The Hard Truth About Your Facebook Page
Let me tell you about Sarah. She ran a successful cleaning business for three years using nothing but a Facebook page. Her posts got likes, her reviews were stellar, and referrals kept her busy enough. Then one Monday morning, she woke up to find her account suspended. No warning. No explanation. Three years of customer relationships, reviews, and content—gone.
Sarah's story isn't unique. I hear versions of it every month from small business owners who learned the hard way that building your business on Facebook is like building your house on rented land. The landlord can change the rules—or evict you—whenever they want.
Why Smart Business Owners Are Worried
Here's what keeps me up at night when I talk to Facebook-only businesses: you don't actually own anything.
Facebook can (and does) change its algorithm whenever it wants. Remember when your posts actually reached your followers? I do. Back in 2012, a business page could expect 16% of followers to see each post organically. Today? You're lucky to hit 2-5%.
That means if you've spent years building an audience of 1,000 followers, only 20-50 people might see your carefully crafted post about your weekend availability. The rest? They'll never know you posted unless you pay to reach them.
And those costs keep climbing. Facebook has trained small businesses to depend on the platform, and now they're turning the screws.
What Your Customers Actually Think
Here's a statistic that might sting: 84% of consumers say a business with a website is more credible than one with only social media.
Think about your own behavior. When you need a plumber at 10pm because water is spraying everywhere, do you scroll through Facebook? Or do you Google "emergency plumber near me"?
When you're comparing landscapers for a $5,000 backyard project, do you trust the one with a professional website showing their portfolio, or the one with just a Facebook page and some blurry phone photos?
Your customers think the same way. A Facebook-only presence signals "side hustle" or "just starting out"—even if you've been in business for a decade.
The Invisible Customers You're Losing
Let me walk you through the math that changed how I think about this.
When someone needs a service, 93% of them start with a search engine. They type "house painter in Springfield" or "best HVAC repair near me" into Google. Facebook pages almost never show up in those results. Websites do.
So while you're posting on Facebook hoping your 50-person organic reach includes someone who needs their gutters cleaned, there are hundreds of people in your area actively searching for gutter cleaning services—and finding your competitors instead.
These aren't casual browsers. These are people with credit cards in hand, ready to hire someone today. And they don't even know you exist.
The Real Cost of Staying Facebook-Only
Let's do some uncomfortable math.
If you're missing just 2-3 customers per month because they couldn't find you online (or chose a competitor with a more professional presence), and your average job is worth $300:
- That's $600-900 per month walking out the door
- $7,200-10,800 per year in lost revenue
- $36,000-54,000 over five years
A professional website costs a fraction of that first year's losses. And unlike Facebook ads, a website works for you 24/7 without asking for more money every month.
The Winning Strategy: Both, Working Together
I'm not telling you to delete Facebook. Social media is genuinely valuable for engagement, community building, and staying top-of-mind with past customers.
But it should support your website, not replace it.
Think of it this way:
- Your website is your home base—professional, always available, optimized to convert visitors into customers
- Your Facebook page is your neighborhood presence—great for chatting with people and showing your personality
The most successful small businesses I work with use Facebook to drive traffic to their websites. They share snippets and teasers on social, then link to the full story on their site. They collect leads through their website and nurture those relationships through social.
It's not either/or. It's both—with your website as the foundation.
Taking Back Control
If this article has you reconsidering your Facebook-only strategy, you're not alone. Every week, I talk to business owners who are tired of playing by someone else's rules.
The good news? Getting a professional website is easier and more affordable than most people think. And the peace of mind that comes from owning your online presence—really owning it—is worth more than any number of Facebook likes.
Ready to stop building on rented land? [Let's talk about what a website could do for your business →](/contact)