I get asked this every week, usually by an owner whose Facebook page is doing well and whose accountant has just asked why they're spending money on a website too. Here's the honest 2026 answer - including the cases where Facebook genuinely is enough.
Side by side
| Capability | Facebook page | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Rented from Meta | Owned by you |
| Ranks in Google for service+area searches | Rarely | Yes, if built right |
| Cited by AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity) | Rarely | Yes, with schema |
| Service-specific landing pages | No | Yes |
| Custom forms, calculators, booking | Limited | Yes |
| Analytics you control | Meta's metrics only | Full Search Console + analytics |
| Discovery via social feed | Yes - strong | Indirect |
| Reaches people who don't use Facebook | No | Yes |
| Survives a platform policy change | No | Yes |
When Facebook genuinely is enough
There are three scenarios where I'll tell an owner not to bother with a website yet:
- You're hyper-local and word-of-mouth-driven. Mobile dog groomer in a single estate, freelance childminder, hobby cake-maker - if 100% of your work comes from people who already know you, the website's marginal value is small.
- You're testing a brand new business. Don't spend £49/month on a website to see if the idea has legs. Run it from a Facebook page for 6–12 weeks first.
- You're winding the business down. If you're 18 months from retiring, the ROI on a new website doesn't make sense.
When Facebook absolutely isn't enough
- You want to rank for "your service in your town" - Facebook pages almost never do.
- You serve customers who don't use Facebook - and that's a growing share of the UK market under 25 and over 60.
- You want to be cited by AI search engines - they pull primarily from indexable, schema-rich web pages, not Facebook.
- You want to survive Meta changing its algorithm or your page being suspended - both happen, both regularly.
- You want to put your URL on vans, business cards, leaflets and quotes that send people to your destination, not Meta's.
The honest answer for most local businesses
Run both. Use Facebook for discovery, social proof, and community. Use the website as the destination - the address you put on every quote, invoice, van and business card. The website ranks in Google, gets cited by AI, owns your customer relationship, and survives whatever Meta does next. Facebook keeps you visible in the feed.
If you can only run one - own the platform. Build the website. Costs are far lower than most owners assume.
Keep reading
- The complete local web design guide (pillar)
- UK pricing for local web design
- 11 local website mistakes that quietly kill leads
FAQs
Can a Facebook page rank in Google?
Sometimes, for a brand-name search ('Smith Plumbing Newcastle'), but almost never for a service-plus-location search ('emergency plumber Newcastle'). Google ranks pages it indexes; Facebook restricts indexing of most page content.
What if I have a great Facebook following?
Brilliant - keep it. The argument isn't Facebook OR website, it's that a website should be the home you own and Facebook one of several rented channels feeding it.
Isn't a website a lot more work to maintain?
Not necessarily. A 6-page local site needs maybe 30 minutes of edits a month if it's well built. A Facebook page that you actually grow needs hours every week.
Will I lose Facebook traffic by also having a website?
No. The two compound. Facebook drives discovery, the website closes the sale and ranks in Google. People who land on both convert at higher rates than either in isolation.
Do I need both?
If you have to choose one and only one, choose the website - it's the only platform you actually own. If you can run both, do, but treat the website as the home and Facebook as the shop window pointing at it.