SOCIAL MEDIA VS WEBSITES: Which one is more important for your business?

Man using mobile phone

We live in a digital age where it goes without saying that regardless of the industry you’re in, you need an online presence. The dilemma most businesses find themselves in is whether to focus on having a website or a social media presence.

Why would you want to build a website that has numerous costs (domains, hosting, designers, SEO, updates, maintenance etc.) when you could just setup social media pages for your business on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for FREE?

Let’s look at some pros and cons of the two.

Social media pros

1. Social media allows businesses to interact with their customers daily thereby enabling them to build great customer relationships
2. Social media pages are easier and faster to set up; it takes a short time and is free. It also doesn’t require any technical skill to set up, just the ability to follow steps.
3. Social media is great for brand awareness when you apply compelling and relevant content combined with paid advertising you have the ability to capture the attention of a large audience and attract new customers
4. Social media is international, it gives you access to prospective customers/consumers around the world who are already using the platforms.
5. Social media allows you to easily conduct market research and gain insight on what your customers want

Social media cons

1. You do not own the social media platforms, how you use them is based on the terms and conditions provided by the platforms, these terms can change at any time leaving you with nothing to do but complain.
2. Social media limits your reach to only the people that follow your account despite it having millions of users; you have to work really hard to ensure you attract the right audience.

Website pros

1. Websites help businesses establish a strong online brand identity, having your own domain makes you more credible, immediately building trust between your brand and audience.
2. Websites offer businesses total control of the site; they decide on the features, content, layout etc. to suit what best aligns with their brand and the kind of experiences they want their customers to have
3. Websites are fully traceable, you can track all activity on your site; where your visitors come from, how long they stayed on each of your individual pages, how many people visited your site, how they found you and how many people messaged or emailed you. This makes a website perfect for in-depth analysis and reporting.
4. A website has more opportunities to bring in revenue; businesses can set up a personalized shop, selling their product directly to their customers
5. Websites allow you to have a custom email addresses you can use for your business which increases your credibility as you communicate with your customers and potential customers

Website Cons

1. Websites require regular maintenance, if you have a big website that is rich in content, keeping it maintained can take a lot of time and effort.
2. They are technical and require more time and money to develop; the more complex the functionality and design of your website is, the more it will cost to set up and the longer it will take to build.

Bottom line

Have any more questions, let’s talk: Call +254 777 665 548 or email info@mfc.ke