Category Archives: Blog Posts

Website vs Facebook

I was talking with a perspective client recently about setting up a website.

When I asked if he currently had a site he said yes, I have a page on Facebook.

He said, why should I pay for something that is free and seen by hundreds of my friends.
As it turns out he spends quite a bit of time advertising on Craig’s list and posting on Facebook hoping to bring in some business.

I suppose some hobby type businesses might do well with a FB page or free ads on Craig’s list or even the bulletin board at the building where people buy water out on RT 12 but real businesses tend to maintain a proper website, hopefully with a domain name that is easy to remember.

So what is so wrong with FB?
For starters unless you are offering something really unique or of interest to many people the posts are going to be liked by a few and shared by fewer.

Secondly not everyone in the group of friends will see your posts. As a matter of fact think about that little button that allows users to ignore friends posts.
Remember that Facebook friends may be scattered across the country or around the world, not good prospective for local business.

Facebook has the option to drop or block your posts if they deem them in violation of FB policy.

And forget about eCommerce.

While there are plenty of “free” places where businesses can set up a site many folks don’t have the time or expertise to build a good one. And by good think about quality photos and graphics balanced with descriptive text and simple navigation.

A truly unique site that will be found in searches and produce leads or sales needs to be adaptable and that is a trait that FB lacks.

In the days before the internet, businesses needed to rely on yellow pages or Thomas Register or catalogs, all of which were annual publications. Once an ad was bought the customer was obligated to pay the advertising fee every month.
And good ads were not cheap.
The reach of the phone book was usually fairly modest, only reaching the immediate area.

Fast forward to present time and some nearsighted businesses are intent on using “free” advertising that is substandard and usually chock full of other advertisements. But for the money saved these businesses are missing the boat when it comes to new customers and full website content control.

If your site is your own you can be sure there will be no second party ads to distract your potential customers.

There is nothing to prevent site owners from utilizing FB and other social media in tandem with a web site and many business do this with mixed results. Keeping track of many social sites and frequent posts takes more time than most businesses are willing to spend.

While it is important to keep website content fresh and informative the site will remain available 24/7 unlike social media and free ads which all rely on frequent postings and updates.

In the final analysis it’s up to the business owner; to use social media or a website to promote the business.
Stop and think which business you would trust.