In an ideal world, you could invest as much time and resources as you’d like in your business website and social media profiles pages. So, Business Website vs Social Media Profile Page: Which is Right for You?
But since these resources are limited, businesses often have to prioritise one over the other for an effective marketing campaign. So is a Business Website or a Social Media Page right for your business?
Business Website vs Social Media Profile Page: Which is Right for You?
That choice will completely depend on your marketing goals:
Social engagement
Some businesses see their brand awareness as a function of their social engagement. This is often the case for start-ups and businesses that mostly market to Millennials.
It’s easy to see why Facebook and Twitter are superior in regard to social engagement. These platforms are perfect for interacting with followers and sharing content. In this respect, your website is only relevant when it promotes your social media profiles.
Winner: Social media profile page
Brand reputation
Your brand reputation plays a role in just about every aspect of your marketing campaign. It’s constantly changing and evolving with your marketing efforts.
Managing your brand on social media is risky. There’s always the possibility that you’ll receive negative reviews for all your followers to see. At this point, the best you can do is control the situation.
On your business website, however, you have total control of your brand. You can decide everything from the colour layout to the evergreen content. According to this Small Business Trends article, businesses websites are optimal for managing your brand and building credibility:
“If you want full control over your brand, then creating a company website is a better option. It’s yours – you own it. You decide what it looks like, and what goes on it. And of course, there’s no substitute for a website when it comes to credibility. Remember, a website can be as simple as a one-page flyer for your business, or as sophisticated as a multimedia marketing and sales hub.”
There are a lot of unknowns with respect to social media, and almost none in relation to your business website.
Winner: Business website
Search engine optimisation
Lead generation and search engine optimisation go hand-in-hand. The latter mostly depends on your website content and design.
A recent AllBusiness.com article explains the relationship between content and search engine optimisation. It lists a few different types of content that factor into your site ranking:
“Content is anything that you post on your blog, website, or social media news feeds. This includes blog posts, status updates, tweets, videos and gifs, shared posts, re tweets, and more. Your content should, for the most part, be relevant to your area of expertise, and the passions and accomplishments you listed above.”
The thing is, your website content and blog posts are much more important than your social media posts within the context of SEO. Although those might increase your site traffic if they get shared, they’ll have a relatively small impact on your site ranking.
Winner: Business website
Minimalist marketing
While it’s not free, social media marketing requires a relatively small investment in relation to your marketing campaign. It just takes a few minutes every day to share posts and interact with followers.
Your business website, however, demands more attention. It requires updates and regular maintenance to function properly. This doesn’t necessarily mean it has a lower ROI than social media marketing, but you have to be willing to invest more.
Winner: Social media profile page
It’s impossible to recommend a business website or social media profile page without knowing the context of your business. If you’re looking to increase social engagement and invest as little as possible, then you’ll likely be better off with social media marketing. But if your goal is to generate leads, enhance your SEO, and manage your brand, then you should focus on your business website.
To talk more about your business website, social media profile page, or anything else, contact us today.
Further Reading
What is Podcasting? 7 Ways Podcasting Can Benefit Your Business
8 Ways to Create Powerful Website Infographics
Top 10 Ideas to Promote Your Website Offline
How to Promote Your Website on Facebook and Drive Traffic
How to Best Optimise Your Website for a Google Featured Snippet