For creative businesses, starting out selling on a third-party platform just makes sense – you have great exposure and support at your fingertips.
But a few years into selling on sites like Not On The High Street, Etsy, Trouva, and Amazon, frustrations creep in and you start craving more control over your business.
The big question is… what does that look like and how do you get it?
A well-structured, search engine optimised website gives you the freedom and flexibility you lack when you’re selling on rented space. It allows you to truly take ownership over your future success.
Read on to find out more about the importance of having your own optimised website as a maturing creative business, and how to go about it.
The disadvantages of third party selling sites
As your creative business grows and you become more confident in your products and brand, you’re likely to want more control than third party websites can offer.
When your business is dependent on a third party, you may well experience:
- Difficulty standing out from the crowd in a sea of results
- Frustrating fee structures cutting into your profits
- Limited control over promotions
- A lack of data preventing you from building customer relationships and repeat business
- Algorithms limiting your visibility so your target customer can’t find you.
If one or all of these frustrations apply to you at the moment, you’re not alone. But fear not – help is coming!
The advantages of owning your own optimised website
In the beginning, an all-singing all-dancing e-commerce website may have felt like a pipe dream, but now your business is maturing, it’s likely making more and more sense to you as a smart investment in your future.
With your own site, you have:
Full control over your branding
You’re in the driving seat with full creative control over how you present your brand to the world. You choose the aesthetic, how your products are displayed, and how your target customers views you.
Freedom over pricing
With your own website, you call the shots on pricing, delivery costs, and customer service standards without any restrictions or rules to obey.
Direct access to your audience
Imagine growing a huge database of engaged customers who you have a direct line to communicate with, share promotions, build relationships, and encourage long-term loyalty.
Having your own website is the best way to establish and grow those connections then personalise how you market to existing and future buyers.
Visibility on Google to cut out the middleman
With your very own well-optimised website, you can start ranking on Google for terms your customer is out there searching for, using SEO tactics to outrank your competitors and get your products and wisdom in front of the right eyeballs.
Plus, customers love to feel they’re buying directly from a seller rather than a faceless selling site.
The importance of well-written copy for your optimised website
Copy – aka the words on your website – is your secret weapon to showing up online once you have a decent website (which we’ll come to in the next section).
Investing in a professional copywriter to create the written content for your website is a no-brainer if you want to hit the ground running with the visibility you want online.
The right copywriter will bring to the table:
- Engaging product descriptions that tell the story of your brand and appeal to your ideal customer
- Consistency in your written content so your audience instantly recognises it as YOUR brand, building trust and long-term loyalty
- SEO (search engine optimisation) – from product descriptions to landing pages and blog articles, all of your written content can be ‘optimised’ to rank high up on Google results pages when your customer is searching for advice or specific items online
- Clear calls to action (CTAs) – great content should tell the reader what to do next, whether it’s ‘buy now’, ‘subscribe to my email list’ or ‘read this blog next’.
How do you start with setting up your own website?
If you don’t already have a site, here’s my advice on getting started.
Hire an expert
Nowadays, it’s pretty easy to set up your own website on platforms like Wix or SquareSpace, but they have their limitations and can be frustrating to manage and get the visibility you need.
If you have some budget to put behind it, my advice is to invest in a professional website on a platform like WordPress or Shopify.
As long as you choose the right developer, this will be an investment that will pay off. I work closely with Thrive Digital and can highly recommend Gaby’s services for web design and development for creative businesses – but do your own research and find someone you like and trust.
Invest in copywriting and SEO
Investing in great web design then overlooking the importance of professional copywriting and SEO is like building a gorgeous shop in the middle of the woods.
It might look incredible, but if no one knows it’s there or what it offers, your beautiful products will stay on the shelf.
Well-written, optimised wording acts like the signage directing people to your online store, ensuring the right customers find you and fall in love with your wares.
Create a marketing plan
Once you become the master of your own destiny by having an optimised website to sell from, decide on a plan to market yourself to your dream customer.
We’ve already discussed how important copywriting and SEO are for attracting visitors from Google. So, think as well about email marketing to your (hopefully!) growing database, and using social media platforms your audience frequent to connect with them and build relationships.
Consistency and quality are key – so once you’ve chosen a few ways and places to show up, do it regularly and share valuable content to interest, engage, and inform your audience. Really get to know them and produce content they can’t resist liking, sharing, and clicking on.
Take your creative business into its next era with an optimised website
Ready to experience more control, stronger connections with your customer, and long-term business growth doing things YOUR way?
I’d love to be part of your journey by providing professional copywriting services that get you seen and celebrated online.
I specialise in:
- Website copywriting
- Product description and category copywriting for e-commerce
- Blog writing
I work best with growing businesses and creative brands who have a professional website – this maximises our chances of showing up in all the right searches and makes the most of your budget.
Working with independent jewellery designer Kate Smith, I helped increased her website traffic by 85% through SEO copywriting and blog writing.
If you need help creating copy or optimising the wording on your new website, I’m your girl – book a free call and let’s take it from there.