Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?

You do not have to have a website if you have Facebook, but if your Facebook page is your only home online, you are relying on a page you do not own to answer the questions customers ask first. A simple website fixes that: it is yours, anyone can open it without an account, and it puts what you do, what it costs and how to reach you in the order you choose.

That does not make Facebook a mistake. For a lot of small businesses the answer is both, with each doing the job it is good at.

What a Facebook page does well

A Facebook page is free and quick to set up. It is good for news, photos of recent work, offers and messages from people who already follow you. If your customers are local and most of them already know you, it may be bringing you work right now, and there is no reason to stop.

You do not own the page

The page sits on Meta’s platform under Meta’s rules. Its terms say it can remove or restrict access to content that breaks them, and can suspend or permanently disable an account (Meta’s terms, checked October 2026). Its help pages add that a Page can be taken down or have limits placed on it if it does not follow the Community Standards (Facebook Help Centre, checked October 2026).

It is also worth checking who has full control of your page. If the only person with it is a former employee, or a relative who has since stepped back, sort it out now while you can still reach them.

A website can be different. If the domain is registered in your name and the hosting is in an account you control, you can move both to another company whenever you like, and the site does not depend on any one platform’s rules. If you are not sure who controls your domain, this guide shows you how to check.

Answering the first questions

Someone thinking about hiring you usually wants four things quickly: what you do, where you work, roughly what it costs, and how to get hold of you. A website can put all four at the top of the first page, on a phone, in plain words.

On a Facebook page, those answers tend to end up spread across posts and comments. Your prices might be in a post from last spring, and your service area in a reply to someone. Even when the information is all there, the visitor has to dig for it.

Being found by people who do not know you yet

People who already know your name can find your Facebook page. People who do not know you search for what they need, such as a plumber in Stockport or a counsellor near them, and a website gives you pages of your own that answer exactly that, such as a page for each service you offer, with the areas you cover written out.

I cannot promise any site a particular place in Google, and nobody honest can. Google’s own guide says no one can guarantee a top ranking (Google Search Central, checked October 2026). What I can do is make sure each page says clearly what it is about, in the words people search with. A free Google Business Profile helps as well (checked October 2026), and it works best when it matches your site. If you work from home, this guide explains how to set one up without showing your address.

Everyone can open it

A website opens for anyone with a browser, whether or not they use Facebook. They do not need an account, they do not need to sign in, and they can send you an enquiry without messaging a business through a social network. Some people will happily use Messenger. A contact form, a phone number and an email address cover everyone else.

When a Facebook page is enough for now

There are good reasons to wait. If you are testing an idea, if every job comes from people who already know you, or if you have more work than you can handle, a website can come later. In that case, spend ten minutes making sure the page has your phone number, your area and an up to date description, and set up your free Google Business Profile.

The time to stop waiting is when people ask for your website, when you want work from people who have never heard of you, or when you notice you are explaining your prices and your area in the same messages over and over.

Using both

The simplest setup is a small website as your home, with your Facebook page for news and photos. Link each to the other. Put your website address on the page, and a link to the page on your site, so people who find one can find the other.

A first site does not need to be big. Mine start at £500 for up to three pages, which is enough for what you do, who it is for, and how to get in touch. The domain is around £10 a year and hosting for a normal site costs nothing, so there is no new monthly bill. The prices page has the details, and how much a small business website costs compares the other ways of getting one.