A question worth taking seriously
This came up in one of the first conversations I had when I started moss + method — and honestly, it is a question I think about a lot. A business owner had a Facebook page, loyal customers, and things were going fine. So why do I need a website? she asked. It is a completely fair question. And it deserves a real answer, not a sales pitch.
Social media is genuinely useful, and a website does something completely different. They are not the same tool. Whether you need both depends on what you are trying to do — but for most small businesses, the answer is yes.
What Facebook is actually good at
Facebook and Instagram are real marketing tools and I am not going to pretend otherwise. They are great for staying in front of people who already know you — past customers, people who found you through a friend, neighbors who follow local businesses. A quick post about a new menu item, a before-and-after photo of a job you just finished, a reminder that you are booking for the fall — all of that works well on social media.
Reviews on Facebook also carry weight. People trust them. And for some businesses, especially ones with a strong local following or a visual product, social can genuinely drive consistent referrals. None of that is nothing.
What Facebook cannot do
Here is where it gets important. Facebook does not show up in Google search the way a website does. When someone types 'landscaper in Nashua NH' or 'best bakery near me' into Google, a Facebook page is not what comes back. A website does — or a Google Business Profile, which is different and works best when paired with a website.
Facebook also cannot give someone the full picture of your business the way a dedicated website can. There is no clean services page, no pricing, no portfolio organized the way you want it, no contact form that routes to your inbox. People have to scroll your feed and piece things together. That friction costs you customers who would have called if the information had been easier to find.
And there is a more fundamental issue: you do not own your Facebook page. Meta does. They can change the algorithm, reduce your reach, or theoretically shut down your account with little warning. A website is yours — the content, the code, the traffic you build over time.
The search visibility gap
This is the one that matters most for local businesses. When someone who has never heard of you is looking for what you offer, they go to Google. They type something in and click one of the first few results. That is how new customers find businesses they have never seen on their feed.
A Facebook page has almost no presence in those results. A well-built website — one with clear service pages, proper page titles, and local SEO in place — can show up for searches like 'hair salon in Concord NH' or 'dog trainer near Portsmouth.' Those are people with intent, ready to book, who found you because your website was there.
Social media reaches people you already have some connection to. Google reaches people you have never met who are actively looking for exactly what you do. Those are two completely different groups, and a lot of new business lives in the second one.
The trust question
There is also something quieter going on when someone checks out a business they are considering hiring. Before they call, most people look you up. They want to see a real website. Not because a website is inherently impressive, but because not having one raises a question — is this business established? Are they serious? Will they still be around in six months?
A Facebook page helps with this, but it does not fully settle it. A website — especially one that has a real About page with your face on it, clear services, and a way to contact you — signals that you are invested in your business and professional in how you present it. For service businesses where someone is inviting you into their home, or trusting you with their brand, that first impression matters more than most people realize.
They work better together
The real answer is not either/or. Keep the Facebook page — it serves its purpose. But a website and a social presence do different jobs, and the businesses that grow steadily over time usually have both working together.
Your website is your foundation: always there, always searchable, always sending the right signal. Your social media is your ongoing voice: the updates, the personality, the community. When someone finds you on Instagram and wants to learn more, they should be able to click to a website that closes the deal. When a Google search brings someone to your site for the first time, you want a clear path for them to take the next step.
One without the other leaves a gap somewhere. Together, they cover the full range of how people find and evaluate a business today.
So what does this mean for you?
If your business is entirely referral-based and you have more work than you can handle, you might genuinely not need a website right now. Social media may be doing enough. But if you want to grow beyond your current network — to reach people who have never heard your name, in a market that keeps getting more competitive — a website is not optional. It is the thing that makes the rest of your marketing work better.
A well-built website does not replace what you are already doing. It becomes the place all of it points back to.