Website vs. Social Media - Do You Still Need a Site in 2024?

The question of whether businesses need a website when they have a solid social media presence is more relevant than ever. With social media platforms boasting billions of users and offering robust business features, it's tempting to think a website might be redundant. 

But is that really the case? Join me as I put both websites and social media under the spotlight to uncover the truth once and for all.

Do you need a website if you have social media?

The short answer is yes. 

You still need a website, even with a strong social media presence. 

While social media advertising offers incredible reach and engagement opportunities, a website serves as your digital home base. It is a place where you have complete control over your brand's narrative and user experience. It is the heart of the ecosystem.

In fact, 73% of small businesses in the U.S. continue to invest in a website in addition to their social media presence. This highlights the continued importance of each touchpoint’s role and having control of your digital property.

Here's why a website remains crucial:

1. Ownership and control: Unlike social media platforms, where you're at the mercy of changing algorithms and policies, you control your website entirely. You decide how to present your brand, what content to showcase, where it goes, and how to engage with your audience. In contrast, with social media, your Page, profile, and images belong to the platform and are housed on its infrastructure. 
2. SEO benefits: Websites can be optimized for search engines, helping potential customers find you when actively searching for products or services like yours. While social media profiles may appear in search results, they don't offer the same level of SEO potential. The bulk of trackable online experiences begin with a search engine as the starting point, making SEO a critical component of your online strategy. SEO works, and when it does, you’ll reap the benefits for a long time. 
3. Credibility: A professional website awards credibility to your business. Many consumers still expect legitimate businesses to have a website where they can find detailed information about products, services, and the company itself. In fact, approximately 4 out of 10 users navigate away from poorly designed websites because they don’t trust them. Heed my call business owners who say, “It can’t be that hard. Why should I pay someone else to make my website?”
4. Detailed information: While social media is great for quick updates and engagement, a website allows you to provide in-depth information about your offerings, company history, and values. Your website is the encyclopedia, and your social media is the Reader’s Digest version. You should use shorter versions of your content on social media and drive traffic to your website for the full version. This back and forth is vital for an integrated ecosystem.
5. E-commerce capabilities: If you sell products, a website with e-commerce functionality gives you more control over the shopping experience and typically involves lower transaction fees than selling through social media platforms. 80% of e-commerce sales in 2024 occurred on the web, not social media, making an e-commerce-enabled website crucial for many businesses. Plus, with retargeting strategies in place, you can increase conversions by up to 150%. You can turn your online store into a profitable selling machine in its own right.

Website vs. social media: key differences

Understanding the key differences between websites and social media can help you leverage both effectively:

1. Purpose:

• Website: Serves as a comprehensive information hub and often includes e-commerce functionality. It’s your online HQ and default digital touchpoint from which your ecosystem connects to everything else.
• Social media: Used primarily for engagement, brand awareness, and quick updates. 48% of users discover new brands and products on social media, and over 35% on search engines. If your website is the heart, social media is the voice and hands of your brand driving connection.

2. Control:

• Website: Full control over design, content, and user experience. You determine where it is hosted and how it works.
• Social media: Limited control, subject to platform rules and algorithm changes. You are simply an account holder on someone else’s website.

3. Audience reach:

• Website: Reaches people who are actively searching for your products or services. However, reaching all of them is impossible simply by being online or running Google Ads on your site.
• Social media: Reaches a broader audience, including those who might not be actively searching for you. As of 2024, there are 5.17 billion social media users worldwide, offering immense potential reach. Posting and advertising on social media makes accessing these people a reality.

4. Content lifespan:

• Website: Content can remain relevant and accessible for long periods. Blog articles have a half-life of 1.95 years.

• Social media: Due to the fast-paced nature of social feeds, content tends to have a shorter lifespan. The average lifespan of social media posts varies widely across platforms. 

Blog posts: 1.95 years

Pinterest: 3.76 months

YouTube: 8.83 days

LinkedIn: 24.3 hours

Instagram: 19.75 hours

Facebook: 76 minutes

X: 43 minutes

Snapchat: 0 due to the nature of the platform. Posts last 24 hours at most before they disappear.

5. Data ownership:

• Website: You own all the data collected through your website. 
• Social media: The platform owns the data, though you may have access to some insights. 

6. Customization:

• Website: Highly customizable to match your brand perfectly. Your website is a blank canvas brimming with possibilities and everything you could do to bring it to life.
• Social media: Limited customization options within the platform's framework. The purpose is to work with what you’ve got to stand out—everyone gets the stock standard and the same options, so you must rely on your creativity to stand out on social media.

How do social media and websites work together?

Rather than viewing websites and social media as competing entities, seeing them as complementary tools in your digital marketing arsenal is more productive. They each have their role to play in a digital ecosystem. Here's how they can work together effectively:

1. Cross-promotion: 

Use your website to promote your social media profiles and vice versa. This tactic creates a seamless experience for users across all your digital touchpoints. For example, you can create a Facebook Business Page and link it to your website.

41% of consumers say they’ve discovered a new product on social media in the last three months. Social media already has a pivotal role in e-commerce, meaning cross-promotion is crucial. 

2. Content synergy: 

Share snippets or teasers of your website content on social media to drive traffic back to revisit your site. Conversely, embed social media feeds on your website to showcase real-time engagement and social proof. Doing this ups your credibility, too.

3. Audience insights: 

Use data from your website (through tools like Google Analytics) and social media insights to comprehensively understand your audience's behavior and preferences. These insights can help you track important social media KPIs. 

Remember that social media and website audiences are fundamentally different. Website audiences are looking for you, and social media audiences may not be, meaning you need to use a different approach when marketing to them. They also reflect various stages of the buying process, which is precious information to glean.

4. Retargeting: 

Use website visitor data to create custom audiences for targeted social media advertising, increasing the effectiveness of your ad spend. Retargeting ads help curb cart abandonment rates, increasing the chances of closing a sale on your website. Use one to catch the other’s audience who slipped between the cracks.

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5. Customer service: 

While your website can provide comprehensive FAQs and support documentation, social media can offer real-time customer service, creating a multi-channel support system. 90% of consumers communicate with brands over social media. Despite the rise of AI, people still want to talk to humans when they’re stuck. Social media allows them to do so, and the loyalty it espouses lasts a long time.

6. Lead generation: 

Use social media to attract potential customers and funnel them to your website for more information or to complete a purchase. Strategies like getting Instagram followers can boost your social media presence and drive traffic to your site. Once you see how significantly each touchpoint can aid each stage of your sales funnel, you begin to fully comprehend the importance of having both.

Speaking of social media advertising, running ads on platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) can significantly boost your online presence and drive traffic to your website. However, effectively managing these ads can be challenging. That's where Madgicx comes in.

Madgicx is the super app for Meta ads, offering marketers an ace up their sleeves with a comprehensive suite of tools to optimize their advertising efforts. One standout solution is the AI Marketer, your personal ad agent that provides actionable insights and tells you exactly what to do to optimize your Meta ads—no more guessing games.

It's like having a team of expert marketers at your fingertips, working 24/7 to improve your ad performance. The AI marketer scans your ad account daily and makes optimization recommendations when opportunities arise. You can implement these suggestions quickly and easily, giving you more time to plan your next ad.

The pressure is on to keep the content wheels turning, so the Creative Workflow is another powerful tool in the Madgicx arsenal. This solution is ideal for consistently creating winning Meta ads. 

It streamlines the entire creative process, from concept to creation, ensuring your ads always hit the mark. In the Ad Library, you can browse for inspiration by brand or ad format, platform, type, or industry. Save your favorite ads to boards to share with your team, or you can have them designed and get them back in 48 hours.

By leveraging these tools, you can create a powerful synergy between your website and social media efforts, maximizing your online impact and driving real business results. Try Madgicx for free to amplify your Meta advertising.

Conclusion

In 2024, the question isn't whether you should choose between a website or social media - it's how you can best leverage both to create a robust online presence. Your website is your digital home base, offering control, credibility, and comprehensive information. Social media complements this by providing engagement, reach, and real-time interaction.

Understanding each platform's strengths and purpose and using tools like Madgicx to optimize your social media advertising can create a robust digital strategy that drives business growth. Remember, in the digital world, it's not about choosing one platform over another—it's about creating a cohesive online ecosystem where each element supports and enhances the others.

To maximize your online presence, consider incorporating Facebook video ads into your strategy and monitoring your Facebook ads' cost to ensure the best return on your investment. Regular social media reports can help you track your progress, and you can adjust your strategy as needed.