This is a good question in this day and age when almost everybody (from primary school kids to grand parents) is hooked to facebook, twitter, bbm, whatsapp, android and iphones. Social media give businesses the opportunity to create a solid presence online through the creation of business pages on their platforms. Surprisingly, many businesses opt to make their Facebook page or their Google+ business profile their main focus. While solely using social media may seem like a good option, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t rely on it as your only online property. Here are the top reasons why you need a dedicated website for business. Are you worried about the cost? Read this What it costs to build a website.
1. You need control of your main online property.
While it may seem more convenient to create a Facebook page or Twitter profile, the fact is you don’t really own those properties. Those networks own and control everything you do. If you do anything that violates their policies, you could lose your page or profile, along with all of the content you have created and fans you have built instantly.
You also are at the mercy of the constant changes implemented by social media networks. Businesses that once used Fcommerce stores on their Facebook pages to sell their products lost revenue when Facebook changed the way that custom content was displayed on Facebook pages. Businesses that depended on the growth of the Google+ network are now seeing a stalemate in traffic thanks to Google disconnecting Google+ profiles from YouTube and other products.
If you own your own website, you are in control of its design, functionality, and content. There is little that a legit business can do to violating the rules of their web hosting company that would lead to the loss of their website. If you set up a store on your website, you don’t have to worry about your web host changing your website’s design and hiding your store from visitors. And your web host can’t do anything to stop the growth of your audience.
2. You need to capture leads.
You know all of those fans and followers you’ve built on social media? The only way you can reach them is through your social media updates. And with declining reach on networks like Facebook, your fans and followers will not receive your messages unless you pay for advertising.
The other issue with social media fans and followers is that, as mentioned previously, you do not own their contact information. If you were to lose your Facebook page tomorrow, all of your fans would be lost to your business as well.
The inability to reach your audience and maintain their contact information is why capturing leads through a contact form or your email list is crucial to all businesses. Once leads submit a contact form or subscribe to your mailing list, you have their information. You can export that information and keep it in your CRM (customer relationship management) software or simply put it in a spreadsheet. No matter what, those leads are yours. Having your own website gives you the perfect place to capture leads that you can keep indefinitely.
3. You need to dominate branded search results.
For most businesses, if the only property you own is a Facebook page, then the only place people can discover your business is through your Facebook page. That’s only one spot for your business in search results. If you are unfortunate enough to have a business name similar to another business, then someone searching for you may find them instead.
Your website will almost always outrank any other search results when someone searches for your business name. Having social profiles in addition to your website will allow you to dominate search results for your business name. But having only a Facebook page show up in search results may make the searcher feel that your business is not established, thus sending them to your competitor.
4. Convinced?
If you do not have a website for your business, then it’s time to create one. Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as you might expect. Cyberbuddies Ltd makes it simple to create and design a fully functional website that will wow your customers and allow you to publish content, capture leads, and sell products.
Send us your website specification or brief and start creating your own website today!
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