You’re a local business. You have a growing Instagram following, an active Facebook feed, and a 5-Star Google My Business Page Listing.

Why on earth, then, would you need a website?

It’s honestly a good question. At first glance, it looks like you’ve covered everything you need.

• Social Media to connect with your customers every day on platforms where they spend their time.
• Google My Business to reach everyone who searches your business’s niche or name on Google.

But your business needs more than that.

Your business needs Legitimacy. Discoverability. The Power to Build a Relationship With Your Customers.

In my last article, I went over 7 Ways That A Website Can Help Your Business and touched on a lot of these.

However, in this article, I’ll break down specifically why Social Media and Google My Business Alone Are Not Enough (and why you need a website).

Google My Business Is NOT Enough

A good Google My Business page listing is extremely valuable in today’s world. If you don’t have one, you’re leaving yourself out of the running to even compete for local leads.

Unless you live under a rock or are in the 0.132% of people who prefer Bing over Google, you’ve probably seen them. Here’s what they look like:

They offer everything a potential customer would need to find and use your business’s products or services. They show reviews, pictures, contact information, address, hours of operation, and a link to your website (if you have one).

But what if the potential customer lands on that listing and wants to know about your business’s specials or deals? What if they’re curious about your business’s vibe, policies, or legitimacy?

90% of the time, they’re going to click or tap to your website.

Let’s say you don’t have one.

Do you really think they’re going to scrounge Google Reviews or ask all their friends for information on your business?

They’re just gonna go to the next listing that has one!

Congrats. You just lost a customer lead by simply not having a website.

Websites not only increase your likelihood of being found on the internet, but they also add weight to your Google My Business Listing Rank.

Social Media Is NOT Enough

Social media is great. It’s super powerful, malleable, and it’s where people spend their time.

But the drawback of social media is that you’re at the whims of the platform and the user. You can’t guarantee that your followers will receive your message.

For example, Facebook changed their algorithm a few years ago that resulted in a dramatic decline in organic reach from Facebook business pages. Furthermore, your customers simply may not be active when you decide to post.

Information put out to your social account followers is OPPORTUNE. This means it’s basically up to chance if they see your message or not.

Take Chance Out of The Game With A Website

The only way to take chance out of the game is to send messages through a channel that YOU own.

The only way to do this is with a website.

With a website, you can build an email list and push discounts, offers, or whatever message you want, whenever you want.

The traffic is YOURS. You OWN it.

It’s no longer up to Google’s indexing power or Facebook’s feed algorithm.

If you want to send everyone on your list an offer or notify them of a change in your company, you can send it straight to them. And the best part is that they’ll get it.

Email marketing allows you to build a relationship with your customers and leverage that relationship to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). In other words, you can make more money off each customer that you have and not rely so much on spending money to acquire new ones.

And if you think email is “in the past” and social media is the future, just know that email still converts up to 40x better than social media!

Email marketing can seem intimidating, but it’s just a matter of consistency! I’ll be posting more content on email marketing in the future (and I always keep it simple), so subscribe if you wanna stay in the loop!

“I Don’t Want To Get Into Email Marketing”

You don’t have to. (If you really care about growing your business through, you SHOULD.)

But if you’re just getting started, focus on getting a website first so your business can actually exist on the internet.

Why do I say that? Here’s how I like to look at it.

Some people check Twitter. Others use Instagram more. Some people are super into Pinterest. Others frequent Facebook. But everyone visits websites.

It’s the universal norm.

If you want more information on a company, you go to their website. It’s that simple. No combination of social profiles can substitute for that or change that.

So if you don’t have one, your customers either won’t know you really exist or they won’t take you seriously.

Conclusion

Google My Business and social media are vital components of your business’s online presence, but they’re there to inspire interest in your company. Your website is there to fulfill that interest.

Because when people do become interested in YOUR company, they will type you in on Google and they will try to find your website.

So it’s in your best interest to be prepared for when that happens…with a website.