Social media is a powerful marketing tool and because it is (mostly) free, many small businesses feel there is no need for a website. This couldn't be further from the truth. The fact is, social media is just a marketing tool, whereas a website is your business's digital premises. Alone, social media isn't enough to promote your small business online. But combine it with a website and it will boost your online presence quite a bit.
Using social media alone isn't enough to market your business online. At the very least, you will need a professionally designed website to succeed online.
Here are 5 reasons why social media isn't enough to promote your small business online:
Social media was created as a place where people can socialize and engage with businesses. It isn't intended as a place to sell your products or services.
While it is a great place to share your content and engage with clients, ultimately, you need to be pointing your clients to your website where they can get the information they need.
Think about it, social media platforms show us feeds, so nothing is really organised. You'll see the latest posts by a company on their page, but you'd need to do a lot of scrolling to see everything they have to offer. This can be quite frustrating for a potential client who is looking for a particular service / product which you might offer.
A website, however, will have everything neatly organised into various categories and pages. It has clear navigation, which makes finding something specific a lot easier.
Go onto your favorite social media platform and look at your feed. Notice how many business posts you see compared to posts by friends and family who you follow. The same is true of your target audience. This is because the algorithms used to personalise that feed are based on your preferences - such as the posts you like or share.
I'm not saying that social media shouldn't be used, it's actually a fantastic marketing tool and should definitely be used, but it needs to be used properly in conjunction with a website to make it effective.
While you are the owner of your content on social media platforms, the platform itself is still owned by someone else. This means that should anything happen to the platform, or your account be closed, you lose your content.
With a website, you own the domain and space you're renting, so it's yours and you have full control over it.
Keep in mind that free websites pose the same risk. The difference with those free websites is that you do not own the content you post there. And should you want to move to a proper hosting platform, you will be unable to move the site you created.
Social media platforms aren't used by everyone so you're not reaching your entire target audience by using these platforms alone. On the other hand, everyone uses the internet to search for something they're looking for.
To be found in these searches though, you're going to need to do some search engine optimizations and market your business. This does take time, so don't be disheartened when you aren't found immediately. Which is actually where social media comes into play. Both work hand in hand to getting your business online and reaching your target audience.
Have you ever found a business through social media and looked for their website address but found none? How did it make you feel about that business? You were probably disappointed and left to look for one who did have a website. Or, you didn't bother looking through social media and went straight to Google / Bing / Yahoo (whichever your search engine of choice is) and looked for someone with a website right?
This is why social media isn't enough and you need a website as well if you want to succeed online.
While social media is an excellent platform to promote your business, you still need a website where people can find all the information they need in order to purchase your product / service.
Still not convinced that social media isn't enough to promote your business? Head on over to our article about the benefits of a website for your small business for more information.
Looking for the perfect website for your small business? Choose the package that best suits your needs to get started.
