Website vs Facebook Page: Which Does Your Business Need?

Many small businesses start on Facebook, and for good reason. It is free, quick to set up and your customers are probably already there. So when someone suggests you also need a website, it is natural to ask why. Isn't your page enough?

The short answer is that they do different jobs. A Facebook page is a place to talk to people. A website is the place you send people to learn about your business and decide whether to contact you. Here is how to think about each.

What a Facebook page does well

• It is free and fast. You can set up a page in an afternoon at no cost.
• Your customers are already there. It is easy for them to follow you, share your posts and message you.
• It suits regular updates. Specials, new stock, photos of recent work and event announcements all fit naturally in a feed.
• It builds community. Comments, reviews and conversations help people feel connected to your business.

If you are starting out with almost no budget, a well-kept page is a sensible first step.

Where a Facebook page falls short

You do not control the platform

The layout, the rules and the way posts are shown to people are all decided by the platform and can change at any time. How many of your followers see a given post depends on decisions made by Meta, not by you. If an account is restricted or lost, so is everything on it.

It is not built to explain your business

A feed is designed for recent posts, not for clearly laying out your services, service areas, process and frequently asked questions. Visitors often have to scroll to piece together the basics.

Not everyone wants to use it

Some potential customers do not have an account, do not want to log in, or simply prefer to check a business on a normal web page. A website is open to anyone with a browser.

You share the space with distractions

On your own page you are one tab away from a customer's news feed, other businesses and everything else the platform wants them to look at. A website keeps attention on you.

What a website gives you

• Ownership and control. You decide what it says, how it looks and what visitors are asked to do.
• Structure. Clear sections for who you are, what you offer, common questions and how to make contact.
• Search visibility. A website gives search engines proper pages to understand and show. It is no guarantee of a particular ranking, but it gives you something to work with.
• Credibility. Having your own website tells people you are an established business.
• A home base. Everything else you do, from social media to signage, can point to it.

Side by side

Which does your business need?

It depends on where you are:

• Just starting, with no budget: begin with a tidy Facebook page and a Google Business Profile, and plan to add a website as soon as you can.
• An established local business: a website gives you a professional home base. Keep your page active for updates and conversation.
• Restaurants, salons and other visual businesses: social media is excellent for showing your work, and a website makes sure that people can find your address, hours and contact details in one place.
• Consultants and professional services: credibility is a big part of winning work, so a website is especially useful.

For most businesses the answer is not "either or". Use your website as your home base and your Facebook page as a way to keep in touch, and link them to each other.

Final thoughts

A Facebook page rents you space on someone else's platform. A website is a space of your own. If you want customers to find you, trust you and contact you easily, it is worth having both. To see how a website can support your customer enquiries, read How a Professional Website Can Help Generate More Customer Enquiries.