Do I need a website if I already have a Facebook page?

If your business runs on a Facebook page and it's working, it's a fair question: why pay for a website at all? Facebook is free, everyone's on it, and you can post, message and take enquiries all in one place. So do you really need more?

The honest answer: a Facebook page is a brilliant start, but on its own it quietly costs you customers. Here's why.

You don't own your Facebook page

This is the big one. Your Facebook page sits on rented land. Facebook decides how many of your followers see your posts (usually a small fraction), it can change the rules whenever it likes, and pages do occasionally get restricted or suspended with no warning and no easy appeal. Everything you've built can be affected by decisions you have no control over. A website is yours — permanently.

Facebook barely shows up on Google

When someone needs what you sell, they usually Google it: "electrician near me", "lash tech in Nottingham", "sofas for sale". Facebook pages almost never rank for these searches. So every customer who searches instead of scrolling — which is most of them, especially new ones — finds a competitor with a website, not you. That's business you never even hear about.

A website builds trust a page can't

Fair or not, people judge a business by its website. When someone's comparing two local businesses and one has a proper site while the other only has a Facebook page, the one with the website looks more established and more professional — and usually wins, even if the other is genuinely better.

A website works while you sleep

On Facebook, you answer the same questions over and over in DMs: prices, opening hours, "are you available Tuesday?". A website answers all of that automatically, and can take bookings, deposits and enquiries 24/7 — while you're with a customer or fast asleep.

The good news: you don't have to choose

This isn't Facebook or a website. The two work brilliantly together. Keep your Facebook page for staying in touch with people who already follow you — and add a website to win the new customers Facebook can't reach. You've already done the hard part of building an audience; a website just stops you leaking the customers your page can't capture.

At Brightside Web we specialise in exactly this — turning an established Facebook page into a professional website, using the photos and content you already have. And if your page has been active 30+ days, you may qualify for 50% off.

Curious how long it takes? Our guide covers realistic website build timelines.