It’s a trend I’m seeing and hearing more and more often, and it drives me crazy.
“We don’t need a website, we’ve got Facebook”…
It’s 2020? I didn’t realise having websites were still seen as an expensive, ongoing cost that wasn’t worth the time or investment anymore like it was c. 1999 and you were paying AOL £9.99 for your 1MB hosting space on an otherwise empty internet. C’mon guys, if you don’t have a website, you’re not even trying.
I can’t think of a more blinkered view of a businesses own customers that that. “Nahhh F what my potential customers want, I’m right”. It’s a classic SME owner trope. Of course, you know best… 🙄
And true, the likes of Facebook have made it part of their core functionality to display opening times, even dedicated menu call to action buttons, parking availability and everything else (in this case a restaurant) needs. This is all free, and very tempting. Fill it out and jobs a good ‘un, right?
It’s the view that all of those is a tangible replacement for a website is insane. I mean, yes, they’re both online presences, but so, so far away from each other that they’re almost polar opposite.
Like 38% of the UK population [source], I don’t have a personal Facebook profile. And so when I hear about the latest new restaurant on the scene, I dive into Google to check out the menu, opening times and location. And the frustration of seeing this:
”We don’t need a website”…yeah, OK. Where do I go for more info? Your Twitter page that you haven’t even pinned a menu to? Tripadvisor? LOL. Sale, lost. Customer, frustrated. In some industries, you’ve got one chance.
In this instance Google has put the pieces together and given us the “website” button, but you have no control of that without getting into the SEO and branding joint venture that is your meta title and description (and favicon for that matter). Who even clicks the “website” button in the Google My Business listing? It’s typically my last resort. And Google doesn’t (easily) reveal that overall CTR data, of course.
The example above actually has a website, over on wix and it doesn’t reflect the quality of the business at all. This is a biz that operates at four sites and is by all accounts doing very well. But look at the website and you’d think it was a one man band struggling to get by. It’s all about control of what is being said about your brand.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s something I see reflected in the wider marketing world. Especially dinosaurs who still think the brochure or snore-inducing press release is the way forward.
“Why should I keep up writing on a blog when I have an Instagram following?” I’ve literally had this comment from restaurant owners in Newcastle re: their own marketing strategy/lack of strategy, I’m not so sure if it’s a “big dick look at me, no website and my restaurant is busy anyway“ move or just plain naivety.
In the uncertain world of social media algorithms, rapidly moving bandwagons (TikTok, anyone?), Google core updates, and increasing pay-per-click costs, your website is one of the few, eternally customisable and always-yours spaces online. Oh you’ve got 10,000 likes on your Facebook page? Here’s some reasons of the top of my head why that’s not a long-term view of what your customer wants:
- Organic reach died a death a long time ago. If you want to access those, Facebook “likes” of yours, please open your DirectDebit with The Zuckerberg.
- When Facebook fades away into obscurity, you own absolutely none of those 10,000 like you would with even a simple email marketing list.
- Let’s say Facebook decides to ban your account “because it can”. You own nothing, and Facebook owes you the same.
- Your Facebook channel is largely in isolation. With your website, there is no limit as to how you can serve your customers. Want a mobile app pushing data both ways, or a CarPlay app, or a remarketing list for Google display? Good luck with that.
- Your time invested in social media is great, but the time invested in your website content is eternal. It’s not a disposable Insta story, or a tweet with a lifespan of seven minutes. A blog, for example, is there whenever a customer searches ‘YOUR NAME scandal’, or ‘YOUR NAME news’. If you’re really good, it could be there when a customer looks for ‘your USP’ be that ‘indian food newcastle’, or ‘specialty tea for mothers day’.
So if you’re a fledgling business with not enough time or resource, or a bigger fish that thinks they know better.
Your business needs a website. A quality one.
It’s 2020, your grandma has probably got a website for her knitting club, and you won’t respect your business enough to properly represent it with a stunning, accurate, beautiful shop window that converts? Did you last price one up at £15,000 by some shit creative agency? You can probably get online for less than £10 a year these days. This is a free website, for example…
If you’re still of the belief that this will cost too much time or resource, let’s chat and I’ll change your mind.