Website or Social Media: Where You Should Focus Your Attention

A lot of businesses ask us, “should I focus my attention on getting a website up and running or on my social media presence?”

Every hour of the day counts for a small business owner. So, what's more important - your website or your social media presence?

Ideally, you would work on both because each has different goals. But let’s be real: you have limited time and resources, and you have to fit in face-to-face time with your clients.

So what should you do?

Let’s start by talking about the beauty of each avenue.

Build your brand on social.

Social media is all about branding. You are communicating who you are, what you do and why you do it. The best way to use social media is to connect with your audience and inform them.

For example, if I’m thinking about buying a house or a car or a bicycle, something that I don’t purchase often, I’m going to talk to my friend. If I’ve been following you for three years on social media and you’ve worked on building a rapport with me, I’m going to be buying that car from you.

Ultimately, it is a great place to build rapport and connection with customers.

Get found quickly with websites.

Websites get you found by people who are at a transactional point. In other words, if someone has a need that must be addressed quickly, you will want to be the first local business that pops up on their Google search.

For example, if my son’s front tooth gets chipped by a frozen tennis ball during a neighborhood road hockey game, you’d better believe I’m hopping on Google to find a dentist quick. There will be no Brent Burns look-alikes in my house. The dentist with the strongest website and best SEO is going to be the one I call.

(p.s. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the components of your website that get you ranked higher in searches.)

Which should you focus on?

Ultimately, both a strong social media presence and a website can help anyone.

However, if you are a service-based business that people are going to look for, start with your website.

And if you are a product-based business that is a longer term sales cycle, start by building relationships through social media.

We’d love to hear: where are you going to focus your attention over the next two months?