So What? #11 - Sell on Etsy. Seriously.

I’m about to say something that probably sounds completely bonkers coming from someone who builds websites for a living.

You might not need one.

There. I said it.

At Web Goddess, we turn work down. Regularly. Not because we’re drowning in clients, but because I’d rather be honest with you upfront than take your money for something that isn’t going to help you.

And one of the most common conversations I have is with someone who’s convinced they need a website when what they actually need is a better understanding of where their customers already are.

If you make handmade candles and sell them at markets and on Etsy, and you’re just starting out? You probably don’t need a £3,000 website yet. You need to figure out if people actually want to buy your candles first.

Etsy exists. Not on the High Street exists. Instagram shops exist. Facebook Marketplace exists. These platforms have built-in audiences, built-in trust, and built-in payment systems. For a hobby business or a very early-stage micro business, they’re not the compromise option. They’re the smart option.

A website without an audience, without a marketing strategy behind it, and without regular attention is not an asset. It’s an expensive digital business card that nobody ever looks at.

I had a conversation recently with someone who’d been quoted for a full website build. They had a lovely product, genuine passion, and approximately twelve customers. All of whom they knew personally.

I asked them a few questions.

Where are your customers finding you right now? “Word of mouth and Facebook.”

Are you making sales? “A few, yes, but it’s early days.”

What do you want a website to do that Facebook isn’t doing? “I just thought I needed one to look professional.”

I told them to hold off. Sort their socials properly, work out their pricing, figure out their ideal customer, get to a point where they were consistently selling and had outgrown the platforms they were on. Then come back to me.

That’s the honest conversation. And it’s the one that actually serves small and micro businesses rather than just taking their money.

Ask yourself these questions before you spend a penny on a website:

• Do I have a clear, consistent product or service that isn’t going to change significantly in the next 12 months?

• Do I already have customers, or am I still testing whether this is a viable business?

• Are there existing platforms (Etsy, Instagram, LinkedIn, local directories) where my customers already are that I haven’t fully used yet?

• Do I have the time and resource to maintain a website properly once it’s built?

• Is a website part of a wider marketing plan, or am I hoping it’ll do all the heavy lifting on its own?

If you answered “not really” to most of those, a website isn’t your next step. Building your audience, your offer, and your confidence is.

Come back when you’re ready. I’ll still be here.

Here’s the thing though. When you do need a website, you really need one.

When you’ve outgrown Etsy. When you’re turning away work because you can’t explain what you do clearly enough. When you’ve got a team of people and no central place to send clients. When your charity needs to apply for funding and the application asks for your web address. When social media platforms change their algorithms for the seventeenth time and you realise you’ve built your entire presence on land you don’t own.

That’s when a proper website, built with strategy, built so your team can manage it, and built as part of how you actually market your business, becomes genuinely worth every penny.

I’m not here to sell you something you don’t need. I’m here for when you do.

And if for now the answer is Etsy? Genuinely, crack on.

Come find me when you’ve outgrown it.

Web Goddess works with small and micro businesses and smaller charities across the UK who are ready to treat their website as a proper business tool, not a tick-box exercise. We believe anyone can manage their own website, and we’ll make sure you can.