Your business's website is the virtual address where you meet your clients. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Booking, OLX, eMag, Upwork, or any other site where they can find you are merely rented locations where you pay to capture the attention of their users.

In this article, I explain why I have come to this conclusion and show you the first steps you need to take to stop renting attention from other sites.

What does renting attention mean?

Big tech players push us to believe that the internet is a place where you can freely express yourself, where you're equal to everyone else regardless of social status, where your valuable voice can be heard as loudly as anyone else's.

In reality, the internet is monopolized by these companies, and your freedom of expression and equality are limited to what these companies allow.

For example, on Facebook, no matter how valuable your product or service is, it will be very difficult to reach people who do not already follow you, meaning organic growth (without paying) is challenging. Those who see you are typically existing network members who already know and follow you, trusting in your brand.

This happens because Facebook has created a system that generates far more content than the attention of all users can consume. For every user who logs into Facebook and sees a certain number of posts and ads, there is several times more potential content that they could see.

The impact of this system's design is that a business wanting visibility and space on a user's feed must compete and bid against all other businesses seeking the same, akin to gambling, where the house usually wins.

What are closed ecosystems, generally known as "walled gardens"?

Tech giants have begun to crystallize into more or less natural monopolies, not accidentally but intentionally, directing your attention towards a single channel.

These companies' interest is to capture you (literally) within the ecosystem they've created, enabling them to sell the attention you invest in the ecosystem to the highest bidder.

Chances are you use Google Chrome (not Firefox or Mozilla), search the internet using Google (not Yahoo or Bing), predominantly socialize on Facebook or Instagram, and less on Twitter or Snapchat. When did you decide to do things this way? Was it intentional, or did you have a choice?

In this context, your business could easily fall into a trap, paying unjustified rent instead of investing in its own digital property to transform it into a hub for your fans and customers in the long run.

Two things you can do today to reduce your business's dependency on Facebook and Google:

1. Build the most valuable site in your industry.

Be a leader, educator, and support for consumers of products or services in your market. Ensure your site is consulted in the customer's decision-making process, even if they purchase from a competitor.

2. Collect their data directly on your site (with clear consent).

Stop buying access to people from other platforms. Start encouraging them to come to your site today, collect their data yourself, analyze it, and strive to offer them the best.