Social Media Post vs Website Approach

Ever ask yourself, “why do I need a website when I can just use social media to promote my business?” It’s a great question that we get asked more often than you’d imagine – “website vs social media“, which is best for you?

Why would you want to build a website that has numerous costs (domains, hosting, designers, SEO, updates, maintenance, and more), when you could just setup social media pages for your business on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram … for FREE?

The Benefits of Social Media for Small Business

When it comes to social media, besides being “FREE” to get a business page setup, there are also millions of people on the platform looking to interact with you. When used correctly, this allows you to grow a following faster than you could elsewhere. Here are some of the benefits that small businesses get from using social media for their business :

Requires Little-to-No Technical Expertise

Most of the platforms are easy to use, requiring no technical expertise. When creating a business page there are straight forward forms to fill out that ask for all of your vital business information in an organized and easy to follow manner.

Don’t know how to code? No problem. Just type your information in the boxes, upload some images, and you’re done.

So, Why Your Business Needs a Website?

• You Need to Be in 100% Control of Your Online Business
  As a business owner, you don’t want your business to be controlled by others. If you’re using Facebook Page, there are certain rules set by them that need to be follow. Worst case, if they don’t want your business in their social media anymore, then you’re now out of business until you find a new location or platform.However, if you own a website, then you have much more control over your situation. The changes in someone else’s business won’t affect whether you stay in business or how much it will cost to stay in business.
• Don’t Be at the Mercy of Someone Else
  If you setup shop solely on one or more social platforms, your business is ultimately at the mercy of those platforms. They can make changes on their rules whenever they want and you don’t have a voice, even if it impacts your business. If that platform gets acquired and changed or shut down, you may no longer be able to reach your customers.A great example of this is when many business pages were recently hurt when Facebook updated it’s algorithm, decreasing the reach of business pages. There was nothing business’s could do except complain. At the end of the day they had to accept the new rules and move forward or move on.
  The same thing could happen on another social platform at any time. YouTube could start charging you to store videos on their servers. In either of these circumstances if you don’t pay then you no longer get to communicate with your customers. So, in conclusion, you have NO control on these social platforms.
• Your Website is the ‘Hub’ of Your Online Presence
  If you have your own website, and it’s the “hub” of your business, then you have 100% control of your situation.Like the store analogy above, you can have your own store and still setup a rack of your items in someone else’s store. Why wouldn’t you? Especially if they offer the space for free. Not only do you control your store, you also get to use someone else’s space to market your items and make some sales.This is how you should treat social media. The best way is, to use social media as a marketing platform to drive traffic back to your website. Use that traffic to grow your email and customer list so you can communicate with them any time, any where. On your own terms.