Do you need a website if you have Facebook?
By Arian Cruz4 min read
Yes, you need a website even if you have a Facebook page and a Google profile. A website is the only one of the three that you own, and the one Google and ChatGPT can read page by page.
A customer in Clute searches "water heater repair near me" at 9 p.m. and finds your Google profile. They tap "Website," get a Facebook login screen, and call the next plumber on the list.
A Facebook page and a Google profile feel like enough because they cost nothing. The bill shows up as calls you never knew you missed.
Here is what each one does for a local business in Brazoria County:
| Facebook page | Google profile | Your website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can shut it off | Meta can restrict or unpublish it | Google can suspend it for breaking its guidelines | Only you, on a domain in your name |
| Room to explain what you do | Posts that scroll away | One short description | A page for each service and each town |
| Cost | Free | Free | The build, plus about $12 a year for the domain |
Who owns your Facebook page?
Meta owns your Facebook page; you only run it. Meta's own documentation for developers says it "may warn or restrict pages," set them to read-only, or leave them "completely disabled and unpublished."
One report, one flagged post or one hacked admin account, and the page your customers know goes quiet while you wait on an appeal.
Nobody can unpublish a website on a domain in your name but you. Keep Facebook, just as a billboard on someone else's street, not as your home address.
Is a Facebook page a website?
No. A Facebook page is a profile inside facebook.com, under Meta's rules, and some customers get a login screen before they see it.
The common mistake: putting your Facebook link in the "Website" field of your Google profile. A customer who was one tap from calling you lands on a page that may ask them to sign in. Use that field for a site you own, or leave it empty until you have one.
Not sure what your Google profile links to right now, or which towns it shows up in? The free visibility check tells you. We answer within one business day.
What does a website give Google that a Google profile can't?
A website gives Google links and room. Google's help page on local ranking says prominence is "based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have."
A Facebook page collects likes, not links from the chamber of commerce or the local news.
A Google profile holds one short description. A website holds a page per service and a page per town. That matters here: as we explained in Lake Jackson vs Clute, Google treats towns a few minutes apart as separate markets. A Clute page on your site gives Google a reason to show you in Clute.
Can you reach the 32% of the county who search in Spanish?
You reach them with a Spanish page that stays up. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 32.3% of Brazoria County is Hispanic or Latino, and some of those customers search "plomero en Lake Jackson," not "plumber Lake Jackson."
A Spanish post on Facebook drops out of the feed in a day. A Spanish page on your website keeps answering that search and tells the customer, before they call, that someone will understand them.
Can ChatGPT find your business without a website?
ChatGPT search is built to surface websites. OpenAI's documentation says its crawler, OAI-SearchBot, "is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features."
Some customers ask ChatGPT "who fixes AC in Angleton?" before they open Google. Clear pages for your services, towns and hours give ChatGPT something to read and quote. A Facebook page gives ChatGPT far less.
What should you check today?
Three checks you can run yourself in about ten minutes:
- Look up who owns your domain, if you have one. If a past web designer or a cousin registered it, move it to your name first.
- Open your Google profile and read the "Website" field. If it says facebook.com, change it or leave it empty.
- Search your main service in Spanish plus your town, like "plomero en Lake Jackson." See whose name comes up.
What does Egamroom build if you only have Facebook?
Egamroom's Brand & Website design plan builds you a bilingual website on a domain in your name, with a page for each service you offer.
Every month without a site you own, your Google profile sends customers somewhere you don't control, and the Spanish-speaking third of the county finds someone else.
You also get a site built for the phone and your logo, in English and in Spanish. The site goes live about a week after we get your text, photos and access. You send those. We do the rest.
Your domain, site and Google profile are in your name from day one. Hosting costs $0. You only renew the domain, about $12 a year. The price is published: $2,600 on its own, or $2,000 with any monthly plan.
"But Facebook is free." Keep it. Your website is what your Facebook page, your Google profile and the Spanish search all point to.
Start with the free visibility check: send us your business name and an email. We check what your Google profile links to, which towns find you and whether you show up in Spanish. We answer within one business day. No commitment to buy anything.
Next article: how much local SEO costs for a small business in Brazoria County.
P.S. Free check, answer within one business day. Just your business name and an email: see if my business shows up.