Last Updated on July 24, 2016 by Tim
You’ve got a Facebook page for your business. That page has a few hundred likes. Your friends and families are sharing the page with their friends and families. You regularly engage your followers in conversations about your services and the latest industry info. Why would you need a website on top of that? It’s not the first time that story has been told- and it certainly won’t be the last. Your Facebook presence is great, but your company still needs a website.
Facebook is a great platform for getting in touch with folks interested in your company. It’s free, easy to use, and there’s the added bonus that nearly everyone has it. While the idea of getting social with your current and potential customers is a good one, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Relying solely on any social media platform puts you at their mercy. Your company information will always be on their branded site, they’ll always be in control of how much is actually seen by your followers, and, this may shock you, but not everyone has them.
Small business websites, on the other hand, offer you the ability to provide a branded experience, control your messaging, and they are accessible to anyone who can get on the Internet. Even Facebook users still look for your website when they’re getting ready to make buying decisions. Don’t limit your business to one venue. Control your website and the conversation by making yourself as available to your users as possible. Opt for both- increase your reach by building the website and manage the Facebook page.
Here are five good reasons why your company’s Facebook Page is not enough;
1. Not everybody sees you.
Out of 7 billion people in the whole of the world, an approximate of 2.4 billion make use of the internet. Out of these 2.4 billion, 1.1 billion are found to be drawn towards using Facebook monthly. Through mathematical deduction, it is calculated that 60% of internet users do not use Facebook. For the fact that this great percentage of the world population uses Facebook does not mean everybody is a fan of Facebook. Besides, even if any of those who carry out their research using mobile search engine discover your page, they of course need to sign up or log in so as to contact you; and there is no guarantee that they would be doing that. Users are likely to consider contacting your competitor’s website than going through the process of signing up or logging in especially if they are just infrequent users.
2. Not everybody see your posts and updates
One other thing to know is the definite number of users that gets your updates on their profile or see your posts even after getting a significant number of followers on Facebook. There is a limit to the number of people your posts and updates can get through to. This as a result of changes in the algorithm used by Facebook. It has been revealed that organic reach has reduced to 6% which is a reduction by 49% from peak levels. This implies that, to boost your content reach through publicity you will have to pay to Facebook else your posts reach only an average of 6 fans for every of your 100 followers. So to afford huge likes on your page, you will need to advise it by all possible methods. And even if you promote your website using Facebook plugin, the gain will be relatively meagre and inappreciable.
3. Company’s worth; People’s perception
To be honest, people will think of your business or company as unprofessional and amateur if you fail to harness the advantages and benefits available through a personal website. Having a website gives you a great edge and of course, it comes with several benefits for the fact that it is still the best online tool for advertisement. Besides, there is no real opportunity for branding and promoting when you rely on Facebook page for your website except for uploading of profile picture, etc. Having your website makes you the master and the controller; you set the rules and the policies, hence giving you the free will of letting people see what you want them to see or read.
4. Limitations
As far as Facebook Policy is concerned, you have no hold on it nor the changes it is subjected to. There is a limit or restriction to the picture you can upload because not all formats or varieties of photos are considered for posting on Facebook. In fact, this also applies to posts as well. You have to be conversant with the constant changes the Facebook’s technical obligations, rules and policies are subjected to. This of course will require a little spending on your side.
Although, signing up for a Facebook page for your company is quite a good kick off but you cannot depend totally on it as your sole means of reaching your fans and customers. Besides, you don’t own the content of anything you post on Facebook, they have the right to edit, copy and do anything to them since these are part of the things you agreed to when signing up with them. Your aim is to get as many as possible customers directly from your search machine and having your company website will be a good option.
5. Conspicuousness
One other restriction is on search visibility and conspicuousness i.e how discoverable your company’s Facebook page is. For instance, when customers search your company name through Facebook, It is likely they find you, but that’s if they know your company name. There is no guarantee that all the potential customers have your company’s name handy, even though they have a clue about your company (like “best ware maker”)? It is not feasible that they find you by searching for “best ware maker” through Facebook. So, it is somewhat not encouraging because you have got to find new customers.
Perhaps they managed to search for your Facebook Page through the search machine, the result is nevertheless still going to be a little percentage of the total search results because you have only one Facebook page; but it’s a different way around when you have a website which gives you a broad search visibility. You are easily discoverable even with search engines which provides you multiple pages with optimized keywords since your homepage will be serving as the landing page while source for search engine results can be from your subpages. Through a website, you have the advantage of making as many as possible information available to your customers as much as you want.
