It’s a tempting idea to see if one can get by without one or the other. Can your business make do with just a robust Facebook business page, or do you need both a business website and a Facebook page?
This is a popular question because Facebook accounts are free and easy to set up, while professional websites require an investment in time and money. So let’s take a look at the pros and cons and see what really works.
Pros of a Facebook Page
A Summary of Your Business
Visitors to your Facebook page gain immediate information and a useful guide down the sales funnel – especially on mobile devices, where an increasing number consumers are making their purchasing decisions. You can see business location, business hours, contact information and reviews and comments from existing clients.
Access to a Large Audience
Facebook gives you potential access to at least 1.44 billion monthly active users and almost a billion daily active users. People in your industry are using it. So if you are looking for more ways to connect with prospects and can’t find them, then it may be time to invest in a Business Facebook page.
Free Business Tools
Facebook is not designed solely for casual consumer users. From analysis to advertising, many tools are made specifically for businesses. For example Facebook Live, the new live-streaming option on Facebook, is particularly well-suited to companies that want to interact in real-time with buyers.
Integrate With Social Media Platforms
Facebook is friendly with Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and more. If you have a lot invested in multiple social media platforms, then Facebook is a necessary component and can serve as a lynchpin that holds your social strategy together.
Constant Engagement
Facebook is home to many well-known social signals, including likes, follows and comments. If your business prefers a more hands-on approach that encourages buyers to ask questions and focuses on conversations or maintaining contacts, Facebook can help out, as long as you know that your clients are already there.
Pros of a Business Website
More Creative Freedom
A website allows for more creative freedom. From layout to colors to navigation, you can design a website that’s unique and fits your business goals. Facebook allows for little creative freedom. you are tied to Facebook corporate colours and the Facebook layout. You can’t have cool rotating images, call-to-action buttons and interactive graphics on your Facebook page.
Professionalism
Most customers generally like to see a real business website before they progress down the sales funnel. Your website doesn’t have to be particularly fancy or span a dozen different landing pages, but it has to be there, and it has to look up to date and professional.
Product Info
Facebook isn’t really the place to post in-depth product lists or information. For this, you need a professional website with a product section or a section describing your services. It’s also much more professional to refer prospects to product sheets on your website than to say: “Check us out on Facebook.”
Scalability
Facebook can be an enabler, but it’s not much use if you are dealing with a sudden influx of customers, a new expansion into different sectors or a new product range. How can Facebook properly relate or adapt to those changes? It really it can’t. But a business website is changeable, and it can scale with the size of your company, and change along with your focus or mission.
Room for More Content
Websites can provide a large variety of content that can be customized to your goals: Blogs, in-depth testimonials, company histories, product customization options and valuable call-to-action forms. Facebook is limited to supporting basic summaries, short reviews, posts, and similar types of content.
Conclusion
Facebook is an excellent place to focus if you are trying to gain recognition and build a quick following before pushing on to long-term strategies. However, a Facebook page cannot replace a business website especially in the business-to-business world. Plan on a real website and do this sooner than later. A Business website is your real key to sales and conversions. Facebook is more optional and it provides a valuable gateway to interact with new and existing clients.
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