What do you think when you read the word, website?

Do you get nervous at the thought of what it takes to start one for yourself? Or do you think of it as something that you know you want to do, but you keep putting it off? If the idea of creating your own website is something that makes you feel apprehensive or you continue to procrastinate on it, then I have to tell you it’s time to get over that fear! I was in your same position when I first decided to make the move to start this site so trust me, I get it. It can be a lot of work and it’s another thing to figure, but it’s worth it. If you need help on how to stop procrastinating, read on about it here. But if procrastinating isn’t your issue – instead you just need a few reminders on why you should do it, then I got a few answers for you. With that said, here are five reasons why you need to get a website already.

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If you’ve been playing around with the idea of starting a website, then there’s a chance that you already have some content created and shared with the world. You probably have a ton of photos, videos you’ve edited, or a beautiful bit of both. Since you’ve created all that work you’ve probably posted it to many social media platforms, but the thing is you should have them all placed in one main location. Any guess where that could be?

You got it, your website!

Your website should be the main source where all your creative work is housed. Your photos, videos, graphics, and opinion through words should all be located in a single place to serve as your portfolio or point of business. Of course it’s important to distribute your creative to social media platforms, but that can often be scattered. Instead, it’s essential to have it all located in one location. Having a place for all your work becomes important when you need to share it easily with others. I realized this when I wanted to do more international food writing. Having my outside of California work accessible and shareable via one link to deliver to potential clients or brands has been incredible! It also makes it less digging for them to do. Some may call it being considerate, but I look at it as being professional.

Having your own website where all your creative work is located is a great way to show your professionalism. In the same way a website can showcase a person’s creative work when applying for a job, your website can do the same. As a visual representation of yourself and your brand, your website works to show others your thought process, skills, personality, and you as a person. Whether you’re thinking of creating a fashion or a food website, actively managing and updating it shows how you create, your work ethic, diligence, and more.

Not Mark Zuckerberg, not some weird lady in Silicon Valley, and definitely not some venture capitalist in a high rise building who only sees you as a number. You created it therefore you deserve ownership over your content. When you post your restaurant photos and “Outfit of the Day” videos to Facebook and Instagram, that content becomes their property. Additionally if your account closes or gets hacked you could lose it all. Think that can’t happen? Well it can. I never thought about being hacked and then one day, I was hacked. Hundreds of my photos and videos disappeared from my Instagram account. While it wasn’t a fun experience, I didn’t freak out because I had all my content available on my website. Any delicious food shot, sponsored imagery, or opinion that may have vanished from Instagram was also on my website so I wasn’t nervous. Having social media is a great place to share what we create, but to make that the only place you can find it is a bad idea. You create your content therefore you own it. Having a website where you have control is important so you don’t lose what you’ve worked so hard on.

In the last year I’ve been approached by more brands asking to work with me to create blog posts over social media posts. They’re looking for me to tell honest stories about their products, how I use them in my life, and incorporate more than one to two images alongside of it. Yes, it takes more work than posting a single photo on Twitter or a series of videos via Instagram Stories, but it’s a great way for me (and you) to showcase work and for the brand to be portrayed from another perspective. And because more work is involved, it’s correct to think that the rate for blog assignments is greater than the rate for social media only.

Sound good to you? I sure hope it does!

Running a website, as much work as it involves, can actually be pretty fun. Personally, I like the storytelling of restaurants, capturing images of food, and sharing it all with others. On the nerd side I love editing the content, creating the blog layout, designing the website and widgets, and so much more. Even though it can get frustrating at points, running a website is very exciting for me and I enjoy doing it. I can only imagine that each person who runs their own site has their reasons for enjoying it and their reasons for being frustrated by it. Whatever they are, they vary by person. Likewise, when (keyword, when) you start your own website there will be a handful of things you absolutely love and a couple of things that may take time for you to understand fully. Just know it’s a process like any other and soon enough it’ll be pretty fun the entire time.

If you’ve read this far then you should have an idea of what I’m going to say next. That is: you need to get this website already! You’ve thought about it, procrastinated on it, thought about it again and I think it’s about time you made the leap. Sure there may be some things that you don’t understand yet, but you’ll figure it out. Do a bit of research and then get ready to get your site created. And if you need any help I got you. Shoot me an email, connect@followmygut.com and let me see if I can help you out. Until then, get yourself going to create a great website you’re going to love because it’s going to be awesome!