5 Simple Reasons Why Youtubers Need Websites in 2022

5 Simple Reasons Why Youtubers Need Websites in 2023

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As a youtuber who is teaching people about building their online platforms, I get a lot of questions thrown at me every day. One question that has popped up a lot more frequently recently is: Do YouTubers need websites?

The short answer is: Not really.

The long answer is: Yes and please keep reading to understand why.

As you can see, there is a lot more that goes into it than a simple yes or no.

I have had blogs before without having a youtube channel.

I have also had a youtube channel and not had a website.

Now, I have both.

I am the perfect person to tell you everything you need to know about having a website as a youtuber.

Is it necessary?

Will it even help you grow?

Let’s find out.

Youtube vs. Blogging: Common Misconceptions

MINDED MARKETING YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Now before we get into the details, let’s clear some very common misconceptions about having a website or being a youtube.

First of all, websites or blogs are not dead.

They are far from it.

There are over 3.3 billion searches on Google every day. And most of these searches are going over to other websites and blogs.

There are home-grown websites owned by regular people like me and you that are getting millions of visitors every day.

Secondly, youtube is not a cash-grab or a quick way to fame. If you think that you are just going to upload a video and go viral, you have another thing coming.

You might want to read my “Before You Start A Youtube Channel…” post to get a more realistic idea of what is likely to happen.

Being a youtuber takes a lot of work plus a little luck.

People definitely tend to underestimate the work ethic and effort that goes into it. But people also forget that not everyone makes it on youtube.

And that’s okay.

Revenue

When it comes to making money, both youtube and websites are very monetizable.

However, I would argue that there are a lot more possible income streams when you have a website. You can easily sell products and services directly from your website.

Whereas, if you only have a youtube channel, you may have to go via a third-party service if you don’t have your own platform.

In the end, you will probably end up setting up a website for it anyways.

From personal experience, I can also tell you that brands are more willing to work with a small website vs a smaller youtube channel.

Why?

Because if a website is done right, it is almost guaranteed to get thousands of views when the SEO kicks in around the 6-month mark.

Whereas with youtube, you can do all the SEO in the world but you may not even hit a thousand views your first year.

Dare I say, a website done with the right SEO has a bigger chance of success.

Growth

Here is where Youtube may actually outshine having a website.

I have ranked videos in youtube search within 24 hours of it being posted. That is unheard of when it comes to Google SEO or search engine optimization in general.

phone with youtube analytics

Youtube SEO is one of the easiest that I have ever worked with. If you have worked on regular SEO in the past, Youtube SEO is going to feel like a walk in the park.

They are trying to change things a bit with their latest updates but it is still generally simple.

Not only that, but you have an algorithm that will suggest and push out your content.

That does not happen with websites.

Your rank position and ability to get seen are fully based on SEO.

So the potential to go viral or grow faster is higher on youtube.

Why You Shouldn’t Have A Website If You Are A Youtuber

I am going to be very clear and tell you what no one else is willing to:

If you are a youtube and are just doing it as a hobby, do not waste your time making a website.

Websites take work and they take months to grow.

I was lucky to get monetized via Ezoic my second month of blogging however that is not always the case for everyone.

Matter of fact, you can go months without making a dollar.

So if you do not view your youtube as a side-hustle of business, then making a website is just not going to be worth it for you.

No sugar coating is needed.

5 Reasons Why Youtubers Should Have Websites

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Now that you have gotten all the pros and cons, we are ready to dive into the reasons why you, as a youtuber, will need a website.

As someone who has done it all for years now, these are the reasons that I have found from first-hand experience.

So let’s get into it.

1. Your Channel Authority

One thing that a lot of YouTubers do not know or talk about is channel authority.

Channel authority is how your channel weighs against other channels on youtube. Regular SEO tools will usually give a score of 0-100 with 100 being the best score you could get.

The main things that help increase channel authority are:

  • how old your channel is
  • how many views you get
  • CTR
  • backlinks
  • subscriber count

Most YouTubers tend to completely overlook backlinks.

I don’t blame them since no one talks about it on youtube.

But the more people that you have linking to your content on youtube, the more the algorithm sees your content as “watch-worthy” and pushes it out.

So by having a website, you can start to build your own backlinks by linking to your youtube channel or embedding your youtube videos into your articles.

Hopefully, you will also start to get other backlinks from other websites naturally as well.

Doing this will help build up your channel authority and start to get you recognized by the algorithm.

Now you may be thinking that you can just share on Twitter or Facebook. However, these do not count as real backlinks. These are called Social Links and do not carry the same weight as regular websites do.

So just sharing your link on Facebook is not going to build up your backlink profile.

2. Building An Email List Is A Lot Easier

One thing that you absolutely have to have if you are thinking of growing and scaling your business is an email list.

I have written several articles about building email lists and even the best email list providers you can use.

In reality, gathering email subscribers is much easier to do if you have a website.

When you are on youtube, you can tell people to head to your landing page to join your email list.

That works great.

But with a website, you can have popups and interline email subscription boxes that you can use as well.

This means that you can have several different opportunities for a viewer to join your email list on one page.

Whereas on youtube, you can maybe plug it once, and then link it in your description box and hope that someone sees it.

Plus, people who tend to visit websites are so used to getting freebies that they are more likely to give you their email address for something worthwhile.

3. You Can Use Google And Youtube To Grow

Google Compliancy

Why have one powerful platform when you can have two?

One of the most effective things that you can do when you have a website and youtube channel is to interlink your content.

Remember when I talked about backlinks?

This is where they will come in handy.

Let me put it into perspective for you: Let’s say you have a youtube channel about pies.

In one of your youtube videos, you link to one of your articles about chocolate pie.

The viewer goes to your website from your video and reads the article. But then they see another article about key lime pie.

So they go to that article and then see another one of your videos about key lime pie. So they go and watch it.

You have basically interlinked and connected your content to make sure that people always come back to it.

This is great for both your channel authority and your SEO.

Not to mention, having your brand on both of the major platforms that Google owns is going to make it much easier for Google to establish who you are and how you should rank.

4. Double or Triple Your Income

This one is sure to grab everyone’s attention.

You can double or triple your income if you have a youtube channel and website.

With youtube, you have one source of direct income: Adsense.

If you have a website, you can also connect it to Adsense but you can join other ad agencies that pay a lot more as well.

For example, this website is working with Ezoic which has premium ads meaning I make more money from them.

Now imagine you are getting paid for your youtube video, and getting paid for your website through ad display.

That is already more than you would have made from just your youtube channel.

Now add affiliate marketing on top of both of those and you have got a very good passive income system that you have now built.

I know that money is not the most important thing, but it’s still nice to have!

5. Youtube Is Not Yours

This was actually my number one reason for starting a website.

If you didn’t know, I started my youtube channel 5 months before starting this website.

And the website is already out-earning the channel, mind you.

One day, I heard about a bunch of influencers getting shut down and youtube channels getting blocked and quickly realized:

Youtube is not yours!

Youtube is a place where if you abide by the rules, you stay.

Do something they don’t like, you are done.

So what happens if you all of a sudden lose your youtube account? Where will all of your subscribers go?

Well, if you have a self-hosted website (which you should if you are doing things right) then that baby is yours.

You paid for it, you own it.

If you aren’t doing anything illegal, most likely that site is not going anywhere.

Plus if something does happen to your youtube channel, you will be able to address it on your website or send an email to your email list and let everyone know where they can find you again.

Now don’t even think about comparing it to Instagram or TikTok because those are not yours either.

Final Thoughts

There is no one option that is better than the other when it comes to websites and youtube channels.

They are both very powerful.

They just work very differently.

There is nothing wrong with just sticking to one because it’s not cut out for everyone to do both. It takes a lot of time and dedication.

Not to mention, if you are not good at writing, then having a website is going to be a real pain.

But if you chose to combine the two then you will be completely blown away by how fast things can pick up for you.

And how many possibilities and opportunities will be opened up to you.

There are tons of amazing hosting providers that are great for beginners and cost-efficient that you can start with.

So if you are ready and willing to go the extra mile, then choosing to have a website to go along with your youtube channel is a great option.