Following a decades-long shift away from homemade websites and towards social media platforms and online services, there appears to be a concerted movement back towards having a dedicated website.
The first shift began with the shift from the World Wide Web to a more centralised concept known as Web 2.0, where the focus was less on having a website and more on having a space to post content that promotes your business.
This started in 2000 when the dot-com bubble burst and many early online businesses went bankrupt. This led to a reluctance to spend the increasing amounts of time and money it took to develop a high-quality website for your business that incorporated user-generated content and online shopping facilities.
These would quickly be replaced by standardised services that could be used to build a website quickly without specialised knowledge, with the most famous of these being WordPress.
This allowed businesses to quickly build and maintain a website without relying on IT professionals every time they wanted to add an update or change a team member.
Eventually, the needs of businesses changed further and instead of having a central website, businesses would reside on social media platforms and use them as a major part of their marketing.
Websites became relegated to a set of links to other social media platforms and contact details, with the majority of marketing and increasingly sales work being done through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
However, the instability of websites such as Twitter has led to a change in approach somewhat.
Whilst having a set of links was previously enough to effectively do business, people are increasingly realising the importance of having a firm online space to do business.
Rather than having reach, engagement and sales impacted by high-level factors outside of your control, a well-made website can act as a secure space to build your online presence around.
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