Plenty of local businesses get most of their work from a social profile and are reasonably sceptical about being told they need a website. It is a fair position, and the honest answer is that it depends on four specific things rather than on a general principle.
What a social profile genuinely cannot do
- Be found by someone searching. Nobody opens a social app and searches "emergency plumber near me" - they use a search engine, and social profiles rank poorly there.
- Show a current price list clearly. A price list posted as an image eight months ago is neither findable nor readable.
- Take a booking without a conversation. A meaningful share of customers, particularly younger ones, will not send a message to book something.
- Belong to you. The account, the followers and the reach are the platform's, and the terms change without asking you.
The four questions worth asking
Rather than a rule, this is the test we would apply:
- Do people search for what you do, or do they discover it? Services are usually searched for. Products and food are often discovered.
- Do you need to be findable in an emergency? If so, search matters enormously and social does not.
- Is your work visual and shareable? If yes, social is doing real work for you and should keep doing it.
- How much would it hurt if the account was suspended tomorrow? If the answer is "the business stops", you have a single point of failure.
When social really is enough
If you are booked out from word of mouth and a visual feed, your work is discovered rather than searched for, and you have no need to appear in search results - a website may genuinely not be the best next thing you spend money on. We would rather say that than sell you one.
What we would still suggest, in that case, is claiming your Google Business Profile. It is free, it takes an hour, and for most local businesses it produces more enquiries than a website does.