Don't Just Rely on Facebook - Build a Website!
Using social media for small business
Facebook seems like the most ideal way to get your business on the internet, right? To many startups, it seems like there’s not really any need to build your own website anymore. Worryingly, there are a few articles out there that seem to be promoting this kind of mindset.
You can see why people may think this way. After all, it’s free to set up a business page on Facebook. And, with Facebook being the most popular website on the internet by quite some margin, there are millions of people out there who could stumble upon your business.
There is also the benefit of there being little to no technical expertise required to build and maintain a Facebook business page. Plus, Facebook is already optimized for SEO. That’s why, when you Google a business, you’ll see their Facebook in the top search results - sometimes as the top search result. (Though this also requires some good SEO-based content creation on your part to maintain.)
using facebook for business
With all of this in mind, why would anyone build a website separate from their Facebook page anymore? After all, starting a business is expensive. Is it really necessary to increase those expenses by building a website from scratch?
Websites can make money for your business, even if you’re not selling anything directly on the website. Advertising, for example, can help bring revenue to your business if you have a healthy flow of traffic. But when it comes to ecommerce, transactions simply aren’t going to work over Facebook. Even marketplace technology which can be setup immediately can’t be setup on Facebook - you need your own website!
setting up shopping for online businesses
One of the biggest problems with just keeping your web presence limited to Facebook is that you don’t have that much control over your online presence. You are completely at Facebook’s mercy, and if you think Facebook is some passive and fair space in which to do business (or even voice opinions), then think again.
Make no mistake: a social media presence is a must. But if you want to retain control over your online presence, then you need to build your own website. Without your own website, you’re also going to have a limited amount of power when it comes to marketing since Facebook has a very limited amount of tools available to businesses.
Plus, as the end of the day, prospective clients and customers simply aren’t going to be very impressed if you can only direct them to a Facebook page!
making your business mobile friendly
Another thing you have to keep in mind is that Facebook isn’t right for every business. Sure, you should have a Facebook page, but the amount of attention you should pay to it will differ from business to business. For some people, the interactions you want to have with customers simply can’t be facilitated using the Facebook platform. With your own website, you can design and develop it to your heart’s content. You can control how much content is on there, how many pages you have, how your customers contact you, and what images people can and can’t see. Facebook is important - but don’t make it the centerpiece of your web presence.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.