So I'm a little old school and when I started this online marketing thing I did the things I know, which is to build a website. However now that Ive found Steem Power, I don't feel I have any use for a website. For example why should I write a blog on my website when I can blog on Steemit?
Is it not far more beneficial to use Steemit? from the Power ups, to the coin openly being traded on the market with increasing value, finally to the vibrant community which is unlike the other centralized social platforms of desolate isolation.
My website:
Sure you can say -- well I want Google rankings and traffic that's why I need a website.
Ok, I guess in the old school that would be true, but today I don't know if that is worth it anymore. Since google has gone RankBot, the traditional methods of driving website traffic are no longer valid. In real life I would want to advertise my business in areas where people may frequent to find my services, however Google is increasingly making this difficult. Social media has more emphasis on whether or not my website is worthy of traffic or advertising and linkbuilding is no longer relevant. I am not even going to discuss the impact that alone will have on the mentality of the world where reality TV and social media decide what is relevant information.
So what is a website good for?
I guess if I need to capture information or transfer files then a website is useful. However, this also is no longer relevant, as I can find alternate software, websites, and programs to do all of this for me and more without having a website.
For example companies like https://www.leadpages.net/ and tools such as http://www.leadslightning.com/LeadsLightning/Default.aspx eliminate the need for webpages to collect data. Emails can now be acquired through third party programs.
Lets talk money, While owning a website can be the most inexpensive way to go about modern marketing, the average individual does not consider opportunity costs and long term expenses. The only real way a website can be cheap and cost effective is if you are an experienced web developer or programmer. Simply being a webdesigner will not be enough to keep expenses low over time. With constant updates and upgrades and companies disappearing, it is only a matter of time before your website will crash and you will be left diving into htlm, css, and if you're really unfortunate you'll have to customize your php also. So you will either spend the hours doing it yourself, if you can, or spend the dollars having someone do it for you.
Lets talk traffic. The reality of owning a website is that you will need to expend tremendous amount of effort and time to finally market and drive consistent traffic to your site. You can cut this time in half by using social media and cut the cost by at least 75% as most social media is free. Should I once again spend the time needed on internal SEO and external SEO.
What about files?
Well, a website used to be a good multipurpose tool for transferring all kinds of information including files. However, with the demand for digital video media skyrocketing, in order to provide an equivalent experience to the video content provided through yoututbe, you will have to spend a significant amount of money on website storage space and bandwidth. So the website fails in this department also. I am finding more people are keeping website expenses low and storing their files on third party servers like dropbox or Google Drive, as it makes management of these files a lot easier.
Hmmm -- I am becoming perplexed as I write this article, because I am finding the old school method of building a website only useful for larger corporations and no longer relevant to a vast majority of the world. I find the only good purpose for a website is simply the domain name.
The only reason to still keep a website is: About Us Page
Once Steemit can provide a better profile landing page, where individuals can list more links to the brand and provide a bio instead of posting an introduction post......or even simply allow a sticky post to work as your bio and introduction post. Then will it comletely remove my need for a website.
I no longer see any value in owning a website. You have officially ruined my life Steemit and provided me with a future. Nothing makes sense anymore.
I am open to any opinions you may have related to this matter.