I’ve heard this many times lately, ” I don’t need a website I have a facebook page ” and while this is commendable because facebook is still for now a valuable tool , I can’t say it enough how much of a mistake this is, using only facebook is not only bad its actually detrimental to your business and this is why: ( for the sake of this blog post I’ll use my favorite sushi restaurant as an example )

1. Not Everyone Can See You Because Not Everyone Is On Facebook

Sounds really simple doesn’t it ? Of course there are millions of people on facebook but there are even more millions that are not ! Many could be on other social networks or just simply have an account that they go to occasionally and therefore are not active users even though they liked your page you could post all you want you are not reaching them, and so this would make facebook useful only for the active members who liked your page, which brings me to my next point …

2. Limited Search Visibility

What about the large segment of people who are looking for you on a search engine like google. How are they gonna find you unless they know the name of your facebook page ? Which do you think is easier https://www.facebook.com/pages/kazumi/429122493795521 ? or www.kazumisushilounge.ca ? Because you can’t optimize a facebook with keywords meaning that google can’t search for keywords like “sushi” “restaurant” “Montreal east” you will never be found by someone who’s looking for a place to eat in Montreal east. Even if by luck someone would find your facebook page they would have to log-in which brings me to my first point that not everyone is on facebook nor does everyone want to be. There are countless reasons why having a only a facebook page is bad but if losing potential customers because your ONLY on facebook isn’t one of them, then I don’t know what is?

3. Facebook Isn’t Designed To Provide Information In A Coherent Way

If you’ve ever been on facebook you’ll know that there are a million distractions like notifications, advertising from competitors, game invitations, long lost friends, ex girlfriends etc. It’s very hard to get or display all the information you want simply because you don’t own facebook. You don’t control the layout, the color scheme, the dimensions of things like pictures, video or even text because it’s simply not your website. Take a look at the example below and see how much more effective your own website is compared to the mess that is a facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Limited Effect

So if you have no control of your facebook page how can you control the user experience ? What if you have a restaurant that has a particular style and decor, good luck with making a first impression if blue and white doesn’t work for you ? What if you get a bunch of grumpy users who happen to post bad reviews about the service at your restaurant and other potential clients see it and make a judgement call on a something you can’t control. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression and when you own your website, you can set the mood by displaying beautiful full screen photography of your food, you can design it elegantly and simple to navigate free of distractions like candy crush invitations and cute cat videos…

5. You May Be Perceived As Unprofessional

Your website is your online version of your business and in today’s world people judge you by your website, it is their reference point of your business and when you don’t have a website or only a facebook page people see that as unprofessional… It’s as simple as that

I could give 5 more reasons why having only a facebook page is bad and I might just append this article with 5 more and make it a regular subject of discussion but i’ll leave it at these 5 for now !

Author : Robert Santos