Most Businesses now a days irrespective of the sector they are in have some form of digital footprint from a social media presence to an online store or a simple website.
So, for a small business owner you are probably thinking which one should I invest my time into? Well, there is no right, wrong or straightforward answer. As both have advantages and disadvantages. So, let’s get into it with discussing the advantages and disadvantages for both.
Website advantages for small businesses
Pros A professional website develops trust with customers.
Pros Reach Online customers
Pros Free virtual advertising
Pros Can be used as a sales point (Can receive payments)
Pros Own your name once you register your businesses domain name you and you alone own it. (No copycats can use your name on the internet pretending to be your business)
Pros Develop mailing lists
Pros Display information to your customers about your business
Pros Booking systems if needed
Pros exposure to new customers. (Most people prefer searching the web for info about a business’s rather than use social media)
Pros Your business can be listed on Google maps allowing more customers to discover your location (very useful for takeaways, cafes & restaurants
Cons Depending on scale of website and businesses size can be costly
Cons Can be a very competitive place for achieving high on search rankings
Cons You need good content on your site to reduce bounce rate (Interesting posts to keep people on your website.
Now there seems to be obviously not much cons in comparison to pros. The main con for most small businesses would be the cost. However here at imonline studios we have a brilliant deal available for only €400 euro we can provide you with a fully customizable landing page template with one-year free hosting and free maintenance support. Including a ssl certificate this also includes one shared hosting with one domain and one email address.
Social media advantages for small businesses
Pros Attract customers, get customer feedback and build customer loyalty.
Pros Develop your brand.
Pros You can communicate quickly with customers
Pros It’s inexpensive
Pros It keeps your business top-of-mind of the consumers.
Pros It can help you generate leads. (Take for example a plumber with a good reach on their socials for their business can help bring customers to them)
Pros Helps with informing customers of the promotion of products or services/ discounts and sales
Pros Small business can use it to monitor what their competitors are doing.
Pros Small businesses have the potential to go viral with hit videos or posts (Playing to specific current trends has a higher chance of going viral such as Ryanair’s Tik Tok account) Such instances would have been in England with a chipper known as Binley mega chippy
Pros Can drive more web traffic to the company website (If there is a website for the business)
Cons Small businesses will have to stay up to date with trends while this can be good it can deviate from the business purpose
Cons Businesses have to be careful with what they post and when. As there is a strong presence of cancel culture within social media which can be devastating to a business. Two Good example of this would be Goya Foods and Jk.Rowling. Liberals called for a Goya Foods’ boycott after the company’s chief executive Robert Unanue praised Mr. Trump at an event at the White House. Jk.Rowling faced backlash for voicing her fears that the push for transgender rights will ultimately endanger women’s rights. She’s since defended her comments on her website and joined 150 authors and academics denouncing “cancel culture.” These actions have only further infuriated her critics, who called for a boycott of her books and for her publisher to stop paying royalties.
Cons Risk of negative feedback/false reviews can harm your businesses reputation
Cons social media is not a perfect fit for all types of business.
Cons Some Segments of your customer base you cannot reach through social media alone
Cons If the businesses are unknown, it can take some time for the business to grow its social media presence
So, what should your small business focus on. Well as previously stated there is no right or wrong answer/option. Ideally it would be best to have both as the two work better together. If your social media presence is good then you can expect to see good results on your website and vice versa. In my opinion one of the most useful tools of social media is bringing traffic to a business’s website. So as a small businesses owner you should try to maintain and manage both. However, cost is a big factor. I would personally start with social media presence to generate awareness for my business and once I find my customer base, I would then create a website. To send my new found customer to.
Here at imonline studio we good deals on our website pricing page for those who want to get a good functional website without having to splash the cash check it out here https://imonlinestudio.com/pricing/
