Website vs Social Media – The Importance of Having a Website
Website vs Social Media – The Importance of Having a Website
Website vs Social Media – Many small businesses start off with social network pages such as Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Now, you might be wondering: “Do I need a website if I have a Facebook Page?” Why go to the expense of building a website. The answer is absolutely yes!
We cannot stress enough the importance of having a good website for your small business.
Although you can set up several social media pages for your business at no cost at all, there are certain crucial factors that a well-designed website can offer you that no social media platform will ever be able to.
The importance of a website vs social media pages
The first thing to remember when considering your online presence, is that people take websites seriously. Very seriously.
In fact, studies show that online users automatically consider businesses who have a website more credible than ones who don’t. A caveat is that the website must also be of good quality to lend credibility to the business.
The second thing to be considered is that, as a business owner, you want full control over your brand – no matter what.
Ultimately, you want to decide exactly how your brand is presented to the public, regardless of whether it be a one-page website or a more sophisticated sales and marketing hub.
Don’t be at someone else’s mercy
Setting up your online business solely on social media platforms, places you in the uncertain (and unpredictable) hands of the social media gods.
Should there be any changes made by these platforms, you have no voice and no control. You are at their disposal 100% of the time.
Let’s think back a few days to the 13th of March – the day Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram experienced a major outage on their main platform.
This resulted in users being unable to reach the content they were searching for. Additionally, they were unable to post, comment or even react to a post.
Business owners or entrepreneurs who rely solely on these platforms to do business, were shut down for the duration of the outage, causing major loss of revenue.
The worst part about it? They could do nothing but sit and wait until the problem was solved.
Furthermore, any person who pays for advertising to reach their target market will know that their audience was not reached during that time.
Website vs Social Media and Online Marketing Strategies
Your website is yours – you own it. Social media is a simply a marketing tool that can be used in support of your business goals.
That is the major difference between a website and Facebook or other social media platforms.
Although there are some pretty nifty marketing tools provided by social media, by having a website you are able to hone in on your marketing strategies, right down to the very last detail.
You get to build your own foundation
By having a website as well as an ever-growing email list, you own two of the most valuable assets needed to build a thriving business.
Ultimately, you should be sending your potential customers to your website so that they can begin the process of knowing, liking and trusting you. This is where we build relationships with our customers.
Should they not be ready to make a purchase right away, there should be the option for them to sign up to an emailing list.
Any and every person who signs up to your emailing list has given you permission to nurture them by staying in touch and adding value through the content you present.
This process will ultimately result in a higher conversion rate and, of course, a profitable business.
You can customise your marketing strategies
Relying on just one method of marketing can not only be dangerous (when will there be an outage again?) but it can also be tedious.
By using your website as a base, you can incorporate several powerful methods of marketing which will target the exact audience you are aiming at – and you’ll never miss.
However, the first step is knowing with unquestionable clarity what your goal is. With your goal in mind, you can develop your plan.
Most importantly, you want to make sure your marketing plan has substance and is resilient enough to remain unaffected by outages.
Never stop building your audience
In order for your business to grow, your audience must grow. Furthermore, your ability to actually reach your audience will largely contribute to the success of your business.
Therefore, no effort put into building an audience (and connecting with them) is ever wasted.
This can be done by providing free, accessible content which is interesting and informative. Interesting content is more likely to be shared among online users, thereby spreading your brand’s word.
Make sure you stay informed and up to date on matters relating to your industry and the interests of your audience – then provide them with the answers they are looking for.
By keeping your visitors engaged and interested, you are more likely to turn leads into paying customers.
Therefore, it’s easy to see why audience engagement should be a major part of your online marketing strategy.
4 Benefits of a Website vs Facebook and other social media platforms
- Your website works around the clock for you – Whether you are sleeping, at the gym, in a meeting or on holiday in the Bahamas, your website can be accessed by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. Meaning, there is always the potential of making a sale.
- You will be easy to find – With a well-designed, well-marketed website which is search engine optimised, you can rest assured knowing that your target audience will easily find you.
- Your business, your website – You own your website and there is no big corporation in the world who has a say in how it looks or how and when it works. This makes it an incredibly useful asset for your business.
- You can build relationships – By consistently providing useful, unique and valuable content, you build a strong, long-lasting relationship with your audience. Visitors who have started trusting you, are visitors who will keep returning, keep referring and keep purchasing.
DMSA – Website Design, Social Media Marketing, SEO
To be clear, we are not saying that social media is not useful or important. In fact, one of the digital marketing strategies we employ is comprehensive social media marketing.
However, having a website is undoubtedly more important. Having a well-devised social media presence as well as a website, ensures long-term success.
DMSA offers sophisticated website design services which are tailor-made to suite your goals and budget.
In addition, we can help you devise an intelligent marketing strategy using every possible avenue available.
If you would like to see your business at the top of Google, contact us today.
