As your online presence grows you will come across many opportunities to scale your business. One of the most common and effective ways to get eyeballs to your website or blog is by setting up a Facebook page.
In this article we will break down the difference between a website and a Facebook page and how combining the two can be a great way to get free traffic.
A website refers to a central location where materials related to your products or services can be accessed by potential customers using a browser. It contains images and text but may also include audio, video, and other media files. A Facebook page is created by companies, organizations and anyone who wants to promote their services or products through Facebook. This page works like a personal profile, but it has fans instead of friends. It is publicly visible on the internet to posts events, links, videos, and photos to fans that have liked and followed the page.
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Social networks help your website rank higher when you link to them. For example, Facebook is one of the social media platforms that are highly indexed by search engines. However, you should not drop your business website even if you’re getting great results from your Facebook page.
Why is a website better than a Facebook page you ask?
A Website Gives You 100% Control
A website allows you as a business owner to be in control. Unlike a Facebook page where you have to depend on a platform with limited customization options and plenty of rules and regulations, a website gives you 100% control.
You can create a website from scratch, and the primary purpose is to ensure it reflects your business, brand, services or products, logo, and identity.
There is no one looking over your shoulder and you can access customers directly through your domain name.
Increase revenue opportunities
A business can set up a personalized shop on a website and sell its services or products directly to customers.
However, when dealing with Facebook your customers have to leave the page and you risk the chance of loosing that potential buyer to the many bells and whistles on Facebook.
Most people get cold feet when on a Facebook Page that tells them to leave Facebook and go to another site. On the other hand, if you bring people directly to your site there is no need to go anywhere else, everything is in one place.
Guaranteed Permanence
Facebook is not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. But it’s no wonder that its loosing its popularity in recent years.
A business website, on the other side can last forever because it doesn’t depend on trends. With a website, you build your online presence, and it remains as long as you want.
You are not at the mercy of Facebook, where you are not guaranteed permanence.
Business Credibility
In the modern world, a business without a website is not regarded as credible. It is the only online presence that most people trust.
Just like in the olden times when people did not trust a business without a phone number and address, the same is happening for not having a site and an email address.
A Facebook Page doesn’t give the same credibility that your business is real because anyone can open one and get followers.
Cuts down Costs
Apart from displaying information, a website helps you sell goods and services without incurring any costs. It is different from other online stores like Ebay and Amazon where you have to pay a certain amount to have your services or products exposed to a big market.
Using your website, you can sell your items at a lower price because there are no extra costs. You can have a website alone without a physical store to do business. This means you will not pay rent, staff, or others costs that come with running a traditional business.
Less Competition
The competition you will encounter on Facebook is quite fierce. Almost anyone can create a Facebook Page because everything needed to set one up is free.
Your potential customers have a lot of pages similar to what you have, and it is hard for them to absorb it all. But a website enables you to get someone’s undivided attention.
Even if it’s just for a few seconds, your prospect will learn something about your services or products.
What you need is a strong marketing strategy that will give you solid organic searches. You may experience competition in terms of keyword search, but the competition will increase with consistent effort.
Real Contacts
A website helps you capture potential customers’ email addresses. Nothing beats email marketing; it is still one of the most effective ways to get a high ROI.
With someone’s email, you can send marketing emails at the right time, which increases the chances of making a sale. A Facebook Page attracts fresh prospects but doesn’t help you complete a sales cycle.
This means you have to motivate Facebook followers to go to your website and sign up. Most Facebook users will not even want to follow a link away from Facebook. It is, therefore, tricky to make them give you their email addresses.
How a Facebook Page Compliments a Website
A website is the best online marketing tool. It comes with many benefits that increase sales in the long run. It gives you independenc and total control over your online content.
However, you should not ignore a Facebook Page. It helps your website grow through the following benefits:
Extended Exposure To Reach A Wide Audience
When you create content about your brand and post it on your Facebook page, your followers will see it. This popularizes your brand and many people will know about your services and products.
In addition, a Facebook page is not limited to a specific keyword; it reaches people across the world. This widens your audience because you get more than your targeted customers.
Increases Your Website Engagement And Interaction
Social media platforms are known to provide a lot of engagement and interaction. A Facebook page is no exception; it will help you increase interaction and engagement with your website.
When a website integrates a Facebook Page with its site, it gives visitors a reason to interact and engage on their website.
Insights Into Your Prospects’ Social Behavior
By integrating your Facebook Page into your website, you can generate performance reports. This helps you see how your visitors react to posts and change where necessary to getter better results.
Once you understand your audience and what they like, you can work to improve their experience.
Channelize Traffic on Your Website
Integrating Facebook on a website helps to drive traffic. If someone come across a link to your website, it is easy to redirect them to your website. This brings more people to your website.
The same thing happens when they see a link to your social media on the website. So you use both platforms to popularize eachother and end up with a win-win situation.
Increased Vibrancy due to interesting visual content
You can get user-generated content from any part of the world. This makes it unique and attractive. It will increases vibrancy on your website through various cultures and backgrounds from people posting on your page.
People love new things, and integrating your Facebook page can ensure you have an effective. Just make relevent trendy posts that will cause a stir in your website.
User-Generated Content
Promotion of user-generated content via social media helps you create social proof.
Users who post content related to your brand will use your hashtags along with account handles to tag you in their posts. Doing so leads to social proof creation showing how much they love your products and brand. It comes in handy when you want to show off people who enjoy your services or products.
Increases conversions and sales
People are impressed by-products they have seen other people using. So integrating your Facebook page helps to display products, and those who buy are likely to talk about it, which will lead to increased conversions and eventually sales.
Helps you provide an excellent consumer experience
By giving your customers exciting and genuine content, they experience an excellent consumer experience. They can see services or products in action and view the reaction of others to them.
Besides, they have information to help them evaluate if the products or service will suit them before buying.
This consumer experience makes them love your brand. They will quickly follow a link to your website for further details regarding your products.
Creat A Good Brand Image Through Communication
People will feel greatful when you post information directed to them on Facebook.
When people feel important to you, it helps build your brand and create a flawless reputation as their favorite brand. The users will also automatically generate social proof that will show how much they love your brand and its products. This will build trust and eventually give your business a good reputation.
Conclusion
Between a Facebook Page and a website, the latter is more important. However, having both of them helps you reach a targeted audience more effectively. So take advantage of the two platforms for maximum exposure, quality leads, and increased sales.