Social media marketing. Either you love it or only use it because you feel like you have to market your business.
And while I’m not a fan of social media—I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a great way to build relationships with potential new client leads. Plus having an active social media marketing presence can help drive traffic to your website.
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BUT that being said I see too many times social media is presented as an alternative to a strategy website when in reality they need to go hand in hand with each other to bring results.
And let me just #spoileralert the rest of this blog that when you compare social media vs website design—a website is going to win every time.
That’s why in this blog I’m going to go over social media vs website design for marketing your business.
Social Media vs Website Design
You *actually* own your website unlike your social media accounts
You don’t own your social media accounts. So at the end of the day, you’re subject to whatever algorithm and “rules” that go along with the platform in question. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to leave my business success in the hands of ol’ Zuckerburg.
Relying only on social media marketing for your business is like building your business on quicksand. Social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon BUT that doesn’t mean that your accounts are safe. Your Instagram account for example can get taken down for literally no reason (this happened to me) and without notice.
At the end of the day, you have zero control over what happens on any social media, unlike your website which you have complete control over. Because you *actually* own your website you can decide what goes on it where and for how long.
Why You Need a Website for Your Creative Business
A website makes you look more professional
A website adds credibility to your business so much that 80% of people are more likely to interact with a business that has a website and 50% of people won’t trust a business that doesn’t have a website. Both of these statistics should be reason enough as to why a website is vital for your business regardless of whether you do social media marketing or not.
Appearing more professional can also help you raise your prices for your services. Allowing you to work with less clients at a higher premium if you so choose.
Your website pages can rank in Google > your social media posts won’t
Unless you’re a celebrity your social media accounts aren’t going to show up in Google searches. The exception to this is that YouTube videos and sometimes Pinterest pins will show up in searches. <<< BUT that’s because both of these are more search engines than social media platforms. Youtube and Pinterest often get called social media and they kind of are but not in the same way that Instagram or TikTok are.
And unlike social media platforms (i.e. Instagram) that just want to keep people scrolling on longer so ads are seen more times (aka. making them, not you, more money)—Google actually wants people to find exactly what they’re searching for. So your website content has the potential to show up in searches for years and years compared to the average social post lasting no longer than 24-48 hours if that.
Only a small percentage of your followers see your social media posts
Every business owner’s least favorite thing about social media (especially Instagram) is the dreaded infamous algorithm. If you have high-quality content on your website that ranks well it’s going to show up in searches no matter how old the content is, provided it’s still relevant. Your social media posts on the other hand are getting seen by maybe 1 out of 10 of your followers if that.
That means most of your followers aren’t getting the whole picture because the algorithm isn’t showing them everything that you’re posting. In contrast, once someone lands on your website they can see everything that your business has to offer.
Unlike sharing a feed on social media your website is all about your business
Your website is your business’s home on the internet and it’s going to focus on your business. Social media on the other hand mixes your content with thousands of other accounts. <<< Making the temptation of getting distracted by the latest funny cat video or trend very easy for you and your followers.
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