I have a Facebook page. Do I still need a website? A stall in someone else's mall versus your own shop
The page gets likes and people message about the menu. Everything looks fine. But some customers come looking for opening hours, can't find them, and quietly go elsewhere, and the shop never finds out.
Key points
- A Facebook page is good for getting seen, posting daily updates and talking with customers.
- On a page, posts are ordered by time, so information that rarely changes, like hours, prices and location, gets buried under new posts.
- A website belongs to the business, keeps decision-making information in the same place, and can show up in Google search.
- Shops that use both well let the page get them seen and talking, and let the website help people decide and act.
- Answering the same questions every day, or struggling to take bookings and orders in chat, are signs it's time for a website.
Nine o'clock on a Thursday night, a woman on her sofa types the name of a café a friend recommended into Google. She only wants to know two things: what time it opens tomorrow, and whether there's parking.
The first result is the café's Facebook page. She taps it. The pinned post at the top is last year's Christmas promotion. Below it, beautiful latte art, on and on. Twenty-odd posts down, she finds one with opening hours, but it's from before the café changed them.
She closes the app and decides to go to the place she always goes.
The café owner will never know this happened. The page still gets likes and people still message about the menu. Everything looks normal. There are a lot of shops like this, and one of the questions owners ask us most is: I already have a Facebook page, do I still need a website?
A Facebook page is a stall in someone else's mall
Picture a stall in a big shopping mall. Lots of people walk past, you reach customers who'd never heard of you, it's quick to set up and cheap to run. Those are the strengths of a Facebook page, and they're real.
But the mall has its own rules. The mall decides who walks past your stall. The same kind of post might be seen by lots of people today and barely anyone next month, without the shop changing a thing. You can only arrange the stall the way the mall allows. Putting your price list at the front, where everyone sees it first, is hard, because a page sorts things by when they were posted, not by what customers need to know first.
And on the day the account gets locked or hacked, which you hear about often enough, the whole shop disappears at once: photos, reviews and the channel customers used to reach you.
A website is your own shop. The sign is yours, you arrange things around what customers need, the hours are on the door, and nobody changes the rules halfway. The downside is that people don't wander past on their own. You need signposts, and those are the Facebook page, Google Maps and LINE you already have.
What a Facebook page does better than a website, and why to keep it
This isn't an argument for dropping your page. A page does some things much better than a website.
A page gets you seen by people who don't know you yet. People share, friends tag friends. Shops that post regularly genuinely win new customers here. A website doesn't get that kind of passing traffic.
A page is right for things that change every day. Today's special, sold out of cake, closing early because of heavy rain. A short post takes seconds.
A page is where people talk. Customers comment, message, send photos of their visit. That feeling that the shop is alive happens here.
If your page already works well, keep using it. A website doesn't replace it. It takes on the jobs a page is bad at.
What customers can't find on your page but should find on your website
The job a page does badly is answering the questions customers use to decide. What time do you open, where are you, is there parking, how much is it, how do I book? This information rarely changes, yet on a page it sinks under new posts every day.
On a website, it stays in the same place. People see it on the first screen, without scrolling or messaging to ask. And when someone searches Google for something like "café with parking", a site that spells this out has a better chance of being found than a post from last year. The AI assistants people are starting to use to find places also rely on information on sites like this to answer.
Then there's anything with steps: booking, ordering, signing up for a course. On a page, you do it in chat, which is fine while the shop is small. Once ten people are messaging at once, bookings start slipping through. Which pages a site should have is covered in what pages a business website needs.
Using a page and a website together, each with its own job
Shops that use both well split the work clearly. The page is for being seen and talking. The website is for deciding and acting.
In practice: put your website link in the page's info and in a pinned post. Post the new menu and say the full price list is on the website. When someone messages with a question you've answered before, reply briefly and include the link to the page with the answer. Do this for a while and regulars start checking the site before they message.
When your hours change, update the website and your Google Maps pin first, then post about it on the page. Information has to be right in the places people come back to check. The page is for announcing that something changed.
When a Facebook page alone is enough, for now
There are times when a page really is enough. If you're just trying out selling, making handmade things for people you know, or taking a few orders a week, there's no rush. Spend the time making the product good.
The signs that it's time for a website usually come from your own chat:
- You answer the same questions several times a day, like prices, hours or delivery areas
- Customers ask "Do you have a website?" or want to see all your prices
- You want to show up when people search on Google
- You can't keep up with bookings or orders in chat
If two or more sound familiar, a website will probably give you back more time than it takes to set up. Where to start is in our business website guide for owners.
Your own shop doesn't need to be big, it just needs to be yours
A first website doesn't need dozens of pages. One page that says what you do, when you're open, where you are, roughly what things cost, with a LINE button, already does the job. What matters is that it belongs to the shop. Nobody changes the rules halfway, and it doesn't vanish with a locked account.
woowey builds websites for businesses on a monthly plan. If you already have a page, just tell us what your business does. Our team starts from your Google Maps listing, builds the site, adds a LINE button, and when your hours or prices change, you can update them yourself. Just tell us that much, and we'll handle the rest.
Next Thursday night, if the woman on the sofa types the café's name into Google again, the first result might be the café's own website, with tomorrow's opening time and the parking on the very first screen. And she might finally try that latte.
Frequently asked questions
I have a Facebook page. Do I really need a website?
While the business is very small, a page alone can be enough. Once you're answering the same questions every day, want to appear in Google search, or can't keep up with bookings and orders in chat, a website helps a lot, and it works alongside your page.
What's the difference between a Facebook page and a website?
A page is good for getting seen and talking with customers, with posts ordered by time. A website belongs to you, keeps the information customers use to decide in the same place, and can show up in search results.
What should a shop do if its Facebook page is locked or hacked?
Follow Facebook's account recovery steps, and have your own channels, such as a website or LINE OA, in place before it happens so customers can still reach you.
Where should I put my website link on my Facebook page?
In the page's info section, in a pinned post, and in the replies you use for questions customers ask often.
The woowey team
We build websites and systems for businesses
We build websites, booking systems, online stores and back offices for Thai businesses, then look after them every month. What we write here comes from what we see working with real shops.
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