes you from a seller on Etsy to a digital product business owner. These correlations make people immediately think your products, customer service, and business are more legitimate. 

No Competition

One of the biggest challenges as an Etsy seller is the fierce competition, especially when selling in a competitive niche (although this should never stop you from selling on Etsy! With the right approach, you CAN build a profitable business).

The benefit of having your website is that there is no competition. Customers only see your e-books or planner printables rather than a wall of different options. 

Searching for “planner printables” alone brings up nearly 700,000 search results. While this is a generic keyword that I wouldn’t recommend targeting, there’s still a lot to be said for having a website where a customer can focus on just your products. 

There are also no distractions. If a customer scrolls down to the reviews on your Etsy listing, they will immediately see other sections such as “more from this shop” and “more from other shops.” While the first one benefits you, the second one takes your potential customers to another Etsy seller’s page. 

Overall, a website allows you to showcase your offerings without any white noise, making it easier to land the sale. 

Ownership of Your Website

Something critical for anyone building a business online, whether that’s on Etsy, other e-commerce sites, or social media, is diversifying your reach. 

At any point, Etsy or social media could ban your account, or the website could completely shut down. 

I don’t say this to scare you - because, believe me, the idea of any hardworking Etsy shop owner losing their shop is terrifying! But, I want to stress the importance of owning your business and reaching customers outside of third-party platforms. 

Yes, you can diversify your business by branching out and creating social media accounts or selling digital products on multiple platforms. However, I firmly believe that owning your website and brand is crucial. No one can take your business’ website away from you. 

Building an Email List

The same goes for an email list. An email list gives you direct access to your audience (and biggest fans at that!). 

Create a newsletter with valuable information that your target information will find interesting, and add in the occasional product launch to create hype around your new products. 

An easy way to build your email list is by including this information with every Etsy sale and offering a freebie for signing up. This freebie could be a printable, short e-book or guide or anything related to your products that your customers will love. Use the gift to entice visitors to provide their email addresses, then deliver tips, offers, and your story to their inbox. 

An email newsletter is another great way to convert browsers into customers. Most people won’t buy a product from you when they first come across your Etsy shop or website. However, they might subscribe to your email list, particularly if you dangle a valuable gift in front of them. This creates an open conversation and further opportunities to convince them to purchase your products in the future.

Online Marketing

Another benefit of having your own website is its marketability. While you can pay for Etsy ads, you are limited to where these ads show up. 

Your website, on the other hand, can be promoted through many forms of advertising, whether you pay for it to show up in Google search results or maximize its SEO through blog posts and keywords. You can also showcase your website on social media, increasing your opportunities to grow your audience. 

Create a Community

On my website, I promote the Bailey Tumbler Designs Club, which connects like-minded individuals in a free Facebook group. Members receive free weekly designs, access to over 6,000 sublimation designs, and business training on how to sell sublimation products. 

I even offer exclusive member-only designs - a huge draw for anyone who loves my products. 

This community is filled with people who love sublimation designs like myself. I get to help others take back their time and money by fostering other sublimation craft businesses. In addition, I have another way to connect with my target audience - one that wouldn’t be possible without my website and social media. 

Provides a Central Hub for Information

Your website gives you one place where customers can learn everything they need to know about your products before purchasing. 

Not only can you sell your products through your website, but you can have an FAQ page to answer questions you frequently receive from customers. You can even have a gallery showing off how your products are used, a video tutorial on how to customize your digital product, and many other beneficial resources to help customers feel confident in their purchase. 

I recommend embedding video tutorials into your website to show customers a step-by-step tutorial on using your product. A tutorial will show them exactly how user-friendly your product is, eliminating any doubts about purchasing it. 

Low Fees

One of the biggest advantages of selling your product on your website is that you don’t have to pay Etsy fees. Etsy’s fees have continued to increase over the years, which can eat into a store’s profits. Compare Etsy’s 6.5% to a transaction fee of 2.9% on something like Shopify or Wix and you can see how the difference would add up quickly.

Now, you will have to pay the website builder and domain, but otherwise, running a website is relatively inexpensive and can more than make up for these costs if you can drive traffic to it. 

Complete Customization

Since you own your website, you have complete control over the design, wording, presentation, and more. For example, you can create popups to entice visitors to join your newsletter. You can add blog posts and an about page to provide extra information and context about your brand. 

Creating a cohesive brand image gives your business credibility and helps customers instantly recognize your products, whether on Etsy or your website. 

Some elements that you can hone in on to define your brand include: 

• Brand colors

• Fonts

• The writing style

• Images and graphics

• How you communicate with your audience (emails, live video, social media, etc.) 

Brand recognition can help you build your business and drive sales by making your products instantly recognizable. It’s a small but critical part of connecting with your audience, and your website is the perfect place to bring your brand vision to life. 

On platforms like Etsy, you can upload your logo, shop banner, and customize your descriptions, but you’re limited with how much you can customize the layout and look of your shop page. You can’t add custom fonts or colors to your page, which help your brand stand out. 

Product organization is also limited. On my website, I have created specific design categories for my products where everything is grouped by holiday, genre, or niche. This organization makes the shopping experience more seamless for shoppers. 

A few of the many design categories I feature on my website. 

Creating a website gives you control over these aspects so you can flesh out your brand and connect on a greater level with your customers. 

Remember, you want to create repeat customers, and one way to do that is by helping them to connect with you and your brand on a personal level. If they connect with the fact that you’re a one-woman business selling out of Tennessee (which happens to be their hometown), you’re immediately more familiar and remarkable to them. 

Expansion into Other Products or Services

Etsy limits the types of products you can offer on its platform. One way that developing a solid brand and website has helped me is the capacity to provide other products or services that I couldn’t offer through Etsy. 

For example, I have my Bailey Tumbler Designs Club, a monthly membership I created for sublimation design lovers. This is an additional revenue stream for me that is something unique that I own (through my website and email list). 

Many members found me through my products on Etsy and then found my website and membership subscription. These offerings play with each other well, fostering sales and membership signups. 

Other services you could offer include coaching, courses, or consulting. For example, if you sell organization printables and are passionate about helping others manage their lives, consider creating a course on organizing your life in 12 easy modules. This class would appeal to the audience you’ve already established and be an additional resource and revenue stream for your business. 

Interested in learning more about building a six-figure digital product business? Digitally Purposed, gives a step-by-step detailed breakdown of how I created a six-figure digital product business in a few months with no graphic design experience or online audience.

Our community, Digitally Purposed, is different from anything out there. Not only does it lay out a step-by-step guide to launching and marketing your digital products business and helping you overcome common misconceptions, it also has one of the best private support communities dedicated to helping you every step of the way.

Plus, we have weekly training on the most requested topics like marketing, design tutorials, niche research, along with live Q&A calls and new PLR products!

Just need some feedback? Personalized shop audits are also included!

Selling digital products online requires constant learning and we'd love to support you!