Do you need a website if you have a Facebook page
It depends on who your next customer is. If every customer already follows your page, the page can carry you for now. If you want new customers who have never heard of you, you also need a place you control.
A page and a website do different jobs. You can use either one or both.
What a Facebook page does well
A page suits the people who already know you. It keeps you in touch with them between jobs. If your customers find you through friends and neighbors, a page may be all you need today. These are the jobs it does well.
- Post a change in your hours from your phone.
- Tell people when you close for a holiday.
- Share photos of finished work.
- Answer messages from people who already follow you.
What only your own website does
A website is yours. That gives you six things.
- You choose the web address.
- You choose the layout.
- You decide what goes at the top of the page, so a new customer sees your best work first.
- A visitor needs no account to open it.
- You can print one address on your van, your cards and your invoices.
- You can list your services, your prices and your service area in one place.
What a website costs you
A website costs money to build and time to keep up. Someone must update your hours and your photos. A new website also starts with no visitors, so you must point people to it.
If nobody can do that work for you, a page you update yourself may be the better choice today. Plan for the work after launch too. Before you agree to anything, ask these four things.
- Ask who updates the site and what it costs each year.
- Ask for the price in writing.
- Ask whether you can change your hours yourself.
- Ask who owns the web address and whether it is in your name.
A simple rule to decide
Think about your next customer. If that person already knows you, a page is enough. If that person has never heard of you, give them a website.
To find out which kind you get, write down how your last ten customers first heard of you. Count the ones who found you without your page.
If the count is zero, a page may be enough for now. If it is one or more, a website can give those customers a first look that you control. Either answer is fine. You can add a website later.
If you use both
Use the page for news and messages. Use the website for the first look. Put your website address on your page. Put a link to your page on your website.
Keep these four things the same in both places. Two sets of hours confuse a customer. Open both on your phone once a month and look for old details.
- Spell your business name the same way.
- Use the same address.
- Show the same hours.
- Show the same phone number.
What a first website needs
Start with a home page and a contact page. Add more pages later. Put these six things on the first two.
- Say what you do in plain words.
- Say where you are and which area you serve.
- List your hours.
- Show a phone number that dials with one tap.
- Add photos of your finished work.
- Add one way to ask for a quote or book a visit.