Instagram vs Website: The battle of the giants
But which one is better for your business?
Let’s have a look at both of them to help you make a decision.
And if you don’t have 3 min to read then see our recommendation below.
Round 1: The Website
Trust
There’s no better way to establish your credibility with potential customers than with a website. You’re real. You exist.
People searched for businesses like yours in their area and they found you – with a little Search Engine Optimization (SEO) help of course. That’s reassuring.
Validation
There’s way more your website can do than just announce your presence. You can showcase your existing clients.
Write case-studies. Get testimonials.
Simplicity
It’s never been easier or more affordable to have a professional website built exactly how you want it. Why buy off the shelf when you can have bespoke?
Read I wrote about that here.
Control
You make all the decisions. It’s your shop window, how you dress it up is down to you. Your design. Your content.
Cost
Yep. You do have to pay for the domain, the hosting, and of course the designing and building of your site. There’s more information about that here.
Round 2: Instagram
Free
An Instagram account is free to set up and use. Everyone loves free stuff, so you know, why not. It only costs you money if you want to post actual ads. Which is good.
Pictures
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So if you’ve got stuff to show then Instagram is a fantastic platform to show it on. No boring stuff, please. Remember who you’re talking to.
Features
You can share videos of any length with IGTV, and if you’re feeling brave enough even do a live stream. Don’t forget the hair and make-up. And remember to rehearse.
Growth
The more followers you have the more likes and shares you’ll get. So again, make sure you post good stuff. The bigger the audience, the bigger the sales potential.
Control
You don’t own Instagram, the gazillionaire Mark Zuckerberg does. And what he says goes. The content you post and share is limited by the options Instagram gives you. Not so good.
Advertisements
Too many. Ironic, isn’t it? Considering what you want to use it for. It is however a reminder that people read or take notice of interesting things, sometimes that’s an advert. Make yours one of them.
So, what do I think?
To IG or not to IG? That is the question. An emphatic, yes. But use it as support for your website.
Remember, you’re interrupting people’s social feeds. Only share what is interesting. Use it to share new stuff and direct people to your website for more information. It takes valuable time to run an IG account, use it wisely, you have a business to run.
With a website, people are already looking for what you have to offer. Don’t disappoint them when they find you. Don’t overwhelm them with too much detail and don’t underwhelm them with too little. Use the style of the website to guide the look and feel of your IG posts. It helps.
Use SEO to help people find you. You can find out how we can help here.
Easy to find, easy to buy.