I have Instagram — do I still need a website?
Social media brings customers, but it isn't yours. The difference between the two and why they belong together.
I hear this question often, and the answer isn't "one replaces the other". They do different jobs.
What social media can do
- Reaches new people — the fastest route to being discovered
- Starts free
- Creates interaction, with direct contact through comments and messages
- A natural showcase for visual work
What social media can't do
The account isn't yours. Rules change, accounts get suspended, reach can collapse overnight. Plenty of businesses have lost accounts with tens of thousands of followers one morning, with nobody to appeal to.
It doesn't appear in search. When someone searches "plumber in Manchester", Google doesn't show your Instagram post.
Information isn't durable. Finding the price list you posted three months ago means scrolling through hundreds of posts.
It doesn't signal seriousness. A corporate client checks your website before paying. A business with only an Instagram account scores lower in a formal procurement process.
What a website can do
- Appears in search, and that visibility lasts
- Keeps information organised: prices, services, references
- You set the rules
- Nobody can shut it down
What a website can't do
It isn't discovered by itself. Publishing a site doesn't make customers arrive; it has to be promoted — which is where social media comes in.
The right setup: both together
Social media brings the traffic, the site closes the sale.
- Put the site link in your Instagram bio
- Point to the site for detail in posts ("full price list on the site")
- Put social links on the site
- Share your blog posts on social; you've created content and driven traffic to the site at once
Which should you start with?
If you're a new business on a tight budget: start with social media, but register your domain immediately. The name you want may be taken a year from now, and getting it back is expensive and uncertain.
Build the site once your first customers start arriving. At that point the site isn't a cost — it's the tool that handles the demand you've created.
- #social media
- #strategy
- #branding
