With all the hype about social media these days, many businesses are neglecting their websites and focusing their marketing efforts solely on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Some new businesses don’t even have websites. These business owners are counting on the popularity of social media to carry their message(s) to their customers. And, let’s face it, they think, social media is “free” and websites aren’t — so why not ditch the website in favor of a Facebook page?
That kind of thinking is wrong. Social media is not “free” — it takes a lot of time to maintain Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, and time is money, especially for a small business owner.
Here’s the best reason to have a website: it’s the best way to reach your customers.
Think about this: what about your customers who aren’t on Facebook and Twitter? How do you reach them? What about the fact that Facebook’s advertisers are placing ads — perhaps competitor’s ads — on your page? What about the fact that you, the business owner, don’t own the information on your Facebook page? (Surprise! Facebook owns that data.)
If these facts don’t give you reason to reconsider your “I don’t need a website” thinking, consider this:
“Search engines, which are still the most popular way by far to find information online, use website and blog traffic to determine your ranking.” — Ramon Ray, Open Forum Blog
Here’s the truth:
You should be using social media to augment, not replace, your website content.
I could go on and on, but I don’t need to as Ramon Ray has already written a great post about this on American Express’ Open Forum blog:
30 Reasons Why Old Fashioned Websites and Email Marketing are Best for Growing Businesses
Read it. You’ll be glad you did.
About Regina Fried