Over the last few weeks and in several Facebook groups, I’ve seen the same question multiple times.
I’m about to launch my business. Should I start with a website or a Facebook business page?
I always suggest creating a website and a Facebook page.
When just starting out you don’t need a full-fledged website. You need an online presence that will serve as a home-base while you spend your first year digging deep and truly getting to know who you serve and how you can serve them best. Having a website to point Facebook contacts to allows you to potentially interact with them even more. (see #3 below!)
Having a website (even a one-page website) allows you to:
- Capture your domain name now so you have it when you are ready for a full-on site (and don’t forget to set that up on Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social media networks!)
- Start establishing an awesome online home that you actually own
- Start an email list of potential future customers
Let’s talk briefly about each one over the next few weeks.
Buy Your Domain Name (Before It’s Gone)
Have you ever seen the perfect shirt on the rack, but instead of buying it you put it back on the shelf? You walk away, check out a few other stores, and eventually go back to the store and scour the shelves and end up heartbroken because it’s nowhere to be found? You leave crushed and cursing yourself for not just buying it when you found it. In reality you could always find that perfect shirt in another store if you took the time to travel there.
Domain names are unique
Think about this in terms of domain names. (You know, the url given to a particular website.) A domain name can’t be given to more than one business like a certain style of shirts can be given to more than one store. You want to grab that domain name as soon as you can fafter establishing your business name (and set up your social media with the business name, too). You want potential customers to land on your website, not someone else’s page simply because you didn’t start a website right away!
You can always get your domain now and set your site up later, but a simple site can work for you now and we’ll talk about that in a later post.
Capturing the domain for your business, whether an online business or not, will help you appear established. And having a presence on that domain (having a website, a Facebook page and Twitter account tied back to it as well) help you appear even more established.
Domains are in demand
Think about this in real business life. Remember the statistics of people looking online before purchasing in a store? According to Think Google, 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store. (Google, 2016) (Source: 2017 think with Google) Imagine if a potential customer tries to look up your business when you don’t have a website, and actually lands on someone else’s page that is entirely unrelated to your business? Or better yet, that offers similar products and the customer buys from them?
Even if you don’t have a website created when you are just starting your business, at least capture your domain and your business name on each social media platform. Of course, you should have already researched your business name and found something unique, but reflective of what you do…that isn’t already taken. As part of that research make sure your name is available on all the social media platforms your customers use and set them up! You want to be where your customers are active!
Take Action:
- If you haven’t already, purchase a domain name for your business.
- Claim your business name on each social media platform where your ideal audience is active.
- Start creating your site if you haven’t already.
Do you need help creating a website? I specialize in creating websites for solopreneurs and would love to talk with you about your needs for either a one-page website or multi-page site for your business. Tell me more about you and your business and let’s get you online now!
