The new year is fast approaching. No doubt there will be some changes to the business climate during 2020 but one thing that won't change is you needing a website. Even with all the various social platforms and marketplaces that have emerged on the web, there's still value in having your own website. In this article I'm going to share with you five reason you'll still need a website in 2020.

1. You need to own your audience.

If you build your business on a platform like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and the likes you're going to be winning customers and storing data on those platforms. That means those companies are going to benefit from your hard work. And if they decide to go in a direction that's not good for your cusotmers or website audience there's going to be little you can do about it. It's way better to have your own website where you're able to build an audience that belongs to you and cusotmer lists that you own and control.

2. Social networks come and go.

It may be tempting to forego having a website and rely on having only a Facebook page or somethign simlar. However, if Facebook ever became unpopular or disappeared altogether, your audience would go with it. This happened when Google+ shutdown a couple of years ago. And that was Google. The fact it can happen to a large, profitible, and powerful company shows no social network is safe. You need to have your own website to make sure your business doesn't get wiped out if one of those social platforms went away.

3. You still need to differentiate from the competition.

The goal in marketing is not to blend in, it's to stick out. If you create a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or some other business page it's going to look like everyone elses. You need a website so you can create something unique that conveys the value of your products and services.

4. It's expected if you're to be taken seriously.

Another reason you need your own website in 2020 is just to be taken seriously. It's so easy and affordable to create your own website on apps like WebStarts. If you're not willing to invest the time and money to have your own website it's a red flag. I know if someone tells me they don't have a website I immediately begin to wonder whether they're just fly-by-night or what. Creating a simple one to three page website can be done in minutes and costs next to nothing. So everyone should have one.

5. It's still how most people get found through search.

Say what you will but in 2020 people are still discovering new products, services, and information through Google. And Google search results are mainly comprised of websites. Google competes with Facebook, Twitter, and other properites for ad dollars. So it's probably never going to make sense for Google to show results from social networks ahead of websites. In fact, some of those social networks like Facebook don't even let Google crawl their results. So the best way to get found by people searching online is still to have a website.