1. Boost Your Credibility

The .com domain name extension has credibility worldwide. When used with a website, a custom .com domain name can help lend legitimacy to your business and allow you to:

• Advertise your business's domain name instead of a third-party. Rathan than using a generic, third-party URL (e.g., GenericWebsiteBuilder.com/site/marysnecklaces), you can promote your business using your custom.com domain name (e.g., MarysNecklaces.com) and help customers feel confident clicking to your site.
• Have a consistent web address that can scale as your business grows. If you need to change hosting providers, upgrade your website building plan, or add more features and tools to your website, your domain name can remain the same.
• Create a dedicated business email address with your .com domain name (e.g., sales@MarysNecklaces.com) to help your business look more professional.

2. Get Noticed By Customers

A website with a custom .com domain name can help businesses of all sizes connect with customers and partners worldwide because it:

• Enables businesses to appear on search engine results pages. With a custom .com domain name your business website may be seen as more legitimate than if it appears with a longer generic URL when it shows up in search results.
• Allows for greater control over your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies, by providing the ability to customize messaging and content to meet your business's needs (e.g. using language that could help you appear for “near you” listings on search engines or show up for keyword searches related to your products and services).
• Provides easier word-of-mouth advertising. A custom .com domain name offers a memorable way to market your business during in-person interactions and can help your business stand out.

3. Centralize Your Online Presence

It can be a good idea to maintain your online presence across multiple channels, like social media and e-commerce marketplaces. However, it's beneficial to have a website as a central online location where you direct your customers because it lets you:

• Feature key business information along with a complete view of your products and services.
• Maintain a consistent location you can send customers to for more information about your business, such as location, contact information, hours of operation, etc.
• Focus your marketing efforts on a single online presence. Instead of spending valuable marketing funds to send customers to a variety of platforms, you can promote ads that send them directly to your website where they can see the most relevant information about your business.

4. Control Your Marketing

Like your custom .com domain name, your website is designed specifically with your business in mind. With your own business website, you can:

• Display your products or services exactly the way you'd like. Many website builders offer drag and drop website building tools and components to match your vision, and provide a variety of tools for an easy, flexible experience.
• Manage how your customers experience and interact with your business online. For example, you may want to discuss the “why” of your business with a video on your homepage before introducing your products and services.
• Control the messaging and visuals on your site without the restrictions often imposed by third-party platforms.

5. Gain Deeper Insights

Having your own website can often provide insights that can give you a marketing advantage. For example, you can learn which products are most popular by tracking clicks, reviews, and purchase volume; visitors can choose to submit their email address to receive an email newsletter or promotional information; and you can see which content is interacted with most often. This type of information can be used to:

• Enhance your product offerings to focus on the most popular items.
• Create an email newsletter list to encourage on-going customer communication about business updates and/or sales.
• Increase the chances of having intentional and repeat customers visit your site in the future.