Social Media vs Website: Why Social Media Can’t Replace Your Website

Social media is no doubt an important tool in business. The cutting edge of social media as a marketing tool is how convenient it is to engage users.  Most social media platforms allow you to interact with users through pictures and videos, which stimulate them to take action. 

Social Media vs Website: Why Brands Think Social Media Pages Can Replace A Website Studies show that 44% of small businesses rely on social media to create brand awareness while another 41% relies on it to create revenue. This is most likely the reason why some brands are starting to believe that social media can replace domain names and websites.  Is it possible for a business to replace the domain name and website with social media handles? Yes. Is it advisable? No. Small businesses should have fully functional social media pages, but they must never replace a website. We explain this in the following social media vs website discussion:

Not All Your Clients Are On Social Media As popular as some social media platforms are, some people still prefer not to be on them due to many reasons. Some find it too intrusive and would rather keep their personal lives private while some do not have the time. Some people, especially those in the older generations do not even know how it works or how to use it. What if your potential clients fall into one or more of these categories? How would you engage them? There are currently over 2 billion social media users in the world but those are a mere fraction compared to the entire world’s population. What if your client falls into the category of people who find social media intrusive? How will you tell them about your products and services except through a website? 

Social Media Policies Are Always Changing The creators of social media apps usually have certain value propositions in mind when creating these apps. With time, they keep analyzing feedback and consumer behavior to know which policies to review.  This happens a lot and could affect your business in so many ways. If you are part of the 41% of businesses who rely on social media to generate revenue, then this might become a serious problem for you.  Take, for instance, you sell jewelry and usually post videos of your satisfied clients wearing jewelry bought from you on your Instagram story to gain new leads. Imagine that you have been doing it for close to a year and have been getting leads only for Instagram to take down the story feature and replace it with something else. You may lose a lot of clients due to this. If you had a website, on the other hand, you can effectively share videos of clients on it. And unlike the Instagram story, which disappears after 24 hours, it will always be there until you decide to take it down.

Social Media On Its Own Cannot Build Consumer Trust In every type of business, it is essential that you try to win the trust of your consumers. According to a survey, one out of every three consumers admits branding trust being one of the top three reasons why they shop with some retailers. Branding your social media pages with your logo and sharing information about your brand can help you advertise your product. However, it will not help you gain the trust of consumers. Social media pages are quite easy to hack due to the fact that your page is still within a domain and you do not have full control over it.  A report found that two out of every three adults have experienced hacking of one of their social media accounts. It appears to be quite easily done based on this information. So many social media platforms seem to have user pages that are usually alike in terms of user information, profile photo, and other features.

This shows that there are no copyright laws or restrictions in terms of using a name that is already in use.  It would result in a serious problem if one of your clients mistakenly interacted with one of these lookalike accounts only to find out that it is a fake.  Perhaps, they have already sent money to the account provided by the hacker and have fallen victim to their scheming.  They will find it hard to believe that you had nothing to do with it and this might lose some of the trust they have in you. With a website and domain name, it is very easy for you to put out content that most describes what your business is all about.  You can also include a live chat feature in case any clients have questions. All of these cannot be done with just social media; they require the use of a website. 

Social Media Does Not Improve Business Value A lot of people grow their businesses simply to have the pleasure of selling off the business when it has attained its optimum level. Or when they no longer have a need for it. In order to sell your business, you must know its value and be able to prove it to the prospective buyer. This is where assets like having a website come into play. Factors like leads, web traffic, blog, and inbound links are bound to increase the value of your business. The best way to promote the value of your business in case you need to sell is by having a fully functional website. 

Social Media Gives You Less Control  A high percentage of people who use social media for their business use it as an inbound marketing tool.  It is actually a tool that really works as a lot of users rank social media as their primary means of finding inspiration on which products to buy.  A major limitation of using social media for business is that you have to adhere strictly to all their policies. You might even be required to give them a percentage of the proceeds generated from sales leads they have generated for you.  Even when you need to run giveaways or online contests, it is a must for you to abide by their rules.

Another problem is how easy it is for social media authorities to lock a social media page if they believe that you are doing something wrong. All of these situations are completely avoidable with a website. Your web host would never force you to abide by their rules. You can carry out sales of products via your website, customers can track their orders via your website and you can also analyze trends in consumer behavior from your website. This is not possible with social media. A website allows you to take full charge of your online marketing process.

Social Media Does Not Enable The Use Of Analytics Tools Tools like Google Analytics to allow you to know how your website is doing. It will show what leads were generated and their respective sources, the traffic on your website and the conversion rates of visitors, etc. It also gives you insight into consumer behavior, the locations they search from, the keywords they use, the kinds of devices they use to conduct searches, and what they do with the search results. The essence of analytics tools is to know how your website is performing and also to find out what users do when they are on your website. Although a lot of businesses still underestimate the importance of web analytics as a business tool, more tech-savvy businesses are incorporating it into their digital marketing strategy.

It would be highly impossible to measure these metrics on social media, thus impeding the growth of your business. Your business will only grow if you know what your consumers need and the best way to meet those needs. Social media is unable to provide you with the metrics you need to push your business to the next level. 

Advertising Is Not Free On Social Media Despite the fact that it is free to open most social media accounts, it is not free to promote businesses on them.  In order to create a Facebook page, you do not need to pay any amount of money.  However, before your posts can be shared as a sponsored page on other people’s timelines, you have to pay some money. Though it is usually relatively cheap and can be custom-fitted to your budget, the bottom line is that you need to pay. Websites, on the other hand, offer the opportunity for free advertising in the form of search engine optimization. It is absolutely free and all you have to do for your webpage to rank among the search engine results is to create relevant content; content that matches the words searchers are looking for.  Search engines are really important in the growth of businesses. This survey shows that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. And 47% of people click on one of the first three listings.

Social Media VS Website: Conclusion  Finally, the more you try to compare social media vs website, the more you start to see that both have different functions and one cannot be replaced by the other. However, you should consider linking your social media pages to your website to increase your web traffic. And share engaging content on your social media pages after putting it on your website. James Cummings is a leading digital marketing expert, brand analyst, and business psychologist. He’s an experienced senior manager who has worked closely with global brands to deliver staffing solutions. He has interfaced at board level with FTSE 100 companies and successfully managed multiple web projects across different niches to their full cycle. Working with a team of top-level digital media professionals from around the globe, James’ WordPress portfolio currently spans over 40 properties.

Introduction to LinkedIn

LinkedIn can help you grow your business or career

LinkedIn is a valuable resource for career and business professionals to network; obtain resources and support; and build relationships with potential customers, clients, and partners. It’s ideal for home-based business owners, freelancers, and telecommuters, as it can help them build their business and career, as well as stay connected to the outside world.

Overview of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network specifically designed for career and business professionals to connect. Over 65 million professionals use LinkedIn to cultivate their careers and businesses. Unlike other social networks in which you might become “friends” with anyone and everyone, LinkedIn is about building strategic relationships. Thus, the number of connections is less important than the type of connections. In fact, LinkedIn stops showing your actual number of connections once you have 500 because it’s about quality, not quantity.
 
The site boasts members from just about every country and every industry imaginable. In fact, many Fortune 500 executives are on LinkedIn. The site has some advertising, but it’s not as invasive as other networking sites.
 
Working much like the “Six Degrees of Separation” concept, you start by connecting with those you know and who know you, and through them build a larger network for the purpose of gaining resources, finding freelance work or clients, and building alliances and partnerships. LinkedIn is ideal for building connections for freelance work, a customer base, potential partners, or simply to keep your job prospects open.
 
How to Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn has its own platform and system different from other networks, but learning how to use LinkedIn is no more difficult than learning how to use any other social networking site. Start by creating a personal LinkedIn account and profile.  However, networking on LinkedIn is much different. You won’t find members posting cat videos or pictures of what they made for dinner. LinkedIn is a site for professionals, so everything is geared toward careers and business. As you build your profile and seek out connections, endorsements, and recommendations, you’ll want to be professional.
 
Create a LinkedIn Profile

All you need to get started is to create a LinkedIn login. You can also upgrade to one of the paid LinkedIn subscriptions; Premium Career, Business Plus, LinkedIn Learning, Sales Navigator (three levels), and Recruiter Lite. Using just the basic free services is sufficient for many employees and home business owners and gets you features such as:

Having a professional profile of skills, experiences, and more
Limited insight into who’s viewed your profile
Ability to see 100 profiles per search
Ability to save three searches
 
Upgrading increases some of these features such as seeing more information about who’s viewed your profile, the number of profiles per search, and the number of searches. Plus, upgrades can include additional features such as In Mail credits, which allows you to message people who are not connected to you, and premium filters, which make searching faster and easier. 
 
Once you sign up for a LinkedIn account, either free or paid, you can create your own professional profile. Remember, this is a professional-minded website, so it’s important that information in your profile represents your business or career. LinkedIn is not the place to share cute baby photos or party pictures.
 
Some of the items you can add to a profile include the basics of your resume, a summary of yourself, your contact information, links to your website or blog, your previous employers, published books, and notable projects. Don’t forget to add a professional picture, as people are reluctant to connect with someone without a photo.  
 
Because your LinkedIn profile is like a resume or business card, it’s essentially a marketing tool. For that reason, consider writing a benefits-oriented profile, so potential partners can recognize the advantage of working with you.
 
Once your profile is complete, you can publish it and start looking for “connections.” A connection is a person that you know or would like to know. Essentially, the idea is to create as many direct connections as you can by adding people within your own professional circle and branching out to include their connections. Your connections can also provide introductions to other professionals you might be interested in meeting. Connections can also endorse you for skills and provide you with recommendations.
 
Use LinkedIn to Build a Home Business

LinkedIn can help you to start and grow a home business. It provides you with an opportunity to communicate and collaborate with other professionals interested in sharing business and industry knowledge. It is an efficient tool for locating those who may contribute to the success of your business.
 
LinkedIn allows you to:
 
Have an online resume and business card where potential clients, customers, and joint venture partners can learn about and connect with you.
Get online endorsements and recommendations for your professional abilities and character.  Get introductions to potential clients, customers, and colleagues.

Search available job postings placed on the LinkedIn website by members. While you can also search the web for jobs, through LinkedIn, the big benefit is that many job posts are exclusive to LinkedIn: They aren’t advertised elsewhere. Those postings often have a requirement that you have one or more LinkedIn recommendations. Additionally, there is a chance that someone within your LinkedIn network already works there or knows someone who does, increasing your chances for an interview.
 
Join various groups that align with your interests and participate in discussions. Having a group in common with another LinkedIn user is one way you can invite others to your network. Each group discussion contains its own job listings. Further, it’s a place to share your expertise and build the trust and rapport needed to cultivate new clients and customers.
 
Staying connected with the outside world isn’t the only benefit of LinkedIn. Learning how to use LinkedIn and maximizing all it offers can provide strong professional connections and boost your online reputation better than most other social networking resources.

BY RANDY DUERMYER
The Balances MB