Do I Need a Website If I Have Social Media? An Honest Answer

On this page

1. Do I need a website if I have social media?
2. You don’t own your social media accounts
3. People search Google, not just social media
4. A website makes you look established
5. Your Google Business Profile works better with a website
6. Running ads? A website gives you more options
7. Social media and a website work best together
8. When social media alone can be fine to start
9. What a simple first website should include
10. Frequently asked questions

If your Instagram is busy and your Facebook page brings in messages, it’s fair to ask: do I need a website as well? Plenty of small businesses start out on social media alone, and some do very well from it. But relying on social media alone comes with risks that many owners don’t think about until something goes wrong.

Here’s our honest answer, including the situations where social media on its own is perfectly fine for now.

Do I need a website if I have social media?

For most businesses that want to grow, yes. Not because social media doesn’t work, but because a website does things social platforms can’t: it’s yours, it can be found on Google by people who’ve never heard of you, and it gives customers a place to check you out properly before they get in touch.

Think of it this way. Social media is great for staying in front of people who already follow you. A website is how new customers find you, check you’re legitimate and decide to get in touch.

You don’t own your social media accounts

When you build your business on Instagram or Facebook, you’re building on someone else’s land. The platform sets the rules, and it can change them at any time.

• Algorithms change. The number of followers who see your posts can drop without warning when a platform changes what it shows people.
• Accounts get hacked, restricted or disabled, sometimes by mistake. Getting one back can be slow, and in the meantime customers can’t find you.
• You don’t get your followers’ details. If you lose the account, you lose your audience with it.

A website on your own domain is different. You control it, you decide what goes on it, and with consent you can collect email addresses so you can stay in touch with customers whatever happens on social media.

People search Google, not just social media

When someone needs a plumber in Accrington or a hairdresser in Chorley, many of them type it into Google. Social profiles do sometimes appear in search results, but they tend to show up when someone is already searching for your business by name, rather than for searches like “boiler repair near me”.

A website lets you create a page for each service you offer and each area you cover, written around how your customers search. That’s how businesses get found by people who didn’t know they existed. Our guide on how to rank higher on Google explains how it works.

A website makes you look established

Before people hand over money, many will look you up to check you’re legitimate. A clear, professional website with your services, real photos, reviews and contact details answers their questions in one place. Asking a new customer to scroll back through months of Instagram posts to find your prices or opening hours is a lot to ask.

It also gives you a professional email address on your own domain, which looks more established on quotes and invoices than a free webmail address.

Your Google Business Profile works better with a website

Your Google Business Profile, the listing that appears on Google Maps and in local search results, has space for a website link. That link gives people who find you on Maps somewhere to learn more before they call or visit.

A café in Clitheroe, for example, might get found on Maps by someone visiting for the day. If that person can tap through to a page with the menu, opening times and directions, they’ve got everything they need to decide. If there’s nothing to tap through to, some will simply pick somewhere else.

Running ads? A website gives you more options

You can run Facebook and Instagram ads without a website, using lead forms or ads that start a message conversation. But a website opens up much more. You can send people to a page built around one offer, and install the Meta Pixel to measure what people do after they click and to show ads to people who’ve visited your site.

Most Google Ads campaigns also send people to a page on your website, so you’ll need one if you want to advertise on Google search. Read our guide to Meta ads for small businesses for more on getting started.

Social media and a website work best together

This isn’t a choice between one or the other. The businesses we see doing best use both:

• Social media builds familiarity, shows your personality and keeps you in front of existing followers.
• Your website turns that interest into enquiries, bookings or sales, and brings in new people from Google.

Link to your website from your social bios and posts, and link to your social accounts from your website. Each one makes the other more useful.

When social media alone can be fine to start

There are times when we’d honestly say a website can wait:

• you’re testing an idea or a side business and want to see if there’s demand first,
• nearly all your customers come from word of mouth and you’re already fully booked,
• your work is very visual and your customers are mostly local followers, and you’re happy with the risk of relying on one platform.

Even then, it’s worth securing your business name as a domain early, so it’s there when you need it.

What a simple first website should include

If you’re ready to add a website, it doesn’t need to be huge to be useful. Start with:

• a clear headline saying what you do and where,
• a page or section for each main service,
• real photos and genuine reviews,
• your contact details, with a tap-to-call number and a simple form,
• links to your social media and your Google Business Profile.

If you’re weighing up how to build it, our comparison of a bespoke website vs a template covers the pros and cons of each. Wherever you’re based in the UK, our web design service can help you plan a site that works alongside your social media rather than replacing it.

Frequently asked questions