Is it time to look at the question, does my business need a website or facebook page or both? Can we do away with the traditional website and only be on facebook? There are actually a small number of businesses that have not bothered with a website have only a facebook presence. One young business owner I know of, that deals in Chinese takeaway food, insists that it’s target market does not bother searching on the internet, but uses facebook as a search engine. Their market is very much continuously on the go and uses facebook via their mobiles.
The detail that they would show in a website can be easily replicated in facebook. Maps, address, phone number, description of the business, opening hours, current specials, it’s all there and further tabs or pages can be added via 3rd party applications. You can also add a page to gather email addresses or phone numbers to add to your customer data base. Have you noticed these business fan pages with the extra tabs? If not, find some to see how they differ. For other businesses now there are even e-commerce shops on facebook. Tabs with business information, coupons and products including detailed descriptions and payment options which can be processed right inside facebook. So website or facebook page or both?
Website or Facebook Page or both
A study of small businesses and social media by Network Solutions showed that small businesses that use social media were rather optimistic about seeing a pay-off with social activity. In its “State of Small Business Report,” Network Solutions report that nine percent of small businesses plan to eliminate their traditional website due to social media.
Granted, nine percent is not a staggering number, but when you consider that the United States alone is home to more than 27 million small businesses, it’s apparent that some do see value in using Facebook as a primary Web presence.
Why Facebook Is an Alternative to Traditional Websites
As with most free online services-such Gmail or WordPress-Facebook is attractive to small business owners because it’s quick, easy and free. Since coding and HTML skills are not required, you can create a decent Facebook Page for your business in minutes without needing IT staff or tech support to get it done.
Proponents of Web marketing and commerce services like would like you to believe that all small businesses need a website, but in truth not all do. Take a local family-run landscaping business, for example. Having a website isn’t likely to bring herds of new customers, so this kind of business could use Facebook to build a local online community of fans and use important demographic information.
According to Facebook, there is really no “typical” small business on the social networking site. In an email with CIO.com, a Facebook spokeswoman said, “We’ve seen all types of small businesses use Facebook, such as restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, online cosmetics retailers, sports equipment and music stores.”
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Facebook is free for businesses at present, so this can be a factor in whether a business will choose a website or Facebook page or both. However, to set up a e-commerce site within facebook may mean calling in the professionals, which means costs.
There are many courses available on the use of facebook including adding fan pages, so if you are a DIYer check some out.
Here is an affiliate link to a The Social Network Academy which has a free option to set up facebook pages and some free tutorials so that you can get a feel for what they can offer your small business.
Wow, I find this surprising. It seems silly to ditch a business website, which is OWNED BY YOU, in favor of ONLY being on Facebook – where you have absolutely no control of what FB might change tomorrow. And they sure do change things all the time, eh?
I would argue that building your OWN web presence is invaluable – and if you’ve had a site up, don’t take it down!! Age just gives it more authority. You don’t want to have to start from scratch if FB makes that necessary – and scramble for a domain name, which are getting in ever-shorter supply (.com anyway).
Excellent points Louise. We know that you can set up your own website on next to nothing (cost wise) with a massive committment to time. Some are unable to do that, therefore it can get very expensive. But, I’m still with you Control is very important