The Illusion of Comfort on Substack
Substack is an attractive platform for writers, offering a simple interface and built-in monetization tools. However, relying solely on Substack is like building your house on rented land. You become dependent on corporate decisions and policy changes, as was the case with previous platforms like Medium or Tumblr.
Why a Personal Website is Essential
- Total Control: With your own website, you have the freedom to customize the design, optimize SEO, and add features that specifically cater to your needs. In 2023, 68% of marketers stated that SEO was their most effective inbound marketing strategy.
- Ownership of Your Content: On Substack, any content published is technically on their platform. By hosting your own site, you have undisputed ownership of your content.
- Flexibility with Tools: Integrating analytics tools, CRMs or other plugins is often limited on platforms like Substack. Your own site allows you to use a variety of tools to enhance reader engagement and monetization.
Concrete Examples
Take Rachel, editor of the 'Conscious Living' blog. She linked her personal domain to Substack, which was an intermediate solution. However, she quickly realized the limitations and migrated to WordPress, which allowed her to double her traffic in six months through better SEO optimization.
Another example is John Doe, who started on Substack but soon found the customization options limited. In 2022, he decided to create a site under Shopify, integrating digital products, which tripled his revenue in a year.
Conclusion
For writers, it is crucial to remember that building an audience on a third-party platform leaves you vulnerable to sudden changes by that platform. A personal website is insurance for your content and your community.
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