Your company needs a website
It is a fact that 1.4 billion people use Facebook as a social network and millions use it as a business network because it is much easier and more intuitive than a website. And above all Facebook is free, and Mozambicans love free stuff! Whereas there is a cost involved if you hire an agency, a freelancer or an employee to build and maintain a business website. The reality is, maintaining a website requires time and money, factors that small business owners don't necessarily consider investing in. However, just as you pay rent, electricity, water and gas to keep your business running, you should seriously consider having a website for your business because having your business on Facebook has its advantages and disadvantages.
1. Built-in Limitations
Facebook allows you to customize your cover photo, profile picture, you can choose what to upload to photo albums and other media, and choose the content you-d like to share; and there abouts is the limit of branding and customization you can do on your business page. Color customization is extremely limited, you're stuck with the same layout, same font, and in the end your page looks very similar to other Facebook page. So on Facebook, a kindergarten page practically has the same branding as a lawyers and associates page, and a gym page is indistinguishable from that of a bar. That is terrible branding. Branding includes, and is not limited to, your logo, marketing, identity, design, values and trust. Each business should have its own distinct branding and even within the same industry and speciality, kindergarten A has to have a different branding from kindergarten B, by the same logic gym A should be distinguishable from gym B, and so on.
Beyond that, your content, including offers, promotions and updates, must follow the guidelines set by Facebook. Any content you post on Facebook may be used by Facebook for its own purposes, so you lose your unique selling proposition.
Hackers can also hack an account or your business could be banned because a “hater” or a group of “haters” reports abuse by your business page to Facebook. “But there is nothing abusive or illegal about my business!” you may exclaim. It doesn't matter, if the “haters” want you to fail, Facebook will not waste time to do a thorough investigation, your page will be banned immediately, and it will be very difficult for you to recover it. Your business will come to a standstill. Remember the Facebook/Instagram blackout in October 2021? Business pages that relied solely on Facebook/Instagram were down for 6 hours. It could happen again, especially now that parent company Meta (formerly known as Facebook) is restructuring.
There is no reason for your business to be so reliant on social media. On the other hand, if you have a website and a hacker causes your site to crash, you can quickly recover it from the backup saved on the server.
2. The illusion of traffic volume
With 1.4 billion monthly active users, Facebook gives small businesses what they need most: access to a growing customer base. This might seem like a no-brainer, create a business page on Facebook because that's where a lot of people are. But it is not that simple, it's important to remember that millions of people using Facebook doesn't mean millions of people see your page and your updates. Nor that everyone in your group of 100 members sees your updates. You need to understand how Facebook works.
Your business page is lost in a sea of hundreds of contacts and dozens of other business pages that any user is following. Facebook's algorithm, and also Instagram's, only shows content depending on how it deems attractive to the user. On average, only 10% of followers see your updates; these followers are the ones who are most involved with the page by putting likes, writing comments and sharing your content. People also avoid pages with few likes and followers, because they convey less confidence and credibility. If your business is just starting out on social media, it will be an uphill battle to gain trust and a following. A website doesn't have to show likes or followers, as long as it looks aesthetically well designed, it gains trust at least by first impression.
Also, most people go on Facebook to interact with friends and family, not to see updates from the dry cleaner, restaurant, rental car company, or event company they once used for their wedding! So even if they are momentarily on your company page, people will quickly see the red notification saying that their love interest just commented on the last photo they posted, or engage with that friend who is at work but spends most of their time on Facebook Messenger. On Facebook and Instagram there are so many scenarios that can take attention away from your business page. The distractions are endless!
A website, on the other hand, manages to have a clearer objective and a simpler way to get there. The user could be there to read a blog on a blog page, or schedule an appointment, start a free trial of a service, schedule a free consultation, enter their email to join an e-newsletter, and so on. In this regard, Facebook, Instagram and similar social media are limited. An email list, for example, is a direct line of communication between business and customer or business to business. The content is more likely to be seen and engaged with than if it were just one of the many posts coming from businesses and influencers on social media. For example, imagine you run a gym, it has a website with one goal: to get new people to sign up for your email list. Once they join the list, they are emailed an action plan, for example a 5-step written plan or video series to lose weight, emailed once a week for 5 weeks. And after that, if the user is satisfied, he will feel motivated to join your gym. Thanks to your website, you have acquired new customers and they are satisfied, it's a win-win. It's very difficult to do this only through Facebook or other social networks when your company is competing for the attention of the various updates coming from influencers and companies.
3. Search engine optimization
Arguably the most important factor is search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google rely on websites. It is mainly small businesses that benefit by creating an account on Google My Business (google.com/business), entering their business details and website address. Google My Business assigns a business profile to a business. So, if your business for example is a restaurant, people who have never been to your restaurant, such as tourists, can Google "restaurants near me" and your restaurant will appear in the search results and directions via Google Maps will take them to you. Your business will also be able to set up frequently asked questions (FAQs), get star ratings and reviews from past guests. In addition, the user has the option to record their location in the browser, and view opening hours in real time.
If a person doesn't know the name of your business that only has a Facebook page, they will likely never find you on Facebook. And while your Facebook page may appear with a Google search, Facebook pages are not search engine optimised, so the chances are it will not show on the first page of the search. And therefore your business will not grow.
4. Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, Facebook is free. That means less operating costs for your business.
If your business wants to create an event with attendees, one of the best things you can do is create a Facebook event page. It serves as a countdown and you will keep track of every new attendant. This is the “social” of social media. The logic is if, so-and-so X or company Y is going to participate, me or my company should also participate. This psychological trick doesn't work as effectively by just putting the event on one website.
And there is a workaround to increase traffic on Facebook and Instagram, using ads, which serve as a magnet to the target group, which includes people who are not yet your followers. But like anything worth investing in, ads are bought, there is no such thing as a free meal, even on Facebook and Instagram. If you are willing to pay, your business will benefit tremendously on social media.
Also, as Facebook is a huge company with billions of people using its platform, you can expect software updates and mobile optimization via the Facebook app. Having a big company handle the mobile optimization of your digital marketing is a huge relief. We are constantly connected to our phones, having an app is more convenient than using the browser, typing in the website address and waiting for the connection is a challenge if your internet is slow. Therefore, for instant access, social networks are more advantageous.
From this reading, it seems that my argument is more in favor of a website than a Facebook page. No, I'm just pointing out the many disadvantages that a Facebook page has over a website, to come to the conclusion that: it doesn't have to be one or the other.
The best approach is the hub/spoke model. Imagine a wheel, the hub (center) is your website, and then the spores (arms) that are social media. Together they make your wheel spin. Social media serves to promote content on the website and drive traffic there. The site is the home base. This is an approach taken by the most successful companies in the world and in this country. And even if you don't intend to be the biggest company in Mozambique, your business will undoubtedly grow if you invest in creating an interdependence between your website and social media.
