Social media is a must-have for anyone running small businesses. Among them, Facebook has become fundamental to any business’s online presence. And look, with roughly 2.89 billion monthly active users, we can’t deny Facebook’s charms right?
In addition to sharing the latest updates about your business, You can engage with your target audience and learn about them with powerful analytics almost instantly. Facebook Pages also come with useful marketing tools and above all, it’s free! (unless you pay for ads).
It doesn’t take much to understand why countless businesses choose to make it their main outreach platform. So at some point in the entrepreneurial journey, many business owners have asked themselves “If I can get everything I need to connect with new customers, do I need a website for my business?”
Short answer: Yes
Of course, Facebook can potentially offer you lots of traffic, and I mean, who would decline such an offer? But it comes with certain limitations.
If you are still hesitating about having a website, especially if you are starting out, These 5 reasons will help you understand why Facebook can’t replace having a website for your business.
1. Branding: stand out the right way
Competition on Facebook is fierce. As reported by Facebook’s quarterly report, there are more than 200 million small businesses using the platform to reach new customers.
Let’s be fair, You’ll need to put in quite a bit of effort to differentiate yourself. Especially when you’re stuck with the same colour schemes as everyone else.
After all, your store should look like it’s yours. Isn’t it?
Having a professional website means being able to customise it the way it suits your brand and speaks the way your crowd does. With a website, you can show who you are, tell your brand story and let your audience know what makes you unique in a fun, creative and engaging way.
For those who are less tech-savvy, full time managing their own website can seem scary. But don’t fret. Our all-in-one website builder simplifies this process. We have a variety of fully customizable templates that’ll put you and your brand in the eyes of everybody.
2. You set the rules
A quick reminder: Facebook is not your site, but the third party between you and your customers.
Let’s put it this way, Social media is equivalent to leasing out and a website to having a place of your own.
No matter how many fancy features you get, at the end of the day, you’re still a guest. Furthermore, things could get tricky if your online marketing strategy depends only on social media.
Remember the massive Facebook outage that happened? According to this report, nearly half a million dollars in Ad revenue per hour was lost as Facebook vanished from the internet for 6 hours.
Many small business owners took a hit as the online environment was disrupted. Having your own site not only makes you less vulnerable in situations like this but you get to set the rules.
Here’s a tip: If you’re serious about earning money online, you shouldn’t rely on external platforms to stay connected to your customers. Whether you’re planning to start an online shop or start a service business, a website offers you a variety of tools that social media can't. Such as, creating effective opt-in boxes or eye-catching pop-ups to create a mailing list.
3. Maximise visibility
You might be missing out on larger outreach opportunities if you are only reliant on Facebook to do business.
Believe it or not. Not everyone is on Facebook.
Surprised?
Times are changing and this generation could be the last befriending Facebook as millions of people worldwide are ditching the platform amidst privacy concerns.
This means you could potentially be alienating your brand from where the big crowd is hanging out.
A website also gives you complete freedom to choose how to appear in the search results. Often, It is believed that social media alone can help people discover your business, but without knowing how to do SEO for your website It’s hard to get search engines to notice you.
This takes me to my next point.
4. Analytics
Data analytics is important to optimise your performance and understand what your audience likes. It’s the most efficient way to make smarter decisions on what kind of content to post in advance.
Let me get real for a minute: If you want to maximise your impact, you’re not going to get too far with Facebook Analytics. Don’t get me wrong, the tool does provide enough information to track and observe lead generation results.
But it’s a little messy since Facebook decided to shut down its Facebook Analytics earlier this year to move onto a variety of insight tools.
With a website, on the other hand, you get a more clear understanding of your data all in one place. And You can see how your customers move around your site.
This can help you make more educated decisions on how to position your content. Simultaneously, you can customise each page to individually rank based on the data collected.
And in case you didn’t know, our digital marketing suite comes with analytic tools that help you track performance and marketing success on your website.
5. Credibility
First impressions do matter.
If you want your brand to be seen as trustworthy. You need a website. Period.
Anyone can open a social media profile right, but having your own website shows you care enough about your brand. Plus, most customers still prefer to buy products directly off E-commerce sites. Having your own website will help build trust amongst your customers.
Also, keep in mind that the pandemic brought an unprecedented shift to online shopping behaviours. And as Ecommerce keeps expanding at a fast pace in Asia, more people will expect brands to have a website.
Besides, having your own site allows you to create a professional business email address. Which is the cherry on top adding that extra layer of customer confidence if you ask me.
Don’t worry too much if you know where to start. Setting up a well-designed site doesn’t need to be a headache anymore. Godaddy’s WordPress package comes with a variety of hosting features and cool plugins to make your life easier and strengthen your business's online presence.
Ready to ramp up your online presence?
If you read this far, you are ready to grow beyond Facebook.
And there’s no better time to do it than today.
Ok, don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to delete your Facebook page.
Facebook is indeed a valuable tool that should be part of your social media marketing strategy. You can directly interact with your target audience and learn from them. But what I’m trying to say is that your brand will be limited if you only depend on this platform.
Having a website gives you the freedom to customise it the way it suits your branding and also increase the chances of getting discovered. For instance, a website provides powerful SEO tools to improve your organic ranking, rather than getting buried in the search results with social media profiles.
And the fun part is that the days of knowing how to code to get a website up and running are gone. Godaddy’s website builder simplifies the process so you can sit back and focus on building your brand and making online sales.
It’s safe to say that having a website is key to developing your online business.
If you are ready to get started, give us a try today.
