A Facebook page is free, most people already have an account, and it's easy to post a photo of today's job. Fair enough. But if Facebook is the only place your business lives online, you are leaning on something you don't own and can't control. None of what follows means dropping it, just that a page on its own leaves gaps.
You don't own your Facebook page
Your page sits on Facebook's platform, under Facebook's rules. They decide how it looks, who sees it, and what it can do, and those things change whenever Meta wants them to. Accounts get restricted or suspended too, sometimes by mistake, and getting one back can be slow and painful.
A website is different. You own the domain (your-business.co.uk) and the site itself, so nobody can switch it off or move the goalposts on you. It is the one part of your online presence that is genuinely yours.
Most people still search Google
When someone needs a plumber, a cleaner, or a tutor in Chandler's Ford, they usually open Google and search, often with “near me” on the end. A Facebook page rarely shows up well for those searches. A proper website, built to be found locally, gives you a chance to appear when people are actively looking for what you do.
We are straight with you about this: a brand-new site won't leapfrog an established competitor overnight. But without one, you are not really in the running for those searches at all.
A website looks like a real business
Like it or not, a lot of people judge a business by whether it has a proper website. A clean site on your own address reads as established and trustworthy. A business that can only be found on Facebook can come across as a side project, even when the work is excellent. For anything where trust matters, and that is most things, your own site quietly does a lot of the convincing for you.
Facebook decides who sees your posts
Even your own followers don't all see what you post. Organic reach on Facebook has been falling for years, and the platform increasingly nudges you toward paying for ads to reach people who already follow you. On your own website there is no algorithm in the middle. Someone who lands on it sees exactly what you want them to, with a clear way to call or request a quote.
It's not either, or
None of this is a reason to drop Facebook. The two work best together. Keep your page for updates, photos, and chatting with regulars, and use a website as your home base, the place that turns a casual look into an enquiry. A good setup points people from your Facebook page to your site, where they can actually book you.
The bottom line
Facebook is a great shop window, but you are renting the building. A website is the one part of your online presence you truly own, and the one most likely to be found by someone searching for what you do. You don't need anything fancy. A simple, fast site that loads well and makes it easy to get in touch is enough to put you ahead of a business that only has a page.