You heard about Etsy. You know, it’s the place you go when you need an adorable print of your favorite quote. It’s the hub for beautiful, one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry of all kinds. It’s the perfect e-commerce site for finding organic, vintage, and craft supplies.
You might even already have one own Etsy side business and know everything there is to do with selling your own handmade items online.
Reading: How to create a new website on etsy
What you may not know about Etsy are the exact numbers that prove how successful Etsy is.
FYI, reports show that Etsy generated $603.7 million in revenue in the last year alone, according to Statista. Not to mention that the company had a market cap of $7.46 billion as of July 2019 and Etsy is expected to grow its revenue at a CAGR of 22% between 2019 and 2021.
What that means on a regular basis The People are talking about it: Etsy is the perfect place for smart people to start a successful side business.
While using Etsy is a great way to list and sell your products online, it’s only half the battle in building a successful online store. The other half is powering, running, and integrating your Etsy products with your own website.
In this article, you’ll learn why you need your own website alongside your Etsy shop, how Building your website and how to integrate your Etsy shop into your website.
Why every Etsy shop needs its own website
Etsy is an excellent e-commerce platform for List and sell your products. However, Etsy starts and ends here.
If you want to grow your side business into a profitable machine, you need a website. Let’s look at some of the reasons why a website will help you grow your side business.
1. You can increase the sales of your products
The first reason for starting your own website is so that you can take complete control of the sales of your products.
To illustrate this point , let’s meet a successful side hustle, Rebekah Welch. Rebekah Welch is the owner and operator of Cherish Bath Body.
Welch describes what she does in her own words. She says, “I make bath products and skincare products from the ground up using natural, organic, and botanical ingredients.”
When Welch first started selling products on just one Etsy shop, she soon realized that her there was a lack of complete control over their sales. As a result, she used HostGator to build her own website and increase her income.
Welch says, “I just recently built my own website. I used to rely on Etsy when selling. Now that I have my own website, I can sell my products on my own terms.”
Now that Welch has complete control over her online sales, she has Plans for future growth. Of her future plans, she says, “I will grow my business into a full-time income. I’d love to set up a few wholesale accounts and see my products in boutiques as well as build a brick and mortar store.”
Key Takeaways: When you create your own website, you can add your products to yours Sell on your own terms.
2. You can take complete control of your business.
Because Etsy is its own company with investors, pressure from stakeholders to grow fast, and a list of terms and conditions that you agree to, Etsy often works on one different agenda than its sellers.
For example, Etsy may at any time increase its transaction fees to increase profits, make design changes at will, and alter its search algorithm, all of which may result in dips in your Etsy shop traffic.
These potential changes could negatively impact sales and the overall success of your Etsy shop, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
The best way to make sure your business doesn’t What’s involved is about the “Big Wig Decision Makers” at Etsy is to create a website – a website that you have complete control over.
See also: How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website For a Small Business?
Taking keys: If your shop is only on Etsy exists, Etsy is the Ch ef. When you create your own website and sell your products on your own online store, you are the boss.
3. You Can Invest in Robust Online Marketing
Another benefit of having your own website is the opportunity to invest in online marketing and content marketing through your blog and grow at your own pace.
Once you have your own website, you have full control to optimize it for search, invest in paid advertising, and create a content marketing plan.
All of these efforts will help you grow your fan base, grow your customer base, and drive more sales.
Key Takeaways: Operating your Own website allows you to participate in online marketing to increase your traffic and sales.
Expand your Etsy business by creating your own website with HostGator
One of the advantages of Etsy is how easy it is to get your shop up and running. The good news is that setting up your website with HostGator is also an intuitive process, especially if you already have an Etsy shop set up.
You don’t need to be a programmer or web design expert to set up your own website. You also don’t have to fork out an arm and a leg to hire a professional to help you.
All you have to do is follow six easy steps and you can have your website up and running in less than a reach day. Here’s a quick overview of each of the six steps.
Step 1: Choose a hosting plan for your website.
Every website needs to be hosted. Purchasing a hosting package essentially means renting space on a third-party server to store your web files.
HostGator is a web hosting company that offers three website builder plans, from which you can choose for your online shop. You can choose your plan based on your needs and the features of your website.
The starter plan comes with a free domain, 200 templates that are good for someone who wants to promote a book, and cloud hosting , a drag-and-drop editor and website analytics.
The Premium plan comes with everything that the Start plan comes with, plus access to priority support when you need it.
Since you will be running an online store and selling products , the best package for you is the eCommerce plan. This pack includes everything the premium plan offers plus full ecommerce functionality. In other words, you can sell your products online with this plan.
Once you’ve selected the eCommerce plan for your online store, click “Buy Now” and you can set up your account .
Step 2: Choose a domain name for your website.
Each Gator Website Builder package comes with a free domain. This means you don’t have to buy a domain from a separate domain hosting company. To choose your domain, just type in the “Get Domain” field.
Since you already have an Etsy shop, it’s best to choose your Etsy shop name as the domain. For example, Rebekah Welch chose cherishbathandbody.com, the same name as her Etsy shop.
If you’re just starting out and don’t already have an Etsy shop or domain name, here’s a helpful article on choosing one perfect domain name.
If you already have a domain name that you saved for when you started your own website, you can connect it to your HostGator account by clicking connect here.”
Step 3: Create your account.
Once you have a domain name, it’s easy to connect your HostGator account, all you need is a Facebook account or a Email address to connect, then enter your payment information for the chosen package and you can choose a template for your website.
Step 4: Choose a template for your e-commerce website.
As mentioned above, you don’t need to create your own website, the Gator Webs it Builder comes with templates, and all you have to do is choose the one that fits your Etsy shop’s style.
Once you’ve created your account, HostGator will direct you to “Choose a Template ” book page.
See also: How to Create a Blog on Blogger? (5 Easy Steps)
You can scroll through more than 200 professionally designed templates and choose the one you like. The next step is to customize it however you want using the drag-and-drop builder.
Step 5: Add content to your online store.
After choosing a template it’s time to start customizing your site with content. Click Start Editing. This step will take you to your dashboard where you can add, edit and delete pages like your homepage, about page, online store, product pages, blog and any other page you want to include.
With the drag-and-drop builder, you can make your website look the way you want it by pointing, clicking, dragging and dropping on the elements you want to insert.
It is an intuitive process, but if you have any questions, HostGator provides a free and easy step-by-step guide for reference that you can access at any time.
To access this helpful guide, click the “Menu” icon next to the Gator by HostGator logo and select the “Getting Started” Tour.
Since you’re signed up for the eCommerce plan, you also have access to priority support if you have any questions.
Step 6: Review your content and launch your site.
The final step is to review your site, make any changes you want, and publish your site. If you click “Preview” you can see your website in its entirety.
When everything looks perfect, click the Stop Preview button at the top, then click Publish Site at the top of the dashboard. Gator Website Builder provides a series of quick steps to help you get live.
How to Integrate Your Etsy Shop With Your Website
Already have your own website? Then you’ve already done the hard part! Now all you have to do is integrate your Etsy shop with your website.
Etsy used to offer a service called Etsy Mini where you could copy and paste a unique code into your website and the code would pull your products onto your website.Unfortunately, Etsy no longer offers this service, and it’s difficult to integrate products with an Etsy code without thorough searching and extensive workarounds.
But even though Etsy Mini isn’t an option anymore, you can’t Bad luck. You can still add your Etsy shop to your WordPress account. Here’s how.
1. Add the Etsy Plugin
The first step to integrating your Etsy shop with WordPress is to install and activate the Etsy Plugin
Once activated, remember to go to Settings
. strong> and then the Etsy Shop page and enter your Etsy API key to connect your shop. Once you’ve connected your shop, you’ll see your Etsy API key. Copy this key for the next step. Next, return to your WordPress admin, paste the Etsy API key and save the changes. Once you’ve saved your changes, you can start selling products from your Etsy shop on your WordPress site. You just need to create a new page in WordPress or edit an existing page and add your shortcode. And that’s it! It’s worth noting that Etsy is its own e-commerce platform and will not have the same functionality as WooCommerce. If your side hustle is gaining momentum and you’re ready to grow your side hustle into a full-fledged business, you might want to consider giving up your Etsy shop altogether and building your own e-commerce platform on your website. If you have an Etsy side business and want to gain more control, make more sales, and market your products online with more freedom, now is the time to set up your your own website. For more information on how to get started building your own website, visit HostGator and check out the Gator Website Builder. Using Mit With the Gator Website Builder you can have your own website up and running in less than a day. See also: Accomplishments for a Resume: Key Achievements & Awards .2. Copy your API key
3. Paste your API key
4. Create a Page or Edit an Existing Page
Expand Your Etsy Shop With Your Own Website
