In Today's Social Media World, Is there Need for a Website or Not?

There is a debate around whether there's a need for a website or not in your affiliate marketing online business. This is due to the growth of Social Media and Sales Funnel approaches. I see this debate is bound to continue in the marketplace and, having looked at the question, I see the answer being a matter of choice, especially for those starting out in online business.

On the one hand, the tried and tested website approach is comparatively inexpensive, involves organic traffic, and will hold the internet marketer in good stead over the long term, as it provides credibility in the marketplace and a good opportunity to build brand authority.

In the short term, however, there are challenges posed learning SEO techniques and, also, it's notoriously difficult to sell to "cold" traffic. Patience is therefore required in setting up a business online using the traditional approach.

It's also clear that entrepreneurs can reduce business start-up times using organic traffic from social media to build a tribe of followers. It is possible to generate "warm" traffic relatively quickly, and many successful affiliate marketers accomplish sales within their tribes using this approach. Therefore, there's now a strong case in favour of the social media approach for start-ups. It's attractive, as affiliate marketers can "earn as they learn".

Marketers are therefore adopting social media channels increasingly to get organic traffic to start online businesses in the knowledge they may then progress later to website SEO and/or sales funnel methods, or use email marketing with paid traffic, whatever, to scale their businesses.

I therefore believe aspiring entrepreneurs will defer building traditional websites in favour of accumulating basic skills and knowledge in sales and marketing, while simultaneously generating an earnings stream from affiliate commissions from the warm traffic available on social media. It's indeed a neat approach as it provides new entrants with the benefit of postponing payments for more sophisticated and traditional systems until later, if they are ready to scale their businesses.

Those with established website businesses should equally know these current developments. Although in the long term, the attraction of the website and the value it offers to communicate with your customer base is unlikely to diminish, there are challenges posed by the social media and sales funnel alternatives. Webmasters, therefore, need to be aware and keep abreast of the disruptive effects of sales funnel technologies. The impact on business operations could be severe if business owners do not keep pace with current developments and upgrade strategies accordingly.