By Karen Cioffi

Almost two years ago I wrote an article titled, “Do You Really Need an Author Website?” In that article I explained the need for a website and included a couple of statistics proving that need.

Since then, social media has exploded. It’s become more powerful than ever, and more and more people and businesses are using it as an integral part of their marketing strategy. In fact, social media has become so important that some are questioning the need for a website.

Are websites for marketing really a thing of the past?

Some might reason that you can blog on venues like LinkedIn. You can also publish articles on Ezine Articles and other article directories to generate visibility and authority.

If you’re selling a product or service, you can use social networks to do so by linking to your Amazon or other sales page.

Want to let people know about you and what you do? You can do that on your social network pages. You can even build your subscriber list through social media.

So, it’s not unreasonable for some to wonder about the necessity of a website.

But, if you decide to forgo the website or get rid of an existing one, think twice and even three times about it.

The benefits of a website.

While the social media sites, like Facebook, GooglePlus, and LinkedIn allow for just about everything you need to market your and your product/service, you’re at mercy of these sites.

Pro internet marketer Sandi Krakowski has 800,000 connections on social media. And, she has over 1 million clients, which allows her to produce millions in revenue. She knows what she’s talking about.

In a recent email Sandi said, “If you don’t have a website, listen to me very carefully, you own NOTHING online. You’re homeless. You have no real estate, you are under the control of someone else’s property and when push comes to shove, you my friend are in a big pickle!”

Did you notice she said you don’t have control with social media sites?

Think of it as renting space in a building. Or better yet, buying within a condominium development. You’re not in control. You’re at the mercy of their rules and regulations, their changes, basically, their whims. This is the same as using sites like Facebook and GooglePlus as your sole platform. You never know when or if changes will come that will render your social media page useless.

This is why you still need your own website.

If you use paid website hosting through sites like Bluehost, you own the site. It’s yours. You are in control of what you publish, how you publish, and so on. You can choose your own theme with the header dimensions and design you want. You can put ads and affiliate links on it with no problem.

Along with this, people trust bloggers. This gives bloggers influence and authority. It’s good marketing to have that authority, that influence go to your own site.

Bottom line, you still absolutely need your own website!
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