Do you still need a website if you’re on Instagram and Google Maps?
Instagram, WhatsApp and Google Maps can bring in most of the work. Here’s what they don’t give you, and how to tell whether your business needs a website.
Plenty of businesses in the UAE get most of their customers without a website. People find them on Instagram, message them on WhatsApp, and look up the address on Google Maps. So when someone tells you that you need a website, it’s fair to ask: for what?
The honest answer depends on two things: how your customers decide to buy from you, and what you would lose if one of those channels stopped working tomorrow.
What Instagram, WhatsApp and Google Maps do well
Each of them does a real job, and none of them should be dropped.
- Instagram shows your work where your customers already spend their time. It’s quick to update and easy to share.
- WhatsApp is the fastest way for a customer to ask a question and get an answer. For many businesses here, it’s where most enquiries already start.
- Your Google Business Profile, the listing that appears on Google Maps and in search, is free. It shows your address, hours, photos and reviews, and puts you in front of people searching nearby.
For a café, a salon or a local repair service, these three can bring in most of the work.
What they don’t give you
You don’t own them. Your Instagram profile and your Google listing live on someone else’s platform, under someone else’s rules. Accounts get locked, hacked or restricted, and the way back is usually a support form and a wait. If one account is how most customers find you, that’s a risk worth taking seriously.
They don’t answer the questions that win the work. Someone comparing three companies wants to know what you do, who it’s for, what it costs or how pricing works, which areas you cover, and why they should trust you. A grid of posts is a hard place to find those answers.
Google looks beyond your profile. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence uses information from across the web, including links to your business and your reviews. A website gives Google, and the sites that might link to you, something more to go on.
Enquiries scatter. Some arrive by DM, some on WhatsApp, some by phone. Without one place they all lead to, it’s hard to know which channel actually brings in work.
When a profile really is enough
A profile and a WhatsApp number can be all you need when:
- most customers walk in, or come back through word of mouth
- you serve a small area and people decide quickly, as with food, beauty or repairs
- your offer fits into a few photos and a price list
If that’s you, put your effort into your Google profile: accurate hours and categories, good photos, and a reply to every review.
When it stops being enough
A website starts to earn its cost when:
- people compare you with others before buying, and the decision takes days or weeks, as with renovations, clinics, training or business services
- you sell to companies, and their staff look you up before a meeting
- you want to be found by people who don’t know your name yet
- most of your business depends on one account you don’t control
A small website goes a long way
You don’t need a big website. A few pages can do the job:
- what you do, and who it’s for
- proof: work you’ve done, reviews, the people behind it
- prices, or how pricing works
- the areas you cover
- how to get in touch, using the same WhatsApp number customers already use
Link it from your Instagram bio and your Google profile, so each one sends people to the others. Make sure the web address is registered in your business’s name, so it stays yours. Our checklist for planning a website covers the rest.
Three questions to decide
- If your Instagram account disappeared tomorrow, how would new customers find you?
- Do people need more than a few photos and a price to decide to buy from you?
- Do you want to be found by people who have never heard of you?
If your answer to the first is “I’m not sure”, or “yes” to either of the others, a small website is worth it.
Not sure which side you’re on? Book a free 15-minute website check and we’ll give you a straight answer, including when you don’t need us.