Why Instagram isn’t enough

If you’re a small business owner (or an aspiring one), you might be asking yourself: “Do I really need a website?”

After all, many social media platforms offer a free online presence that you can use to advertise, communicate with your customers, and even sell your product. Isn’t Instagram enough?

Unfortunately, it isn’t. Without a website, you’re missing some opportunities—and opening yourself up to potential problems down the line. Here are 5 reasons to build a website and one reason to wait:

5 reasons to build a website

1. You’ll create needed redundancy.
   
   It’s only natural that you want to take advantage of free social platforms. After all, they are FREE, and you’re just getting started! You don’t have thousands of dollars to commit to an epic website build. And furthermore, social platforms are a great way to meet your customers where they are. And many platforms are fairly easy to set up and manage. No complex coding or development. We agree! And we’re not here to knock the power of social.

   With that said, if you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of terms of service, you may realize that these platforms can terminate your account with very little notice. What’s more, you’re beholden to the company’s health and success. RIP Vine, Friendster, Google+ and many more.

   And, as many social media managers know well, you have no control over outages and development updates. Think that would never happen? Outages are far more common than you think. Inconvenient at best and costly at worst if your business depends on ecommerce.
   
   

2. Websites help with credentialing.
   
   You might be wondering: Should I buy that swimsuit I saw on Instagram? Or is this a scam? It’s free and easy to set up a Finsta (i.e., Fake Instagram account). It’s a touch more complex to have a website and a social media presence. Now, that doesn’t mean that every website is legit, but a web presence gives you one more opportunity to prove yourself. Forbes agrees.
   
   

3. You’ll get two more ways to reach your audience.
   
   Wait, isn’t a website just one more channel to add to the mix? If you add in search engine results pages (SERPs), you have another way to reach your consumer. And everyone can access those results, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Interested in learning more about SERPs? We love this glossary definition from the good folks at MailChimp.
   
   

4. You’ll have (at least) one more ad platform at your disposal.
   
   If you have a new website, it can take a while to show up in search results. In the interim, you might consider creating a paid ad—also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM)—to appear at the top of a SERP. This can be an economical way for you to create a “branded search” that ensures people can find your company. Get a thorough overview of SEM from HubSpot.
   
   

5. You might need extra functionalities.
   
   Maybe you need your clients to schedule an appointment online. Or you want to monetize an e-course. Perhaps, you want to organize and tag your content in a specific way to make it more accessible. Your website can centralize all those functionalities!
   

Why you should wait on the website

If your business is still baking, it might not be time to invest in a website. At Riveter Marketing, one of the biggest mistakes we see organizations make comes down to the sequencing of marketing activities.

If you haven’t yet solidified your name and business and marketing plan, you’re probably not ready for a website. After all, what if you select a platform that doesn’t have all the features your business will need? That can be a costly waste of time and money. Furthermore, you might spend a lot of money on digital creative only to find the name you planned for your business has already been taken.

Want to assess if you’re website ready?

We can help. Contact us for a free consultation.