You need to have your business built not on borrowed (social media) or rented (Etsy, etc.) land in 2026, but on your own domain in your control. You need to have your own website! Why? You cannot control what happens on social media or on “marketplace” websites.
I know, this might seem scary – how can you build a website that’s not super expensive and still have your own stuff (there are great solutions for that, keep reading). You’re not a technie at all. You dislike it at best, or hate it at worst. And you’re worried about managing it long term. But you know you’re actively getting downgraded on Etsy and social media algorithms are horrible for all small businesses unless you fork over a lot of money on an ongoing basis.
- You can control your content on your own website – what is there, what images, features, services, you’re in control.
- You can control search engine results (with some good tools and a little effort), and your email that you send to clients that sign up is not bound by an algorithm
- You are able to create exactly what you want (with the help of templates, some training, and your own skillset develped with a designer
- You are not bound by costs like Linktree, which also funnels traffic to linktree and not your site
Build your website on someone else’s platform vs. on your own:
Let’s talk two scenarios with some pros and cons. Building your site with your own domain name IS possible on a lot of platforms like SquareSpace, Wix and Shopify. There are some benefits to these platforms – a lot of the heavy lifting is done for you. You can customize their templates and be up and running fast. There’s no maintenance on your part. But if you want something they don’t have, you might be waiting a long time or forever for it. But these are good platforms (I train on all of these platforms currently). These are pricier platforms but they come with a lot of tools. These are known as software as a service (SaaS) platforms.
If you build something on your own platform – this might be using the GoDaddy editor or WordPress for example – you have complete control over what you build. Cost-wise, this is the least cost for a basic site that you can get, and you can get about a million tools most of which are free, to load to extend your features. Even the most expensive paid tools are still FAR less than paying for similar services on a SaaS platform.
Ease of use: Most SaaS platforms have good tutorials aimed at beginner and intermediate users – but you can also accelerate that with a one-hour training ($135) that will get your site set up, a home page created and you well on your way (with a recording to refer to later!)
Affordability: most Saas platforms will cost more at the outset than a self hosted one (and maybe a lot more in the long run) For more complex sites, you’ll pay about the same for similar services, but with less flexbility on SaaS platforms.
Upgrades and maintenance: Saas platforms eliminate this for you – but you also have no recourse if you want something that doesn’t exist or work how you want it. You can request a feature or function but odds are it will be months or years if at all. Your own platform also has regular updates done but if something breaks you’ll have to get help from your host or your web developer to fix it. Good news, in most cases nothing really breaks all that often.
In the end, it’s what you’re comfortable with – and any good web designer will show you “under the hood” on these platforms before you decide (as part of their services to you). If you just want someone to take care of it for you, they absolutely will pick the best-fit option for you, help you get signed up and ready to go.
If you’re ready to go, but need a little help, custom training will get you there (regardless of the platform!) This means you don’t need to know anything to begin, but you’ll learn as you go with expert support.
Ready to get started? A FREE 30 minute consult you can book right now:
Need more info? Here’s a roundup of some of our articles on web design & how to choose a platform:
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Why you need to have your own website in 2026
You need to have your business built not on borrowed (social media) or rented (Etsy, etc.) land in 2026, but on your own domain in your control. You need to have your own website! Why? You cannot control what happens on social media or on “marketplace” websites. I know, this might seem scary – how…
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Will AI replace web designers, content marketers and designers? It already has.
Newsflash to no one – AI has already replaced web designers, content marketers and designers! Back in the late 1980s, Apple introduced the Macintosh computer, and a flurry of companies (some of them household names now, some you’ve never heard from again) introduced software to streamline typographic services and design services. Whole industries changed to…
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How to create a links page in 2 minutes
You don’t need to send traffic to Linktree – you can create your own links page in two minutes! Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do that, with any website editor. You don’t have to pay for linktree, this is a free alternative to Linktree that you can use right now and it’s fully…
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Can AI replace a junior marketing staffer or intern on a task?
Can AI replace a junior marketing staffer or intern on a task? I test this out on a recent project and here are my results: I have hired marketing interns for decades (since 1993) to perform various functions in our marketing offices for a variety of companies. This year, I decided to try “hiring” AI…
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How to hide from Amazon’s AI “buy for me” scraping on your website
How to hide from Amazon’s AI “buy for me” scraping on your website Over the the 2025 holidays, many sellers were dismayed to see their products listed on Amazon as a “buy for me” option on Amazon! Lawyers are working on it I’m sure – but in the mean time, there is some simple code…
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Get off Etsy and Wix in 2026
If you’re tired of fees for Etsy and Wix (and Squarespace) jumping into the stratosphere, it’s time to consider how you’ll get off Etsy and Wix in 2026. Everyone has been noting how these SaaS platforms are ever increasing cost (often with a degradation in search performance at the same time!) What are they thinking…
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Marketing a Direct Primary Care (DPC) Practice for Doctors
In a country where health insurance is now completely unaffordable, and providers are leaving in droves, burnt out, Direct Primary Care is increasingly becoming a viable – and preferable – alternative for both patients and physicians. Marketing a direct primary care (DPC) practice is as much about education as persuasion. Let’s break it down! Direct…
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My favorite WordPress Event Management Plugins
WordPress has a myriad of event management plugins available. As a longtime developer for associations, consultants, and other organizations that host a lot of events, here are my go-to ones (and some are pretty lightweight, others are more traditional “big” event management systems.) I also have a downloadable chart of options to review at the…
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How long does it take to build an e-commerce website?
How long does it take to build an e-commerce website? As little as a few hours! Not kidding! This afternoon, I took an existing website, in 2.5 hours I had installed commerce, set up product with variations and attributes, configured payments, shipping and tweaked the pages of the website it was on. But you’re saying…