I am often asked ‘Why do I need a website when I can use social media to promote my business for free? Building a website can be costly once you add up all the fees for domains, hosting, designers, SEO, updates, maintenance, and more. Whereas you can set up social media pages on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram … for FREE? But when it comes to Website vs Social Media your business needs both, let me explain why.
Having a website built for your business is very different. When created professionally, a website is going to cost more than setting up free social media pages. Here are some things you’ll need to consider before building a website for your business:
Purchase a Domain & Website Hosting
To get started, you have to pay recurring costs for your domain and website hosting. The domain is the “address” where you’ll build your website (ex: “yourbusiness.com”). Website hosting is the server space (i.e. the “land”) where your website will live.
Design, Development, & Technical Expertise
Since most business owners struggle with website design, you’re probably going to have to hire a web designer. A good web designer should be able to design, build, and update the website for you.
Even free drag and drop website builders require some technical and design expertise. Especially if you want a website so you can be happy about and proud to show off.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
If you want your website to rank well for the keywords that matter in search engines for, it will require an understanding of on-page SEO. If you don’t know anything about SEO then I advise you consider paying someone to help you with that.
So why even build a website for your business when you could use these free social media platforms to market your business online? The answer is simple, with a website you keep 100% control.
Don’t Be at the Mercy of Someone Else
If you set up your business solely on one or more social platforms, you leave yourself at the mercy of those platforms. They can make changes 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.
Your Website is the “Hub” of Your Online Presence – Social Media is a Marketing Tool
Your website is the “hub” of your business, and give you 100% control of your situation.
You should use social media as a marketing platform to drive traffic back to your website. You can also use that traffic to grow your email and customer list so you can communicate with them anytime, anywhere.
At the end of the day, it’s much smarter to invest in something you own than to build on land that doesn’t belong to you. Someday the rules are going to change and it could have a major impact on your business if you aren’t in control.
My advice is to invest in a website that you own and use social media to reach new audiences and grow your business.
I can help you build and grow your online presence, if you would like to discuss this further get in touch today. If you are a company based in Portsmouth looking for web design help let’s meet up for a coffee.