Can a Facebook for Business page replace the Small Business Website?
In short : No way, Jose.
There are many reasons business owners only have a Facebook page for their business, the main reason is... you guessed it, cost.
A Facebook Business page is FREE. A free profile is great (and more so a requirement for legitimacy) if you're needing a basic platform listing with no concern for your branding. If you aspire to advertise a very stripped down version of your services and achievements to what may be a limited number of consumers, well then you've hit the jackpot.
Please, allow us to elaborate.
Loss of Branding Control
You may upload your logo as your profile picture and create some very edgy cover art (like us ;-), but take a look around. You complete these tasks so that your branding can conform to FACEBOOK's parameters. Everything you post is within the guidelines of Facebook's branding. In the end, Facebook is the brand being recognized, yours (even ours) not so much. Want to change the colors of your post text to match your branding guidelines. Nope, sorry. Not gonna happen.Simply put, the end user views all Facebook content through a lens that's pre-branded with Facebook blue "thumbs up" slapped all over it. Ugh.
Google Rankings
Google rankings aren't "everything", but the more spots you can show up in during a Google search is certainly a good thing. Facebook listings can be located and returned in a search, but they do not carry the authority or the customization that a dedicated small business website could. See the examples below.
See the difference? If you're checking out a contractor or a lawyer, or ___(fill in the blank)___; any guesses which listing the majority of people would instinctively click on first? Yep, the company's website listing, not the listing on Facebook.
Google will more often than not, list credible website domain names above citations from listing websites (Facebook, Yelp, Alignable, Linked In, etc). As an online marketer, the main goal of a well-rounded and up-to-date Facebook page is to drive traffic TO your company's website. Think of your company's website as a 24-hour sales representative; the hub of your online branding and sales strategy. All online marketing efforts should either be pushing traffic to the website OR driving phone calls.
Google will more often than not, list credible website domain names above citations from listing websites (Facebook, Yelp, Alignable, Linked In, etc). As an online marketer, the main goal of a well-rounded and up-to-date Facebook page is to drive traffic TO your company's website. Think of your company's website as a 24-hour sales representative; the hub of your online branding and sales strategy. All online marketing efforts should either be pushing traffic to the website OR driving phone calls.
Your Target Audience
As Millenials get older, they not only embrace technology to serve in every aspect of their life - but their ditching Facebook. Facebook just isn't as cool as it was BEFORE mom and grandma were logging on to see what you were doing with your friends over the weekend... Look at these numbers:
The Verdict Is In
A free Facebook profile will never achieve the branding experience or target the largest swath of users as a dedicated website can.Contact Laura or Michael today and schedule a Website and/or a Digital Marketing appointment to receive your FREE Digital Impact Assessment (A $250 value!)
Pennington, Dean. "Facebook is rapidly losing millennials, US user base down 15 million since 2017." Techspot.com, 7 March, 2019, https://www.techspot.com/news/79082-facebook-rapidly-losing-millennials-us-user-base-down.html.