Website vs. Facebook page: do I need a website if I have one?

What a Facebook page does well

Let's be fair to Facebook first. A business page is free, quick to set up and easy to keep fresh from your phone. Regular customers can follow you, see this week's special and send you a message. For a business whose customers already live on Facebook, like a neighborhood bakery or a local gym, it can bring in real work.

If you have a busy page with real conversations on it, keep it. Nothing on this page is about giving it up.

Where a Facebook page falls short

The trouble starts when a stranger who has never heard of you goes looking. Here is what gets in the way:

• You do not own it. Facebook sets the rules, the layout and who sees your posts, and an account can be locked or a page restricted with little warning.
• Not everyone uses Facebook, and some people will not log in to read a business page.
• Your posts scroll away. The answer to 'do you cover my area?' is buried under last month's photos.
• It looks like every other page. There is very little room to show what makes you different.
• Search engines see one page. A website can have a page for each service, each answering the question people actually type.

What a website gives you that a page cannot

A website is a place you control. Your name is in the address, your words are on every page, and nobody else decides who gets to see it. When someone searches for the service you offer in the area you cover, a website with a clear page for that service has a much better chance of being the thing they find.

It also answers questions before they are asked. A good small business site says what you do, where you do it, how to reach you and what happens next, on a phone, in a few seconds. That saves you calls from people outside your area and makes the right customers more likely to get in touch.

And it lasts. A website you own keeps working whatever happens to any one social network, and everything you put on it builds up over the years instead of scrolling away.

Website vs. Facebook page: how the two work together

The best setup is simple. The website is home: the services, the prices you choose to show, the service area, the contact form and the proof of your work. Facebook is where you talk: quick updates, photos from this week's jobs, replies to comments.

Link them both ways. Put your website address in your Facebook page's details and in posts where it fits, and put a link to your Facebook page in your website's footer. When a post brings someone in, the website does the explaining; when the website brings someone in, Facebook shows you are active and real.

When a Facebook page alone might be enough

There are honest cases where you can wait. If all your work comes from people who already know you, your calendar is full, and nobody has ever said they could not find you, a website may not change much yet. A hobby that sells a few things to friends may never need one.

The signs that it is time: customers ask whether you have a website, you lose jobs to competitors who come up first in search, people outside Facebook cannot find your hours or your number, or you want to look like an established business to larger clients.

What to put on your first website

Start small and clear. A home page that says what you do and where, a page for each main service, a page with your own photos of your work, a short page about you, and a contact page with a form. Your phone number and your service area should be visible on every page. That is enough for most small businesses to start bringing in work.

If you already have a site and are not sure it is doing its job: Our free audit scores your current site's speed, how it works on a phone and its search basics in about 30 seconds, and it costs nothing. Enter your website and email: your results show on the screen and we email you the full report.