It is a question we hear frequently from small business owners. Why do I need a website when I already have a Facebook page and an Instagram account? While social media is a valuable part of any marketing strategy, relying on it as your sole online presence is a risky move that limits your potential. Here is why your business needs its own website.
You Do Not Own Your Social Media Presence
This is the most important point and it bears repeating. When you build your entire online presence on social media, you are building on rented land. Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms own the space and control the rules. They can change their algorithms, restrict your reach, or even shut down your account at any time, and you have little recourse.
Businesses that depended entirely on Facebook organic reach saw their visibility plummet when the platform changed its algorithm to prioritise personal content over business posts. Suddenly, the audience they had spent years building could no longer see their content without paying for ads. A website is digital property that you own and control completely.
Search Engines Favour Websites
When someone searches for a product or service on Google, the results are overwhelmingly websites, not social media profiles. While social media pages do occasionally appear in search results, they are rarely positioned at the top. A properly optimised website gives you far better visibility in search engines, which is where most people start their buying journey.
Local businesses especially benefit from having a website that is optimised for local search. When someone types "electrician near me" into Google, they are going to see websites in the results, not Instagram profiles.
Websites Offer More Control and Professionalism
A social media profile gives you limited control over how your business is presented. You are confined to the platform's layout, design options, and content format. A website, by contrast, allows you to create a fully customised experience that reflects your brand identity.
Complete Information Architecture
On your website, you can organise information in a logical, user-friendly structure. You can have dedicated pages for each of your services, a portfolio of your work, detailed contact information with a map, customer testimonials, and much more. Try fitting all of that into an Instagram bio.
Professional First Impression
For many customers, your website is their first interaction with your business. A professional, well-designed site immediately communicates credibility and competence. A social media page with inconsistent posting and a pixelated cover photo sends a very different message.
Social Media and Your Website Work Together
The ideal approach is not choosing one over the other. It is using both strategically. Social media is excellent for building awareness, engaging with your community, and driving traffic to your website. Your website is where the conversion happens, where visitors become leads and customers.
Think of social media as the conversation starter and your website as the closer. Use your social channels to attract attention and build relationships, then direct people to your website where they can learn more about your services, read detailed information, and take action.
What Happens When Social Media Goes Down
Platform outages happen more often than you might think. When Facebook went down for several hours in recent years, businesses that relied exclusively on the platform were completely offline. Those with their own websites continued operating normally, accepting enquiries and providing information to potential customers without interruption.
Making the Most of Both Channels
Post regularly on your social media channels, but always include links back to your website. Share blog posts, link to your services pages, and encourage followers to visit your site for more information. This approach builds your website's traffic while keeping your social media presence active and engaging.
Your website should be the hub of your online presence, with social media serving as spokes that drive traffic and awareness back to that central point. This strategy gives you the best of both worlds while protecting you from the risks of depending entirely on platforms you do not control.