Plenty of South African businesses run perfectly well from a Facebook page, an Instagram account and a WhatsApp number. So it's a fair question: why pay for a website?
The honest answer is that sometimes you don't need one yet. But there are a few things social media can't do, and they tend to matter more as a business grows.
What Facebook is good at
- Staying in touch with people who already know you
- Showing what's new — specials, stock, photos of recent work
- Word of mouth — shares, tags and comments
- It's free to set up
If most of your customers already follow you and you're fully booked, a page may genuinely be enough for now.
What Facebook can't do
You don't own it
Your page lives on someone else's platform, under their rules. Accounts get hacked, restricted or disabled — sometimes by mistake — and getting them back can take weeks. Reach also changes whenever the algorithm does. A website on your own domain stays yours.
People searching Google often don't find it
When someone searches "electrician Randburg" or "birthday cakes Soweto", Google mostly shows Maps listings and websites. Facebook pages can appear for your business name, but they rarely rank for what you do. The customers who don't know you yet are the ones searching by service.
Not everyone uses it — or trusts it
A lot of business buyers, older customers and corporate clients won't look you up on Facebook. For them, no website can quietly read as "not established". This matters most if you want larger clients, tenders or B2B work.
It's hard to find the basics
Your prices, areas you cover, opening hours and how to book are buried somewhere in old posts. A website puts them on one page, organised the way customers think.
Some customers are paying for data
Social media apps are heavy. A well-built website can load a clear page with a WhatsApp button for a fraction of the data.
When a Facebook page is enough (for now)
- You're just starting and testing an idea
- Almost all your work comes from existing customers and referrals
- You're fully booked and not looking to grow
Even then, set up a free Google Business Profile. It's the single most useful free listing a local business can have.
When you need a website
- You want customers who don't already know you
- You compete with other businesses on Google
- You quote for larger jobs or B2B work where credibility is checked
- You're answering the same questions over and over in DMs
- You want to sell or take bookings without the back-and-forth
You don't have to choose
The best setup for most small businesses is both: social media for staying in touch, a website as the home base that you own, and WhatsApp as the place where conversations turn into sales. Every post can point back to your site, and your site can make it one tap to message you.
A small, fast website doesn't need to be expensive — Webmek sites start from R2 000. If you're not sure whether it's worth it for your business yet, ask me. If it isn't, I'll say so.