/ Website vs social
Website vs Facebook page — which do I actually need?
The honest comparison for small businesses: when a Facebook page is enough, when you need a website, and why most businesses need both.
/ 01
The short version
If you're spending £0 on a Facebook page vs £2,000+ on a website, the maths looks obvious. It isn't. Here's what each actually does, what each can't do, and how to decide.
/ 02
What a Facebook page is good at
Facebook is genuinely great for: local awareness, community building, event promotion, casual customer chat, quick photo updates and low-friction messaging. If your customers are 45+ and hyper-local (café, salon, tradesperson) it can carry a huge amount of your marketing.
- • Free to set up and maintain
- • Built-in audience already scrolling
- • Messenger inbox works well as customer service
- • Reviews live inside the platform
/ 03
What a Facebook page can't do
Everything below is either impossible on Facebook or so watered-down it's not worth counting.
- • Rank on Google — Facebook pages almost never appear for '[service] in [town]' searches.
- • Sell products at scale — Facebook Shops are clunky and take a cut.
- • Look credible on a printed business card or van — 'facebook.com/mybiz' whispers hobby, not business.
- • Survive if Facebook bans you or you lose access (this happens weekly to small businesses).
- • Own your customer data — Meta owns it and can restrict your reach anytime.
- • Support proper booking systems, quote calculators, portals or integrations.
/ 04
The honest decision matrix
Facebook only: fine if you're pre-revenue, testing an idea, or hyper-local with a customer base that's already on Facebook and buys via DM.
Website only: fine if you're B2B or a specialist service where your buyers Google, don't scroll Facebook.
Both: everyone else. A £1,500 starter site + your existing Facebook page beats either one alone by miles.
/ 05
Want a human to look at yours?
We're a small Colchester studio. Send us your URL and we'll tell you honestly what's wrong, what to fix first, and whether it's worth paying anyone to do it. No sales call gauntlet, no 30-slide deck.
If the fix is small, we'll tell you how to do it yourself. If it's bigger, we'll quote it plainly.
/ FAQs
Common questions
Isn't Instagram enough instead?
Same limitations as Facebook — you don't own it, you can't rank on Google from it, and you're renting an audience from Meta.
What about a Linktree?
A stopgap, not a website. It solves 'one link in bio' but doesn't rank, doesn't build trust, and doesn't scale.
Can I start with Facebook and add a website later?
Yes — and most successful small businesses do exactly that. When your Facebook enquiries hit 5+/week, that's the signal to invest in a proper site.
Not sure which one is you?
Send us your URL. We'll tell you honestly which of these applies and what to fix first — no sales pitch.
Get a free look →