The short answer
Not always. If your work comes from referrals and repeat customers, and you're booked as far out as you want, you can wait. A Facebook page plus a free Google Business Profile can carry you for now. If people find you by searching for what you do, compare you to two others, and decide before they message you, the website is doing the selling. Right now you don't have one. Here's what each of the three does, from Google's and Meta's own pages.
What a Facebook page does well
It's free, it's fast to set up, and people you already know are on it. Posting a photo of today's special or a finished deck takes a minute from your phone. Customers can message you, leave a review, and tag you in their own posts. It also shows up in Google when someone searches your business by name.
Where a Facebook page stops
The first limit is reach. Meta's help center defines organic reach as the number of people who had an unpaid post from your page enter their screen. Under "Why has my Page's organic reach dropped?" it lists what reach depends on. How people engage with your content, how they engaged with similar content before, the quality of the content, the time of day, and whether people are on a phone or a computer. It also says it's normal for reach to change. In plain terms, your followers don't all see your posts, and you can't make them.
Meta's definition of organic, paid and post reach Read Meta's help page on reach (opens in a new tab).
The second limit is ranking. Meta's Transparency Center explains that Feed is personalized for each person by machine learning systems that score every post. Those systems use thousands of signals and more than 100 prediction models. Pages you've liked count as "connected content" and go through that scoring like everything else. Your post competes with everything else that person follows, every time.
Meta's explanation of how Feed ranking works Read Meta's Transparency Center page (opens in a new tab).
The third limit is ownership. Meta's Terms of Service say Meta can remove or restrict access to content. It can also suspend or permanently disable an account it decides has breached its terms. You keep the rights to your photos, but the page, the followers and the address live on Meta's servers under Meta's rules.
Meta Terms of Service, sections 3.2 and 4.2 Read the Meta Terms of Service (opens in a new tab).
Then there's the page itself. Every Facebook page looks the same: a cover photo, a profile picture, a feed. You can't put your phone number in the top right of every screen, build a page for each service, or lay out a price list your way. Facebook also gives Google one page to rank, titled with your business name. A search like "deck builder Sheboygan" wants a page about deck building in Sheboygan, and a feed of posts isn't that.
What a Google Business Profile does
Google's getting started page says a Business Profile lets you manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge. Customers see your hours, photos and reviews, plus a link to your website. If you do one thing after reading this, claim and verify the profile. It's what people see when they search "plumber near me" from a phone.
Google's getting started page for Business Profile Read Google's Business Profile overview (opens in a new tab).
Google also explains how it ranks local results: relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence, in Google's words, is based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up. That's where the profile and a site work together. The profile is the listing. The site is what it links to, what other sites link to, and what Google reads to learn what you do.
Google's page on improving local ranking Read how Google ranks local results (opens in a new tab).
The profile is a form with fields Google picks. Google's edit page lists a business description capped at 750 characters, up to three phone numbers, hours, photos, and a website field. You fill in the boxes. You don't design anything.
Google's page on editing a Business Profile See the fields a Business Profile has (opens in a new tab).
Google also used to give every profile a free one page website. Google's own help page, published ahead of the change, said that in March 2024 websites made with Google Business Profiles would be turned off. Visitors would be redirected to the profile until June 10, 2024. It called them basic websites powered by the information on your Business Profile. Google has since rewritten that page, so the archived copy is linked below. There's no replacement. The website field on your profile has to point to a site you set up.
Google's notice that Business Profile websites were being turned off (archived) Read Google's shutdown notice (opens in a new tab).
Side by side
- Facebook page
- Free. Quick posts and messages from your phone. Reviews and tags from customers. Meta scores who sees each post and can restrict or remove the page. One layout for every business. Shows in Google mostly for your own name.
- Google Business Profile
- Free. Puts your hours, photos, reviews and map pin on Google Search and Maps. Ranked by relevance, distance and prominence. Limited to Google's fields, like a 750 character description. Has a website field but no site of its own since March 2024.
- Your own website
- Costs money to build and keep up. You choose the layout, the pages and the words. One page per service or town for Google to rank. Forms land in your inbox. Gives the profile a website link and gives other sites something to link to.
When Facebook and a profile are enough for now
Be honest about where the work comes from. You can hold off if most of these are true:
- Most new customers come from referrals, repeat business or walk ins, and you're as busy as you want to be.
- People search for your business by name. A name search already lands on your page and your profile.
- You sell something people don't research first. A seasonal farm stand doesn't need a five page site.
- You post often and your followers show up. If the page is working, keep working it.
- Cash is tight and the next $500 has a better use, like the tool you rent every week.
In those cases, put your energy into the profile. Fill in every field, add photos, and ask happy customers for reviews. Google's local ranking page says both help you show up.
When it's time for a site
- People search for your service, not your name. "Roofer Plymouth WI" needs a page about roofing in Plymouth, and Facebook can't give Google one.
- Customers ask the same questions over and over. Hours, service area, what's included, how to book. A site answers them once.
- You've lost a page before, or a friend has. Rented space is fine until the landlord changes the locks.
- You want quote requests in your inbox, with the customer's address and photos, instead of a buried Messenger thread.
- You're quoting bigger jobs. Someone spending real money on a fence wants to see your past work before they call.
A site doesn't replace the page or the profile. Keep posting on Facebook, keep the profile full, and put the site's address in both. The site becomes the place everything points to, and the one place you set the rules.
What a site costs with Graphyte Agency
We build a free homepage mockup in 2 business days, so you see your own site before paying anything. Sites start at $500 and the exact quote comes with the mockup. After the build, a monthly plan covers the domain, hosting and updates, and we handle all of it. Every site is built to load fast on a phone and send every form straight to your inbox.
How much a small business website costs Read the cost guide.
What a small business website needs Read the checklist.