Practical advice

Do I need a website if I already have Facebook?

Facebook can help people get to know your business. A simple website gives them a clear place to check your services and take the next step.

If Facebook is bringing you enquiries, keep using it. A website can work alongside it, giving people a clear place to understand what you offer and decide whether to get in touch. Whether you need one now depends on your customers, your budget and what your Facebook page isn’t handling well.

Keep what works on Facebook

Facebook can be useful for sharing recent work, posting updates and answering questions. If your customers already spend time there, that familiarity matters. You don’t need to abandon a channel that’s helping your business.

There are limits to what you control. Meta describes how its ranking systems select and order the content people see. Publishing a post doesn’t mean every follower will see it. That makes it sensible to give customers another reliable way to find your main business information.

Meta’s explanation of content ranking ↗

Give important information a clear home

On your website, you can choose where the essentials sit and keep them easy to find. A visitor shouldn’t need to scroll through months of posts to work out whether you offer the service they need.

A useful starting point is:

• What you do, who you help and which areas you serve.

• Clear service information, with pricing or an explanation of how quotes work where appropriate.

• Real examples of your work and customer feedback you have permission to use.

• A straightforward way to call, email, enquire or book.

A public website also gives people somewhere to read about you without signing into Facebook. Test it on a phone: can someone read the text, find the right service and contact you without struggling? Start with the information customers ask for most often.

Understand what you control

With a domain registered to your business and the right access to your website, you can have more control over the address, layout and content customers use. Ask who controls the domain account, who can edit the site and what happens if you change suppliers.

That control comes with responsibilities. Your domain needs renewing. Hosting, maintenance and any booking or email tools may have ongoing costs. You still depend on providers and their terms. Ask what you can export or move, and keep copies of your text and images.

Someone also needs to keep contact details current, test forms and look after security and backups. If you collect enquiries or use tracking tools, include privacy and cookie requirements in the setup discussion. Agree who handles these jobs before the site goes live.

Let the two work together

Use Facebook for updates and conversations, then link relevant posts to the service or information page that answers the next question. Keep the details consistent across both places. Review your Page’s action button too, choosing the available option that best fits how customers should contact or book with you.

Meta’s action button guidance ↗

A website creates another way for people to find and assess your business, but launching it doesn’t guarantee Google visibility or new enquiries. Google explicitly says website indexing isn’t guaranteed.

Google’s technical requirements ↗

Decide what would help your customers

If you keep answering the same questions, need to explain several services or want one address to put on your signs and business cards, a simple website may be worthwhile. If Facebook currently meets your needs and money is tight, there’s no need to rush into a large site.

Talk to OctoWeb about how customers find you and what you’d like to make easier. We can discuss whether a website makes sense and what it needs to do.