For businesses doing online operations, there are broadly two paths: one is to build a website under their own domain and retain full operational control; the other is to use existing third-party platforms and conduct business with ready-made traffic and tools.
These two paths are not substitutes for each other, and their investment thresholds and applicable conditions differ. To decide which one to choose, or how to combine them, businesses need to clearly understand the costs of each.
Self-built: strong control, upfront investment
A self-built site means the domain, content, and user data are all in the company's own hands and are not affected by changes to platform rules. Page structure, content organization, and feature configuration can all be designed according to business needs.
The trade-off is that all customer acquisition and operational work must be handled in-house: traffic must be won by the company itself, content must be continuously produced by the company itself, and technical issues must be resolved by the company itself. This investment is relatively concentrated in the early stage and requires long-term maintenance.
Using platforms: fast start, dependence on external rules
Opening a store or account on a third-party platform has the biggest advantage of a fast start. The platform comes with traffic and transaction tools, so businesses can focus their energy on products and sales.
It is important to understand that what accumulates on a platform cannot be fully taken away: store traffic allocation, content distribution, and account policies are all constrained by platform rules, and changes are often impossible to predict in advance. What businesses accumulate here are transaction records and some customer relationships, rather than a base they can operate fully independently.
How to combine them
In practice, most companies adopt a combination approach, with the difference being which side they place the focus on:
- Companies with a stable customer base and a desire for an independent brand usually focus on a self-built site, using the official website to present brand information and capture customer leads, while transactions can be completed through self-built or platform channels.
- Companies that mainly sell standard products and rely on platform traffic usually focus on platforms, using a self-built site for brand endorsement and information verification.
- Small and micro enterprises in the start-up stage can enter through platforms to get the business running, while retaining a simple official website as an information outlet at a controllable cost.
In terms of sequence, it is generally recommended to first make one channel work well and then expand to a second, rather than rolling out both at the same time.
Easily overlooked issues
Whichever path is chosen, online channels must be treated as something that requires long-term management, not a one-time investment. Common deviations tend to concentrate in a few areas: unclear positioning, which leaves pages and content without focus; putting all the focus on visuals while ignoring goals and measurement methods; and failing to clarify who is responsible, so that after a channel is launched, no one maintains it for a long time.
The common thread among these issues is that they all occur before work begins. Spending time clarifying positioning, goals, and responsibilities is more worthwhile than agonizing over channel selection.