Using a Facebook Fan page for your business’s website? Well, nearly a decade ago almost every single business would advertise on commercials how you can find their Facebook fan page and follow all their updates, that ship sailed years ago along with cargo pants and Avril Lavigne’s popularity.
What is the reason for that you ask?
As Facebook continues to crack down like Stalin at a freedom March by limiting overall reach to fan pages across in order to force them to buy ads to keep their failing business model at status quo, people are getting less and less updates from the pages that they actually follow.
Which means, if you own a business that is only using Facebook fan pages as your method to reach customers, you’re killing your business!
Here are some of the top reasons using Facebook as your business website is actually hurting your business.
1. Not everyone uses Facebook, and millennial’s refuse to use it.
For starters, Facebook has officially peaked according to recent studies. Although around 68% of Americans have Facebook accounts, including your annoying aunt who replies to everything, that number has not only stopped growing, it’s actually started declining as millennial’s are becoming less apt to even sign up to the social network juggernaut because their parents are on it. So if you have a website or product that is catered to millennial’s, Facebook is definitely not your go to network in order to promote it.
Apparently millennial’s just don’t want mom and dad spying on them, or grandma constantly sending them pokes and replying how cute their grandson is to every picture they are tagged in.
So, unless you’re only looking to acquire clients that only use Facebook you may want to start looking elsewhere for traffic and leads to your website.
2. You have zero control over Facebook fan page updates.
Perhaps you’re running a mightily successful fan page on Facebook already, now let’s say tomorrow they update the algorithm that prohibits your posts from being seen to the fan base that you’ve built up over the last several years. What can you do about it? Absolutely nothing unless your name is Mark Zuckerberg and you have a huge stake in the company.
As I just said in the previous portion of this list, Facebook is doing all they can in order to boost ad revenue, that means that your posts are not going to be seen by the massive amount of followers that are actually interested in what you have to sell.
3. Your Facebook fan page generally looks like everybody else’s.
You might be able to edit the cover photo and the main image for your fan page, but the rest of the page looks exactly like every other page on Facebook. Unlike MySpace years ago which allowed you to actually edit the color scheme, and rearrange the theme entirely, Facebook prohibits this from happening in order to keep Facebook branding everywhere, which means that your page looks exactly like everybody else’s and allows zero brand identity once you scroll past the cover photo.
So how are you going to differentiate yourself from every other Facebook fan page in the same genre when your page looks exactly like theirs?
It’s simply not going to happen no matter how many angry form posts you make requesting those features in the Facebook forums.
Related: BAD WEB DESIGNERS ARE CRUSHING YOUR BUSINESS, HERE IS WHAT TO LOOK FOR…
4. You are paying for ads to keep Facebook users on Facebook.
While most companies actually own websites in order to direct possible leads from Facebook, those of you who are using Facebook fan pages as your main business page are actually crippling your business by prohibiting those users from coming to a website that engages users with calls to action that are meant to increase your revenue.
So while you may be spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars a week in order to ensure that your business is being seen by as many viewing eyes as possible. Those users are actually staying on Facebook and have absolutely no encouragement to do anything aside for see your ad, possibly like it, and then forget about it once they skim past your ad in their feed to be forever forgotten, unlike that time you fell face first into the wall at school while trying to show off your dance moves.
This is why people design landing pages that are specifically designed to engage those who are coming to your website. As I briefly spoke about above, calls to action are designed for that sole purpose.
5. People might think you’re cheap. A Facebook fan page is free!
It’s basically common knowledge that Facebook is completely free. Which isn’t sending the right message to your potential customers if that is the only website you have to advertise your business on.
If you see someone selling apples right out front of an apple orchard that has a sign that says free apples, chances are you are going to think that person is trying to rip you off. So why would you have your business doing the exact same thing to millions of potential clients?
Having a custom website actually boosts your company’s credibility by saying you cared enough to actually go out and purchase the domain, have a website designed, add content that explains what you do, and even took pictures of those plum seeds you’ve been carving into little baskets for your creepy doll collection.
A website is actually one of the pillars that help numerous businesses grow, a Facebook fan page is merely a method that of grabbing traffic.
So why would you limit yourself by not having a custom website designed? It makes no sense.
6. Facebook users may never return to your Facebook fan page…
Facebook users who see your fan page once are less likely to ever click on your page again.
Even users who actually like your business page are known for never coming back to your business page because of the reach issue that we explained earlier on how Facebook wants you to purchase ads in order to reach all of your followers.
When this occurs, Facebook actually believes that those users who see your posts a few times and ignore them might actually not really want to follow your posts at all, so they begin displaying them less and less in your followers newsfeed.
Eventually, they won’t see your posts at all!
7. Your Facebook fan page advertises your competition.
Have you ever looked on the right-hand side of your fan page and noticed that you have competing businesses that are in the same genre as you are? Well, that’s costing your business according to numerous statistics that show most people are actually going to click several of those ads before they stumble upon a business there willing to contact.
So, while your own personal site wouldn’t do anything that stupid, your Facebook fan pages doing that on a daily basis in order to ensure that Facebook users stay on Facebook.
So next time you decide to make a post that goes viral on Facebook, just remember that “Related Pages” feature on the site is actually increasing your competition’s revenue as well.
8. You need to update constantly in order to stay relevant.
While you can have a website that constantly grows due to proper search engine optimization, your Facebook fan page actually needs to be updated regularly or else you begin to lose your reach and possibly even begin to lose followers who see that you’re not as active as you should be.
What is this mean for you? Time and money needs to be utilized properly in order for you to help Facebook stay in business while hoping to snatch up some of their users as potential clients for your business.
This is part of the reason we offer social media management and marketing in order to ensure your time and money isn’t wasted.
9. Just a few bad reviews can destroy you.
While most people seem to be honest, you’re always going to come across the few people who are downright liars or have competition that will do anything in order destroy your business.
This is what many Facebook fan page owners have had to deal with over the years because of a negative experience with a customer, or worse, they may have not even been a customer at all.
Now some people would say “just contact Facebook in order to get that review removed”, sure, you can try! But good luck if that person is an established Facebook user who fights back and claims they have proof that your business is a total rip-off.
So if you’re using Facebook as your sole website in order to acquire clients, then every one of them is going to see your bad reviews along with your good ones.
10. Facebook has horrible search engine features.
While you would think a such, a massive website would have a great search feature, it doesn’t. It’s incredibly hard to find local businesses near you if you don’t know exactly how to use the search features properly.
So if you’re looking to acquire clients that are in the 50-year-old+ category, good luck! Since most of these 50+-year-olds have absolutely no idea how to properly use the Facebook search features. Especially on their cell phones unless their 8-year-olds willing to help them out
11. Facebook fan page analytics are absolutely dreadful.
Unless you’re running ads nonstop, good luck finding out exactly how people have come across your Facebook fan page.
Even if you are running ads, the analytics leave out important information that could help you target a more specific demographic during future advertising campaigns.
For example, what’s your bounce rate? How did they find your fan page? Did they come from a search engine or Facebook?
This is important because unless you have the proper data then you’ll have absolutely no idea who you’re supposed to be targeting, and although Facebook has all this information they have absolutely no plans to show it to you.
I guess they don’t want you to know how much information they’re jacking from you in order to sell off to their own customers.
12. Facebook isn’t private.
What if someone is searching for a fertility clinic? Now let’s say they want to get updates from said fertility clinic, they can’t exactly follow the page now can they without giving it away that they’re trying to have a baby and having mom-mom and pop-pop dropping off diapers in ski masks while acting oblivious in person to who did it.
So, needless to say, although it’s a social network, it’s a little bit too social! Some things people just want to keep private and you can do that on Facebook for the most part unless you completely block out people from seeing things that Facebook currently doesn’t allow you to block.
13. Facebook has too much content!
Have you ever scrolled through your feed only to realize that you skipped some of the things that you may have been interested in? That is because Facebook has entirely too much information for normal non-matrix connected people to process as they scroll through their newsfeed.
Which means that your potential customers are probably not even seeing your posts to begin with.
To put it simply, Facebook just has way too many distractions that are doing harm to your business. Now if you compare this to a search engine like Google that has a limited amount of information, and an even more limited amount of pictures, then you can understand the difference and see why most people still rely on Google to generate traffic to their businesses website.
According to stats the average Facebook user has between 300 and 500 friends and follows over 50+ fan pages. That means you’re competing with at least 350 to 550 other people on a regular basis that are constantly running up to your potential customer like a flasher showing them pictures, reading them news, or showing them videos. While your personal website would only have what you want it to have showing the customer.
Huge difference!
In closing…
If you’re honestly looking to grow your business online, look more professional and draw in more customers, do away with the sole focus on Facebook and have your own mobile friendly, search engine optimized website developed in order to properly advertise your business and products.
Facebook should only be used to facilitate leads to your actual website, not to be the main method in which those clients are acquired and communicated with.
Just keep in mind that Facebook’s goal is to earn revenue while forcing your business to pay them for people that already follow you. While a custom website is geared specifically to generate income by engaging potential customers with information about your business, how they can contact you in an assortment of ways, view all of your products and even book your services.
None of which Facebook can do as properly as a custom website. Most importantly, a custom website will not be advertising your competition on the sidebar.
So what are you waiting for? Get a custom website designed today!