Is A Facebook Page Good Enough For Your Business?

Yesterday when meeting with a potential client, he said “with Facebook, now businesses don’t need a website, do they?”

Social Media is great and I definitely believe every business should be using it, but to believe that a website is no longer needed? He has been fed some really bad information.

I decided to write this short article because I believe there is a trend to believe social media can do the heavy hitting an a website isn’t that important.

Here I’ll explain why you really need a website and give a real life testimonial (from a client of mine) of what having not just a website, but a good website, can do for your business.

My response to the guy believing a Facebook page was enough was; Yes, absolutely businesses, especially small businesses like his (4 employees) need a website and it needs to be getting found on Google. I offered him a few reasons why.

1. Local search, (Google local, Yahoo local) 78% of all searches done on Google are people that are looking for products or services local to them. If you’re a local business and you are not being found in local search I guarantee you are losing business. Type into Google what a potential client may type in to find your business, does your business shows up?
2. Organic search – (being found in the standard listings of a Google search). – The top spot on page one of Google will receive close to 43% of the available search traffic as visitors to their website. 1000 people searching = 430 visits to your website. This is huge for small businesses!
3. A Facebook page is owned by Facebook and they can choose how you are able to use it, opposed to a website that is owned by you and you decide how to use it.
4. Websites can really put small businesses on a level playing field with the bigger companies they are competing against.

Before this post gets to long I want to share a real life reason why businesses need a website and need it to be found in the search results.

I just came from a meeting with a client I’ve been working with for only a couple of months. He does business with people locally (In Chattanooga, TN) and nationally.

He recently had a guy from Michigan contact him on LinkedIn and they’ve talked a little business there. It turns out the guy found the his new website using a Google search and then went to LinkedIn to contact him. (You never know how people will want to contact you, best to make all the ways available, Email, website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. There are more but these are the majors.) Luckily we told him social media was very important and he definitely needed to get his accounts set up.

It turns out this guy is wanting to do some business with my client and also has 20 other businesses affiliated with him that will likely do business. I conservatively estimate this will bring in revenue from $50,000 – $100,000. A far cry from what I was paid to build and rank his website, maybe I should ask for more money??

Anyway, he now is a true believer in his website and internet marketing and guess what? He’s ready to do more. It’s incredible what one website visit can be worth…

And, if all he had was a Facebook page with some pictures he’d have lost as much as$100,000 and never even known it. A tragedy many small business owners are starting to realize.

A good website is not an option in business these days, (unless you don’t mind losing business). I’m not saying you have to go out and get a $5000 one either. Just one that will get the job done for you. It may be $5000 but may be much much less, where is your business and what do you need to succeed right now?

If you’d like a website that actually works for you and isn’t overpriced, check out our Web Design Services now.

Online Visibility Is The Key – We can give you the visibility you need.

 

Tagged as: facebook, linkedin, small business, social media