Website or Facebook page: which does your trade business need?

If your Facebook page brings in the work you want and customers can easily check your services and contact you, you may not need a website yet. Add a simple website when you need one clear link that explains your business without asking people to piece it together from posts.

If you use both, give each a job: Facebook for updates and conversations, your website for the details customers need before getting in touch. You don't need to write everything twice.

When your Facebook page may be enough

Keep using what works if you're getting suitable enquiries, can keep up with messages and have no trouble showing people the work you do. A decorator with a full diary from recommendations may have little reason to take on another monthly bill.

A Page lets you publish job photos and updates and respond to messages. Meta's Page access guide explains the tools available to people managing it, including posts, messages and insights.

The useful question is whether a new customer can understand your business. Check that your Page clearly says:

Which jobs you take on.
Which towns or areas you cover.
How to contact you, including an alternative to messaging if you offer one.
Where to see a few relevant examples of your work.

You don't have to post every day to answer those questions. Keep the details current and check your messages at times you can manage.

When a website would earn its keep

A website is worth considering when you keep sending the same explanations or photos to prospective customers. You can send one link with the relevant information already in place.

For example, imagine a carpenter who fits alcove cupboards and wardrobes but doesn't take on general repairs. This is a made-up example. Their website could lead with fitted storage, show three finished jobs and explain the area covered. Their Facebook page could show the latest installation and link to those details.

That makes the intended work clear. It doesn't promise that every enquiry will be suitable or that a stranger will find the website on Google.

A website also lets you choose how the information is arranged, within your provider's tools. You can put your services before your photos and keep the contact details beside both. Ask to see how you'd make changes before buying. Our tradesman website checklist covers updates, total costs and control of the website address.

Try this customer-view check before spending money

Copy your Facebook page link into a private browser window where you aren't signed in. If you already have a website, test that too. Use your phone and ask someone who doesn't know your business to try these tasks:

Find out whether you do a particular job, such as fence replacement or bathroom fitting.
Check whether you cover their town.
Find a photo of similar work and understand what you did.
Find a way to contact you that they can use.

Watch where they get stuck. If Facebook shows a sign-in prompt, check whether it stops them reaching the details they need. Test your actual Page rather than assuming every visitor will see what you see while signed in.

Fix unclear wording or missing contact details first. If the information is there but still awkward to find, that gives you a specific job for a website: make those answers easy to reach from one link.

If you use both, keep the workload small

Put the lasting details on your website: services, areas covered, selected job photos and how to enquire. Use Facebook for a new job photo, a useful update or a genuine change in availability.

Here's an illustrative post to adapt using your own work, with the customer's permission:

Finished these fitted wardrobes in [broad area] this week. We built them around the sloping ceiling to make use of the space. For examples of our fitted storage and the areas we cover, see [website link]. To ask about a job, [your preferred contact method].

Keep your business name, phone number and service area consistent in both places. When something changes, update both. You can reuse the same job photos; choose the clearest examples for the website rather than copying every post across.

Keep your own copies of the photos and wording. If someone helps manage your Facebook page, choose the access they need. Meta's access guide warns that someone with full control can remove other managers or delete the Page. Someone helping with posts may need less access than that.

Treat Google Maps as a separate task

Neither a website nor a Facebook page automatically creates your business listing on Maps. Eligible businesses need to claim or add a Google Business Profile and complete verification to manage it. Google's getting-started guide covers businesses that visit customers as well as those with premises.

Our Google Maps guide for tradespeople explains the steps. A website can provide more information from the listing, but buying one doesn't guarantee a Maps position or a Google Search ranking. Google's SEO starter guide is explicit that even inclusion in its search index isn't guaranteed.

Judge the choice by enquiries you can use

Ask new enquirers how they heard about you and what they looked at before contacting you. Someone may get your name from a neighbour, check Facebook, then use the phone number on your website. If they tell you that, note all three steps.

Look at whether the enquiries match your services and area, and whether you're spending less time repeating basic information. Likes and page visits alone won't tell you that. If your current Page already does the job, keep it useful. If it doesn't, write down the missing answers before choosing a website provider.