Is Facebook a Web page or a website?

Your Facebook Page VS your website?

Which is truly the better option for your business if you were to select just one?

I know a lot of small business owners that would rather forego websites altogether and opt for using their Facebook page solely in it’s place. And honestly? I can’t blame them.

Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world, proven by it’s results in the first quarter of 2018 where the platform had 2.19 billion monthly active users. It’s no wonder that businesses are considering this as their main option.

It may sound tempting, but don’t bin your website dreams just yet. Websites are great because they’re considered a hub for all that your business covers. Whether you opt for a one page site, or multiple pages, there’s no substitute for a website when it comes to showcasing your credibility to potential clients.

But what are the pros and cons of both? Which should you consider? Let’s break down your Facebook Page VS Website.

Facebook Page VS Website: The Pros of a Facebook Page

Having a Facebook Page is entirely free to set up, and only really costs you money if you want to run an advert to reach even more people.

• There are unlimited opportunities to interact with your potential customer base.

Whilst I don’t recommend constantly selling on your page, you do have the opportunity to share posts immediately with the people who count and build up brand loyalty.

You can ask opinions, talk to your customers, and make people more aware of your brand.

• Take advantage of the websites built in base of customers.

After sharing your page to your family and friends, you can run an advert, or encourage family members to share your page further.

The platform has an enormous amount of users, so why not take advantage of that?

• You can easily share content or updates with your followers.

Want to share an update about your company? Share it to your page.

Want to ask your customers opinions on your brand? Share it to your page.

Want to advertise a new product? Share it to your page!

Facebook Page VS Website: The Cons of a Facebook Page

• You’re on a third party website, where you lack complete control.

As Facebook is not your own website (that honour goes to Mark Zuckerberg), you do not get the chance to set out the policies, and will have to run by their rules. Even the design of your own page is limited to the options Facebook gives you.

• Everyone gets to see how many fans you do…or don’t have compared to your competitor.

Unlike your website where your statistics are hidden (unless you have a website counter openly displayed), those who visit your Facebook page will be able to see just how many likes your page has.

• Fans may grow tired of your content.

If you are constantly posting about your product, and giving your fans no opportunity to learn anything, or generally engage with you because your content is, well, boring, due to Facebooks algorithm your posts will likely decrease in visibility, and eventually might not even appear in the newsfeed.

That’s why good content that engages your base is always key!

• Competition is fierce.

In 2017 there was an incredible 65 million local business pages. That’s insane.

What that means, is you will be fighting for space in the newsfeed, so as mentioned before, create good content to get noticed!

Facebook Page VS Website: The Pros of a Website

With a Facebook page your business is at the mercy of the platform. Whereas when creating your own website, it’s entirely under your control.

• You can design your website to fit around your companies branding.

Don’t want your cover image or profile picture to be the only things representing your branding online? You can choose what elements of your brand you want to include, and have full creative control over it.

• You’re the only one who can see your websites statistics.

Your website statistics are hidden, meaning any users who come across your website will not have any idea over how popular it is, and how many visits it gets.

• You have Google search on your side.

If you optimise your website for the Googles search engine, you can learn to rank your website for the keywords you want, when you want.

Want direct visits to your website? You can optimise it for just that, but you will have to work at it and create (once again) GOOD CONTENT.

Facebook Page VS Website: The Cons of a Website

• It’s difficult to continuously maintain.

Unlike Facebook where you can add a quick post on the go to show your customers what you’re doing, or quickly advertise a new product, your website requires a lot more.

It may be that you need to create a new blog to show an event you’ve attended, or add an new shop item to your store.

It takes time, that sometimes we just don’t have.

• Websites are not free to create.

Do you want a specialised domain name? That’ll cost you.

Website hosting? It’ll also cost you.

Any extra features may also cost you money.

Social media is free, but your own website will cost you money, and if you want someone to design it for you you’ll need to pay them.

• You have to work for that traffic.

It’s not as simple as putting up a blog post and immediately getting traffic. You’ll have to consider where that traffic will come from, and the best places to share it.

Plus ranking in Google’s search engine does take time, so don’t be discouraged if you’re not immediately #1 for a specific keyword or search term. If people are continuously engaging and reading your content, Google will take notice.

• It can be…complicated to use.

The first time you open up your websites dashboard, you can get overwhelmed by all of the various terms, sections, and plugins, trust me…I’ve been there too!

It can be a little complicated to use at first, but once you get your head around everything by navigating around your site, watching YouTube tutorials, and testing everything out, just to see how it works, you’ll soon find yourself getting the hang of it.

To read the conclusion to this blog, click here to read the rest.

Is Facebook considered a website?

What kind of website is Facebook?

What is a web page VS website?