Facebook is Not Enough: 7 Reasons Your Business Needs a Website

I agree that a company needs their own website. It doesn’t have to be what you think of as a ‘traditional website’ though. Purchase a unique domain. Connect it to WordPress. Install a WordPress theme. You’re off and running for little or no cost. I used to routinely create $50k-$100k website for companies. Those days are long gone.

That’s a first ;-) Seeing my own tweet turned into a blog post ;-)

I agree with the seven reasons above and with both comments re tool and how easy it is to create/manage/control and own your site.

Facebook is handy to have as an additional marketing and stay in touch tool, so is a stamp but that does not mean you give all of your marketing material and access to Royal Mail!

Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

Thanks Chris. I think you’re right on with your “eggs in one basket” comment, especially if it is a basket you don’t own.

This reason is less tangible, but having your own (well-executed) website creates a perception of professionalism, if not just around your colleagues. This goes for design agencies, restaurants, musical groups, actors and more. A website can anchor your social media presence, bringing all your different outlets together, and providing a more cohesive means to explaining who you are and what you do.

Like Troy said, it’s much easier now to have and maintain a clean, easy-to-use website. There’s really no excuse in my mind that holds up to not having your own website.

Thanks for the great article.

I heard a local tourism business owner say a Facebook page was enough. He saw big national brands pointing you to their FB Page instead of their website, and what works for Budweiser should work for you, too, right? I must point out that you and your business are NOT the same as Budweiser.

One other point: Facebook has a different purpose than your website. You can wisely use FB to serve specific purposes, such as sharing success stories, as a supplement to the much wider array of information you can share on your own site and blog.

Absolutely spot on.

We’ve been watching businesses with SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome) put all their marketing eggs in the one cool new basket for 15 years. An intelligent strategy with defined goals, objectives and demographic targets will tell you what your mix needs to include. We not only don’t we ever tell our clients to ever abandon web in lieu of a Facebook presence, but in some cases, we help them see why even being on Facebook would be a waste of time and resources.

Phil – You nailed it. A web-site you own and control. On Facebook you are a sharecropper. I view the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, etc. as spokes on a wheel that all lead back to the center hub with is…..wait for it – my web-site :)

Great post, Phil! Looks like your fans love the egg-in-one-basket analogy (who doesn’t love eggs?) so I won’t wear that one out. Instead I’ll say this: From an SEO standpoint (Google does not always play nice with FB updates), from a marketing standpoint (marketing 101 says take a multi-faced approach in delivering your message), and from a business standpoint, simply relying on any one channel is silly. Your website is your business card online, your Facebook page is just a commercial. It’s like saying that having a TV spot is enough to promote a business.

Also remember that web hosts “lose” sites, too. Back up your website to your PC or via online backup. If you have a WordPress-based site, back it up before you load updates. If you leave your website in the hands of your web host, its the same as having it out there with Facebook: You’re putting all of your eggs in one…well, you get the idea.

Great point Russ! Scheduled backups are key!

Thanks for chiming in and adding to the conversation.

Glad to fire you up Bradley! You never know when some third party may change their terms and services.

That’s why you MUST own your content.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Great point Tom! Just a tool…a good tool, but just a tool nonetheless.

And I LOVE your #8! Thank you for adding it.

I agree wholeheartedly with you Phil. I tweeted the same post with the same addition. We all need to own our piece of the digital landscape.

I wrote a blog about this very issue last year. Too many businesses are hedging all their bets on free hosting. I wouldn’t build a house on someone else’s land, I sure as heck wouldn’t build my business on someone else’s bytes.

For those interested in my take (apologies for the shameless self-promotion) you can read the post here. http://www.b2cy.com/b2cy/dont-own-social-media

Great post! and an interesting read. You didn’t mention a blog though, and i’m wondering (as I have one) are they as good as a website or is a website better, meaning can you do more with a website than a blog/is it harder to use a website over a blog (create and change content) if your not specialised in IT, etc?

You would think that the near daily changes Facebook is making would be a enough to scare anyone. They are changing quickly and not always for the better. A home base is still important. I think the thing that we all need to learn is how to better incorporate social into a good website. A website can never be the social network, but we need to make it the hub. Good solutions for this are hard to come by in my opinion.

It’ all in the mix… Need to play in all the sandboxes these days! One platform does NOT replace the importance of another!

Phil,

First off, thanks for sparking this debate. Everyone’s comments here have been pretty much spot on, but there is one topic that has yet to be mentioned that would only further support why brands still NEED a website: e-commerce.

I realize that the recent updates to FB have vastly improved a company’s ability to “customize” the look and feel of branded FB pages, but I still don’t feel comfortable purchasing a product or service via a FB Tab or API.

I don’t believe I am alone here and putting all of your eggs in the FB basket (to quote Chris from Exo Marketing), particularly when it comes to a company’s financial well-being is foolish. Generating sales is the ultimate goal of any brand and it shouldn’t be left in the hands of a third party provider that may or may not be here in 5 years.

Just my two cents. I welcome everyone’s feedback. Thanks! Great job on this post.

Chris C

Excellent set of reasons Phil: Well presented. Many of the commenters have also added additional information and thoughts in support of these reasons with which we also agree.

Perhaps the most important aspect for anyone to keep in mind about the Facebook ecosystem is that it is a CLOSED IN WORLD. Hence, unless there is some external way for your users to be made aware of your FB page ~ as would be the case if you have a web site as your primary media source …. in which case it can be found via Google or Bing or Yahoo etc., … and you use FB secondarily as a complimentary support medium to your web site or otherwise you do not have a web site but you mount a frequent promotional activity within FB to build awareness of your products/services promoted on your FB page ~ then relying solely upon FB for business development is going to be a losing proposition because the vast majority of potential clients will most likely never find your page or become aware of your business and so you will not build your business as effectively as you might otherwise if you do have a web site.

Bear in mind, your web site does not necessarily need to be overly complex or sophisticated; in fact, simple says more nine times out of ten but at least your business information then becomes discoverable via search engines and via any related cross-promotional links from other web sites.

“MySpace lost it’s relevance, so who’s to say Facebook won’t lose it’s relevance?”

Phil: Watch your apostrophes (it’s and its) to help your credibility gain even more momentum.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/apostrophe-1.aspx

Thanks for chiming in Mark!

Very interesting perspective Nishank. Culture does dictate a lot of what works. Thanks for sharing another point of view.

Thank you Phil. I was merely piggy-backing off the excellent points you had already made here, however, this is so fundamental an issue that it certainly bears being emphasized.

Thanks for adding to the conversation Chris. I especially love this point: “I wouldn’t build a house on someone else’s land, I sure as heck wouldn’t build my business on someone else’s bytes.”

Amen brother! And your self-promotion is helpful, not shameless. Come back soon!

Websites aren’t the most expensive part of an online presence, waiting to build one is!

Great point Mark! Don’t wait…build it NOW!