Is a Facebook page a good alternative to a dedicated website?

Last weekend while doing the weekly grocery shop at my local shopping centre, I walked passed the entrances of several small businesses and noticed that a Facebook sign was displayed in their window, indicating that they had a Facebook business page.

I quickly searched to see if they had a website and I was surprised when a fairly large number didn’t. This experience adds further weight to my conclusion that at a large percentage of small businesses solely rely on Facebook page to create their online presence.

I can understand why businesses take this path. After all, it is free to create a page. However, at the end of the day, Facebook is a business and this means that they employ strategies to encourage page owners to spend money. Meanwhile, business mentors and experts will advise you that you need to spend money on Facebook advertising in order to yield some real results.

There are several other reasons why I believe small business owners should not rely solely on a Facebook page to advertise their business. One is that a Facebook page will never provide the brand exposure a business should have; it is very difficult to distinguish your business from others on Facebook with just your business logo and details, a few photos and posts.

Also, as a business owner, you want to be in full control of how you build your online presence. With a dedicated website, you have this autonomy; you can present your brand in the way you like. You can also apply SEO, which is imperative for business. Facebook pages are still searchable, but they simply cannot compete with SEO on a dedicated website.

A dedicated website must be the main strategy for building an online presence for a business, and a Facebook page, its complement. At Edu Net Solutions we specialise in developing cost-effective dedicated websites for small businesses. Give us a call today to start the conversation about how we can help build your online presence.