I have an Etsy shop. Do I need a website?
I often get asked by small businesses if they need to bother with a website when they already have an Etsy shop. Their Etsy shop is up and running, it’s making sales and it’s easy to use, so why bother with the expense and learning curve of a website?
If you’re making regular sales on Etsy and things are running smoothly, you could argue that you don’t NEED a website, but when you digger a little deeper, there’s so much that a website can offer you and why creating a website might just be the best thing you can do for your small business. Let’s start with a quick look at all the things we love about Etsy.
Why we love selling on Etsy
It’s easy to setup and there are no setup costs - I think it’s fair to say that even the least techy ones amongst us can setup an Etsy shop. The process is fairly straightforward and you’re guided every step of the way. Plus, it’s free to open your shop, yay!
It’s easy to add and amend products - Adding new products is a breeze and you can get them into your shop and making sales in no time.
New customers can find you through the Etsy search engine - There is an entire community already using Etsy and searching for products like yours, so it makes sense to be visible on Etsy, where these potential customers can find you. Etsy search, however, is not all it’s cracked up to be. More on this later.
You can create paid ads with ease - Not getting enough eyes on your products? You can create paid for listings in a flash and start pushing your products in front of potential new customers (assuming your products are setup correctly, more on that later too).
A good, trustworthy reputation - People trust Etsy. They order through Etsy with confidence and as a result, will order from you with confidence.
Good communication with customers - Etsy offers a great messaging system for potential and current customers to get in touch and ask questions about your products or their orders. No looking through emails, socials or wherever else. It’s all in one place.
So there are plenty of good reasons to sell on Etsy, but you new that already. So what are the reasons why Etsy isn’t so good?
Why Etsy isn’t perfect
High selling fees - This one is a biggie. Every time you list an item and sell an item, you need to pay a fee directly to Etsy. This soon adds up, especially when you’re making frequent sales.
Limitations in design and brand recognition - It’s true that an Etsy shop is easy to setup, but you are limited in how it looks. You can’t make it your own through design, layout, colours and branding. Every product page looks the same and it’s really hard to stand out from the crowd.
You get lost in a sea of other products - There are so many other sellers on Etsy, that it’s easy to get lost in amongst the noise. With so many other products and shops jostling for space, potential customers can leave your product page as quickly as they arrived.
Your shop will be hard to remember - Due to the limitations in design and layout, the inability to add more pages and more information, the inability to add your own personality to your Etsy shop, you can be easily forgotten. Even existing customers will struggle to recall where they bought that amazing product from. All too often the response will be “Oh, somewhere on Etsy”.
No ability to position yourself as an authority - You can’t add extra content pages to your Etsy shop, so there’s no option for a blog or a resources section or an FAQ page or a press page or any of the other really important things that are going to help convert potential customers into sales.
No ownership of your shop - Finally, you don’t own your Etsy shop. Etsy could decide to close tomorrow and your shop will go with it. Yes, it’s unlikely but it’s not impossible and if it should happen, it would be catastrophic to an Etsy only business.
Now we’ve got a good overview of Etsy as an e-commerce platform for small businesses, let’s take a look at what a website can offer you. Is a website going to help your business? Is it worth the extra setup costs?
What can a website provide, that Etsy can’t?
In a nutshell, all those things that Etsy can’t offer you, a website can. Here’s some of the key things to think about.
You own your website - You website is YOURS. It’s not going to suddenly close or disappear one day. You’re in charge. The only thing that could possibly cause an outage is the hosting going down, but this is really unlikely.
Your website can look any way you want it to - You are in complete control of how your website looks. Dark colours? Go for it! White and bright? Why not? All the colours in the rainbow? Yes! Your website can truly represent you, your brand and your small business.
Brand recognition - Through layout, colours, imagery, fonts and wording, your website will be completely on brand, creating a memorable and recognisable exprience that will give potential customers a real insight into what your business is about. Plus, customers will actually remember where they bought your product/service from… you!
Limitless pages - You can add as many, or as few, pages as you need. From an FAQ page, galleries, product pages, digital downloads, about page, it’s all possible with your own website.
Newsletter integration - I recommend that you start building a mailing list as soon as possible and your website is the perfect place to do that. You can gather customers email addresses after they order and encourage potential customers to sign up by offering a download incentive or discount code.
Facebook Pixel/Google/Instagram shopping integration - A website will allow you to connect your products to marketing services such as Google Shopping and Instagram shopping. You can also setup a Facebook Pixel to give you flexibility in social media advertising.
Blogging - Blogging is still important (hey, it’s why I’m writing this!) and a website will allow you to setup your own blog. It’s perfect for positioning yourself as an authority in your industry, for keeping website content fresh and for bringing potential new customers to your website. It’s also a dream for SEO, but more on that in a future post.
Upsells and cross sells - If you sell multiple products and services, you can setup cross sells between your products, encouraging customers to purchase additional items when they are buying from you.
I think it’s clear to see what a website offers you as a small business, and I’ve only really scratched the surface. It’s not to say that Etsy is a bad choice, it really isn’t, but I think the ideal scenario is to run your Etsy shop alongside your website. Yes, there are additional expenses to setting up a website, but the return on your investment is well worth it. Plus, with Studio Emm, it really doesn’t have to be that expensive (costs to setup a new website for a small business).
If you need any help with your small business website, get in touch today and I’d love to help you create the website your amazing business deserves.