Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. Why would anyone go to the effort of creating their own site and paying for it when you can use these services for free?

Your online persona is a part of your brand and an extension of yourself. You should take care of it. Your own site allows:

1. No ads – Because everyone loves ads. Please buy my merchandise when it appears! YouTube’s tightening of advertising rules shows that we’re protective of our own brands
2. Control what your content is used for – Is Snapchat secretly building a global database of everyone’s face so they can target ads at people in the real world like in Minority Report? You can read more at the Thrillist (warning the site has a lot of those ads we all love).
3. Control how it’s displayed – While I’m no web guru (“server side for life!”), the ability to pick-and-chose the way your site appears. Do you like Facebook’s cropped photo collages and truncated text content? Or Instagram not wordy enough?