Why “Do I need a website?” is the wrong question.

It’s a much-debated question. Now that social networks are taking over the web, do small businesses still need a website? Or can they just set up a Facebook page and be good to go? As a web designer, I’m supposed to tell you that you definitely need a custom website hosted on your own domain. But the truth isn’t so simple.

True, a custom-designed website has many benefits over using a social media profile as your “hub” online. For starters, you have full control over your own website and aren’t beholden to the whims of another company. If Facebook decides to change their layout (as they’ve done many times in the past)or remove a key feature you incorporated onto your page, you’re out of luck. At the end of the day, you really don’t have much control over how your business is presented on a social media profile. All you can do is fill in boxes with your content and hope for the best.

A New Problem

But is that really a problem? Traditionally, businesses didn’t differentiate themselves on silly things like “brand image”, website designs, or even logos. Goods and services were bought and sold (or not) based on the merits of the transaction. If a merchant had a good product, it sold well. If the product sucked, it didn’t sell. Potential customers judged the product’s quality as they held it in their hands and inspected it for themselves.

But then came mass media. First newspapers, then radio, then television, and now the Internet. Everything changed and design became much more important. No longer were people predominantly deciding whether or not to buy things in person at a merchant's storefront. Instead, they’re making those same decisions hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The Rise of the Brand

So how did we as marketers and business owners react to these changes? If we were savvy, we used clever designs and advertising copy to impress potential customers and convince them to buy things without ever holding them. Early on, this worked great for the businesses that could afford such marketing campaigns. People don’t buy an iPod because it has more gigabytes of storage than a competing device. They buy it because it’s an iPod. The truth is, brand matters and that’s not going to change.

With this shift, small businesses had to focus more on things like quality and customer service because they couldn’t afford the large marketing campaigns that big companies could. As technology progressed, the playing field was leveled. A Facebook page costs nothing to set up. Maintaining it is the key. Sure, you can get some results by throwing money at the problem with Facebook Ads. But that’s what big businesses do, and they’re always going to be able to out-spend the smaller guy.

Return of the Small Businesses

So how do you compete against the corporate overlords? You can’t out-spend them, so you’ll have to out-educate and out-serve them. (It goes without saying that you need a better service at a better price. That’s just the ticket to play.) People expect (and even demand) bargains in today’s economy. What they don’t expect, is great customer service. Most people like to pretend they’ll pay extra for it, but they usually don’t. Large companies know this. That’s why they usually have such terrible customer service. The good news is that we as small business marketers can leverage this to our advantage.

You probably already know how to serve your customers better than the other guy. That’s not the problem. The issue is why doesn’t everyone see it? It’s not because it isn’t true and probably not because you haven’t told them: it’s because you haven’t sold them. The art of selling is about much more than simply saying “Hey, I have a better product and you should totally buy it.” You might get someone’s attention for a moment, but they probably aren’t going to care long enough to believe you.

That’s the problem with websites. Even if you have a great design, it’s only a brief interaction. No matter how great your site is, the fact of the matter is that your potential customers spend the vast majority of their time on other websites. Sometimes that’s your competitors’ websites, but it’s usually just Facebook, blogs, news aggregators, and just generally “surfing the web”.

The key then, is to have multiple meaningful interactions with someone. Sometimes that’s through a great blog post on your website. Sometimes it’s that cool picture you posted to your business’s Facebook page. Maybe next time it’s a sales page on your website. Then it’s seeing one of their friends sharing one of your social media updates.

Most small (and even large) businesses fall into one of two camps when it comes to social media: they either don’t update often enough, or they don’t update with anything worth caring about. That makes it incredibly simple to stand out then, doesn’t it? Just post regularly things that add value to the lives of your potential customers. Most big businesses are simply throwing money at the problem, because that’s what they do best. The result is well-produced drivel that nobody remembers six weeks later. That’s your opportunity. Make something great, serve your customers well, and leverage social media to its true potential.

That’s what’s so great about social media platforms. They put the focus on content over “custom design” and “brand image”. Those are both great in their place (like your website), but sites like Facebook are forcing businesses to re-think the types of things they post. You can’t just put up a new post twice a week that says “we have cool stuff buy from us plz” anymore. You have to actually add value to people. And that’s something that small businesses have been learning to do since the dawn of mass media. Big companies are are still trying to spend their way out of the problem, something they’ll never be able to do. Use that to your advantage. Make your customers’ lives better before and after the sale by helping them learn more about how your product, service, or industry affects their lives.

So. Do small businesses need websites? Yes, but they also need social media profiles. The key is to use them both for what they’re great at.