We like to say, “Facebook is not your website”.

Surrounded by social media you may ask yourself if you really need a website. The answer to this question is, definitely! So stop asking yourself, “Do I need a website?” and start asking yourself, “How can I maximize the power of my website?”.  Your website is your informer, seller, and tool for both expressing and engaging, with an audience. Think of it as your front door on the internet. Even if you have social media accounts, here is why you need a website:

• Websites allow for 100% customization. You can add practically anything you want and make them as large as you want. More importantly, your own website gives you the opportunity to showcase your personal brand online. You can make your website match how you want individuals to think about you and what message you hope to display through your work.
• Social media does not offer the variety of content options you need. Although you can post as much as you like depending on platform guidelines,  you do not have the same flexibility that a website would give you. For example with a website you have the ability to create pages that highlight different sections of your business or life as a creative, in a social media platform you get a single “About” page and that’s basically it when it comes to showing who you are.
• Websites are taken much more seriously than social media. Having your own website, with your own .com, rather than just social media accounts, shows your customers and fans how serious you are in regard to what you do.
• Although sites like Facebook have some great analytic capabilities, they do not compare to the larger analytics packages you can apply to personal websites, through companies like Google. Better analytic capabilities can give you amazing insight into how people are using your website, and what features they like and what they may want more of.
• Content, posts, and pages, on your website will remain where you want them and will stay in the form you intended. This means that customers and fans can always count on being able to find what they are looking for. Social media is constantly changing and the way your information is displayed and archived will change with it.
• You, as well as other individuals, can share your website on your social media. You get the benefit of both and can drive traffic to your website where you control the message and won’t get lost in the shuffle.
• People rarely return to brand social media pages. They may stumble upon them and like the page, but they will often never come back or use it as a resource unless they are already a dedicated fan.
• Social media posts can expect to reach between 2.5% and 6% of your followers. If, for example, you have 2,000 followers, you can expect to reach around 50 to 120 of those people. Paying to boost a post may increase that by 10%.

Conclusion

There are so many more reasons why you should not consider social media your website and you should create a website of your own. Big Mouth Marketing also has a nice piece on why you need a website: Check it out. 

Sources:

https://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2266137/why-your-website-is-more-important-than-your-facebook-page

http://www.informaticsinc.com/Blog/20140930/208/If-Facebook-is-Free-Why-do-I-Need-a-Website.aspx

http://bmighty2.com/can-my-facebook-business-page-replace-my-website/

https://website-designs.com/social-media/why-social-media-isnt-enough/

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/locowise-march-2015/619104

https://blog.crazyegg.com/2016/05/16/growing-facebook-reach-organically/