Do you need a website if you already have Instagram or Facebook?

The short answer: social networks are great for being seen and talking, but the page belongs to whoever runs them, not to you. A site of your own is for being found on Google, for showing the essentials without needing an account and for having a place nobody can take from you. For many businesses the best is to have both, each in its own role.

What each is for

Social network Your website
Who controls it The platform. It can change the rules, the reach or suspend the account. You. The address and content are yours.
Who finds it People who already follow you or whom the algorithm shows it to. People searching Google for what you do and where.
Seeing it without an account Often asks you to log in. Anyone, on any device.
Organised information Posts that get lost over time. Prices, hours, services and contacts in a fixed place.
Trust Good for showing day-to-day life and the people. Your own address and an e-mail on the domain look serious.
Cost and effort Free, but you have to keep posting. A domain and hosting, and a little upkeep.

How to decide

1 Ask yourself where your customers come from. If they all arrive by recommendation and message, you can start with social media only.
2 If anyone searches Google for what you do (a local service, a product), a small site brings you customers social media does not.
3 If you sell, the site gives you the catalogue and the price in a fixed place: see Which plan for a catalogue.
4 Start small: a home page, a contact page and the WhatsApp link. Then it grows.

How to join the two

Put the site’s address in the profile description and the social links in the site’s footer. If for now you only want your domain to lead to the social pages, it is possible, with limits: Pointing your domain at a social page. To share well: Sharing on social media so it brings visits.

Never leave the only copy of your business on a social network. Keep the photos, the texts and the contact list somewhere else. Accounts can be blocked by mistake and recovery is not always quick.

Want to know what would make sense in your case? Open a ticket saying what you sell and where your customers are.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Pointing your domain at a social page or WhatsApp link: redirects on your hosting

Sharing on social media so it brings visits to your site

Free e-mail address or e-mail on your own domain: what changes for a business

How to choose the right domain for your business

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