Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?
A Facebook page is enough if you sell locally through word of mouth and social. You need a website when people search for what you sell, when buyers check you before committing, or when you want to own the relationship rather than rent it.
What a Facebook page does well
It is worth being fair about this, because a lot of web design advice is not. A Facebook or Instagram page is free, takes ten minutes, reaches people who are already scrolling, makes messaging you trivial through Messenger and WhatsApp, and lets existing customers leave visible recommendations. For a home baker, a mobile car valet or a market trader, that genuinely is the whole marketing plan and there is no shame in it.
What it cannot do
It does not show up when people search. Someone typing 'plumber Bellville' into Google is not going to find your Facebook page in any reliable position. That search is the single largest source of ready-to-buy demand for most local trades, and a social page cannot access it.
You are renting the audience. Reach on an unpaid post has collapsed over the last decade and continues to. Page disabled by an automated system, and there is often no human to appeal to. Everything you built goes with it.
It reads as smaller than you are. In business-to-business especially, a buyer who cannot find a website draws a conclusion about the size and permanence of your business. Unfair, but consistent.
You cannot control the experience. Your prices sit next to a competitor's advert, and the platform decides what your customer sees.
The honest decision rule
A Facebook page is enough if all your work comes through referral and community groups, you sell to consumers not businesses, your average sale is small, and nobody is searching Google for what you do.
You need a website if people search for your service by name, you sell to other businesses, your average job is worth more than a few thousand rand, you want to appear on Google Maps properly, or you are competing against businesses that already have one.
Sitting between the two, the cheapest honest answer is a one-page website at R2 950 alongside the Facebook page. It gives you the search presence and the credibility without committing to something larger before you know you need it.
The cheapest real website we build is R2 950. If you are weighing this up, start with one-page website design or compare the three website design packages.
Common questions
Can I just use a Google Business Profile instead?
It is a genuine middle ground and better than nothing — it gets you on Maps and into local results. But profiles that link to a real website consistently outperform those that do not, and you still do not control it.
Will a website replace my Facebook page?
No, and it should not. They do different jobs: social builds familiarity, the website captures people actively looking. The most effective setup runs both, with the social page pointing at the site.
What is the cheapest way to get a real website?
R2 950 for a one-page site with your own domain and hosting for the first year. Below that you are better off doing it yourself on a free builder than paying someone a token amount.
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