In the modern era of technology, it becomes increasingly important for businesses to have an online presence. With so many different options available—from creating a website to starting a business page on Facebook—it can be difficult to know what is best for your business. The question of whether you need a website when you have a business page on Facebook is an important one that all business owners should consider.
Can you have a business without a website?
Certainly, you can start your business without a website. The question is how difficult it will be to sustain your business without a website. By the time you realize that you have fallen behind your competition, it may be too late to salvage what you have built with so much effort.
Did you know that over 80% of consumers research a product, service, or company online before making a purchase decision? This means that only 20% is available. If you can survive with the 20%, maybe you don’t need a website. But can you?
The necessity of having a website today is exactly the same as having a store, an office, or a telephone. A website is your store or office in the digital world. Without it, you don’t exist. We always tell our clients to think of their website as their home on the internet. Without it, you are homeless. Do you know anyone who would trust a business that doesn’t have a store, office, or telephone?
Let's look At Some Reasons Why A Website Is better than a Social Media Page
Your followers on social media don't belong to you.
Your followers belong to the platform. They have all the information about your followers, not you. You are just a visitor there. And since you are at the mercy of another company’s policies, you may wake up one morning and find that you have lost everything.
Many people lost their businesses a few years ago because they relied on MySpace, a popular social networking platform that no longer exists. No one expected the platform to shut down. Also, many accounts are closed without warning due to policy violations, hacking, or often by mistake. If something happens to your account, then your followers will vanish with it. You immediately lose contact with your followers.
What will happen if the terms and algorithms running on these platforms (which are constantly changing) are no longer favorable to your business model? Your only options are to continue with unwanted terms or to completely shut down your page, or more likely, the platform itself will shut you down.
And you know what? Facebook and any other social media platform will continue to thrive regardless of whether you choose to stay or close your page. Why? Because they have complete control of your followers’ data. You are not the one who sets the rules. They are!
I have lost 3 accounts for no reason and never managed to recover them. You have no control over social media platforms because they simply aren’t your home. You don’t have the key. They do!
Your website should be designed in a way that allows potential customers to quickly find what they’re looking for and discover other things that interest them. Various mechanisms should also be set up to capture and store the information of potential customers so that you have complete control.
If you have at least the email address of your followers, then even if all social media platforms shut down tomorrow, it won’t affect your business since you will be able to contact them.
There is no organization at all
Apart from that, social networks do not have the appropriate organizational structure because they simply were not built to function as a website.
You cannot organize your content in a way that makes it easy for potential customers to find what they are looking for. Customers may want to learn more information about your business, products and services, other similar products, product reviews, customer reviews, your buying and return policy, etc.
All these are important elements of your business that you simply cannot organize on social media. Whatever you post gets lost quickly in your newsfeed.
For example, think of a private school that publishes its students’ exam results every year. Can a user find older exam posts? Of course, but they would have to search through hundreds of posts for hours to find what they are looking for.
The same goes for product promotions. Products are visible for a few days to a limited number of followers and then they disappear. If a customer wants to see all products organized and compare prices and features, that is impossible.
Also, keep in mind that not all of your followers see your posts. And the reason is simple. If everyone could see every post, there would be no reason for someone to pay for advertising.
Google has the largest share in searches. According to statistics from 2022, Google holds 84% of global web searches. Facebook doesn’t even come close to this percentage of searches.
Considering that Facebook is primarily a social network and not a search engine, it is impressive that it still receives some searches.
But do you really want to ignore over 90% of searches that are made through Google and Bing? Can you grow your business without the traffic from these search engines?
Having your own website allows you to appear in top positions for search terms relevant to your business. Through your marketing efforts, you can increase your brand visibility, generate leads, and boost your sales.
If you don’t have your own website, you won’t be able to leverage this search traffic with just a simple page on social media.
Reliability
There is a good reason why even small businesses invest their time and money to create a website – they want the credibility and professionalism that a well-designed website provides.
The truth is, anyone can create a page on Facebook, populate it with false information, and even buy thousands of likes or reviews to make us believe it is a legitimate company.
However, when someone decides to provide their credit card information, they will likely search for the company’s name before placing an order. If they find nothing but a Facebook page, the chances are they won’t trust them with their money.
A well-designed website, showcasing proper branding and providing detailed information about the company, can compete with even larger brands as it inspires credibility.
What do large brands do?
Take a look at major companies like Amazon, Apple or IKEA. They have their own website on the internet, allowing them to control the information of their followers and not worry about policy violations.
They have complete control over their businesses and possess personal information about their customers. Imagine if IKEA didn’t have an online store and instead sold its products on Facebook. Would they have the success they have today?
Having control over followers and their private data is precisely what makes social media platforms so powerful. They own data that you don’t. Why do we pay money to Google or Facebook for advertising? Because they know where to find people interested in our products or services. You don’t have that knowledge.
However, if you have a website where you have full control, you can access this data (email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, birthdates, interests).
Your own website allows you to implement mechanisms that help collect and store this information, saving you money because you won’t need to pay again to advertise to the same people.
Why do you think they don’t allow us to access the personal data of our followers? Simply because they would lose money as no one would pay for advertising.
Think of your social media accounts as the storefront and your website as the main store.
The purpose of the storefront window is to attract people’s attention and make them enter your store (in other words, visit your website) to learn more about your business, products, or services.
If you only have a storefront (social media) and the door is closed, customers will likely end up at the next store with an open door.
In summary, if you want to have a profitable and sustainable business then your social media accounts should serve as a bridge to bring people into your own world, where you have control over everything, from personal data to the user experience.
Remember
The one who sets the rules always wins! 😉
