For some businesses, a Facebook page is enough. If your customers already know you and reach you by messaging you there, a page can carry the whole business.
It stops being enough the day you need somebody who does not know you yet to find you on Google and call. Here is where that line sits, what a page leaves out, and what a small website costs if you land on the wrong side of it.
Who a Facebook page is enough for
I will not talk you into a website if you are one of these:
- Your work comes from people who already know you. Regulars, referrals, your neighborhood group. They already have your name.
- You are just starting, or this is a side business. Facebook does not charge to use it, so a page is a good place to begin while you find out whether the work is there.
- What you sell changes every day. A food truck, a baker with this week's menu. You post it on Facebook anyway, and that is probably where your customers are looking.
If that is you, keep going. Just make sure the phone number and hours on your page are right.
What a Facebook page leaves out
If you want new customers, and not only the ones you already have, a page has gaps. Where a point comes from Google or Facebook, their page is linked at the bottom.
Google sends people to whatever is in the Website box
When somebody searches for your business, Google shows your Business Profile with a Website button. Whatever you put in that Website box is where the customer lands when they tap the Website button. Some local Google profiles send that button to a Facebook page. Try yours: search your business name on your phone and tap Website, if it is there, to see where a customer lands.
If you ever made a website through your Google profile, on an address ending in business.site, it is gone. Google turned those sites off in March 2024, and its notice said that after June 10, 2024 visitors would get a "Page not found" error. If that old address is still on your Facebook page, your cards or a directory listing, it now sends people nowhere.
What a logged-out visitor sees on a phone
I opened my own business page on my phone, in a private tab, without logging in. Facebook put up a box asking me to open the app or log in. I could close it with the little X and scroll the page, so a customer is not locked out, but they meet Facebook's pop-up before they meet you.
That is one page, on one phone, on one day, and Facebook changes what it shows. Take it as what I saw, not a rule.
Who owns and controls the page
A Facebook page lives on Facebook's service, under Facebook's rules. Its terms say Meta, which owns Facebook, can remove content that breaks its rules, and can suspend or permanently disable your account if it decides you clearly, seriously or repeatedly broke them. It says it will tell you and explain how to ask for a review, with some exceptions.
Inside the page, Facebook's help says anyone with full control can give or remove other people's access, including yours, or delete the page. It also says a page with nobody holding full control is deactivated and scheduled for deletion (access works differently for a page that is part of a business portfolio). So find out today who has full control of yours. If the person who set it up was an old employee, a nephew, or a web person you no longer talk to, that is worth knowing.
A website address is different. With me, the domain is in your name from day one, and once the build is paid, the site is yours to take anywhere.
What a small website adds
A small site does one job: when somebody searches for you, it gives them the answer, with no log-in pop-up in the way. On my Starter site, that means:
- Your hours, address and what you do, on one page. It stays put. A post scrolls down and gets older every day.
- A phone number that calls when tapped.
- A contact form that goes to your phone.
- Your business details set up so Google reads them correctly.
- An address that is yours to put in that Google Website box.
What it does not do is make Google send you customers next week. Climbing in local search takes months. The site is the foundation, and the climbing is separate work, which I explain on my Local SEO page.
What it costs
The one-page Starter site is $750 to build, one time. Every live site needs hosting, which is $95 a month, month to month. Hosting keeps the site online and includes up to 30 minutes of changes a month, like new hours or a new photo. If $750 up front is too much, the build can be spread over 12 months at $62.50 a month, added to the hosting. The site is yours at the 12th payment. If you stop before then, it comes down after 30 days and the files stay with me. Every number is on my pricing page, and the bigger sites are there too.
A Facebook page costs nothing, so this is real money. It is worth it if you want new customers from Google, knowing the site is the start and the climbing takes months. If you do not, go back to the first section and keep your money.
The middle path: keep Facebook, add a front door
You do not have to pick one. Keep Facebook for what it does well: posts, photos, and messages from people who already follow you. Then point your Google Website button at a small site with your hours, address, services and a tap-to-call link.
Google also lets you add a Facebook link in a separate spot, under Social profiles, so Facebook can stay on your profile too. Google says that spot may not be on every profile, so check whether yours has it. Changing the Website address means editing your profile, and Google's page on editing your Business Profile explains the Website field.
That way the customer who finds you on Google lands on a page that has the answer, and the customer who follows you on Facebook keeps seeing your posts. My portfolio walks through one client's first website and what happened next, and the websites page shows what goes into one.
Not sure which side you are on?
Text me at (405) 458-0864, or call if you would rather talk. Tell me what you do and how customers find you now. If a Facebook page is enough for your business, I will say so. If it is not, I will tell you what a small site would do for you and what it costs. No pressure either way.
One person, start to finish. When you text, you get me. Not a rotating tech, not a call center.
Sources (as of October 30, 2026)
- Google: Edit your Business Profile and Manage your social media links.
- Google's notice that websites made with Business Profiles were turned off. Google has since replaced that page, so this is the copy the Internet Archive saved on June 26, 2024.
- Meta Terms of Service, effective January 1, 2025.
- Facebook Help: About Facebook Page access.