In this era if you don’t have a digital presence i.e. business website, then you’re just taking losses in business. Long gone are the days where you could run a successful business without a website or just offline. Now, many consumers won’t even take your business seriously if you’re not online, have a Facebook page, or some digital existence. Really it doesn’t matter if you’re running a small startup or a company that has been around for ages being online is essential to any business for now and forever going forward! The internet has just become a part of our everyday life with multiple avenues to create a digital footprint, for businesses it is important to stand out and remain consistent online. One of the questions we still see and get, as more and more companies begin to capitalize on this paradigm shift is “where do we start”. Don’t worry if that’s you, we’re here to tell you, this happens more often than none with all types of businesses. From companies that have been around for 20 plus year to companies that are just in the seed stage. On occasion business owners will just settle for having some online presence and say “I’m just going do a Facebook page, we don’t need a website”. Social media company profiles have created a wave of businesses that look to start an online presence by skipping a crucial part of going digital, HAVING A BUSINESS WEBSITE. In this post, we’re going to put the 2 in the ring and have a standoff, company Facebook Page Vs. the business website, you’ll be the judge.

Round 1: Business Website Pros and Cons

Way back when the internet was still new, websites were designed to be an extension of a company’s brick-and-mortar store “just in case” somebody actually gets in front of the computer to look for a company or its products instead of the yellow pages. Remember this is when the Internet and online search has just started gaining traction so it wasn’t unusual for people to go through the directory pages first for local product and services searches before getting online. Nowadays, society has become increasingly dependent on the Internet, we rely on it to get our queries answered, and the yellow pages have been rendered practically obsolete (except for using them to start fires in the fireplace).

Having a website is no longer optional, but more of a given for any business that it has become a staple in yearly marketing budgets. Yes, setting up a website requires a fair bit of investment, but it’s not necessarily any different from any other successful media campaign you have seen or heard of in the past. You want to have a clear idea of what you want your website to achieve, and how you want it to represent your brand before you can begin building your website and implementing an online strategy. Also, there can be a considerable learning curve associated with managing website content and keeping your pages updated. If you work with a reliable website developer, however, they can easily set you up with a site that suits your level of comfort as far as content design and development is concerned so you don’t feel like you’ve lost time when you need to update your website. Let’s look at some advantages and disadvantages to having a website.

Round 2: Facebook Page Pros and Cons

And then there’s social media – the platform that connects us all. Social networks are so effective because they foster collaboration and online discussions. Facebook, in particular, is the godfather of all social networks with its population always increasing, it offers a good platform for brands to increase their online visibility. The platform is user-friendly so it is fairly easy to set up a company Facebook page. Managing the page is also simple particularly because Facebook is a widely-used social media site. Globally Facebook reported, over 2.07 billion monthly active Facebook users for Q3 2017. That’s a huge number of people so it no doubts that your company or brand needs to be there but is Facebook enough, so what it comes down to and the question that started this conversation is: can a Facebook page replace an actual business website?

We would recommend to use a Facebook page to easily reach out to customers or answer user queries but the cookie-cutter interface and design of social media pages may not necessarily be able to highlight the unique selling points of your brand. In terms of brand exposure, it is a reality that your brand will always be subordinate to the Facebook brand and customization options are very limited to the profile picture, page header, and the store section, etc. Even the content you can share is governed by the platform’s guidelines. Facebook can also use your content for its own purpose or delete it altogether from the site. If you want to stand out, Facebook pages can pose a big hurdle, let’s look at so pros and cons.

And Down Goes Facebook

So this is what we’ve laid out, a website that offers brand control. You can design its content in a way that will best represent your company and brand online. A business website allows you to pack a lot of valuable information on the site, organize the pages so they read better and your company gets to be the star! You’re able to create your own rules, regulate content and be the boss of your own space on the Internet. These are all great and give you a sense of possession but can be challenging if you’re not a “techy”. This is why working with a web design firm or having an expert on your payroll to maintain the site for you, repair any pages if you hit any snags, and handle the technical stuff for you is always best.

With Facebook, you are at the mercy of their support line and you may not necessarily be on their technical support priority list unless you happen to run a multinational company. Another we’ve seen is while you can find Facebook pages through search engines, it does not provide you with the same leeway in terms of tailoring online content according to the keywords or phrases that your target audience use. Facebook also integrates well with a lot of other social media networks being owners of Instagram and friendly with must others so if social media is a part of your marketing mix a Facebook page is a necessary.

Having a business website puts the Facebook page replacement on the mat. If you’re planning to grow your brand online successfully and we cannot state it enough: you’re doing your brand a great disservice if you think that a Facebook page can replace a dedicated website. It is quite dangerous to even so much as think so. A dedicated website offers more features with more comprehensive SEO control. Ranking high on Google is critical to the success of any online marketing campaign and a dedicated website gives you more room to implement a strong SEO strategy to get your brand the online exposure it deserves. A Facebook page is good to have to supplement any online marketing campaign but a carefully managed and updated website gives your brand and your company the best opportunity to feed information to your target audience and fulfill your campaign objectives.

Bringing it all together is having a Facebook page important, absolutely! But does this mean it replaces a business website, quite simply no! What do you think, tell us your experience or how you feel about companies with only Facebook pages and companies that use Facebook pages a supplement…