âJust check our Facebook pageâ â I hear this at least twice a week from business owners in Kigali. And I get it. Facebook is free. Itâs familiar. Everyoneâs on it. But a Facebook page is not a business website, and confusing the two is costing you more than you think.
What Facebook canât do
- Rank on Google â Facebook pages show up in Google sometimes, but they rank poorly for service-specific searches. âPlumber Kigaliâ will show websites, not Facebook pages
- Look professional â every Facebook page looks like every other Facebook page. Your competitors have the same blue header, same layout, same comment section
- Display information your way â you canât control the layout. You canât create a service page, a pricing page, or a portfolio gallery that looks how you want
- Work without login â Facebook increasingly nags non-logged-in visitors to sign in. Some people donât have Facebook accounts
- Give you an email address â a website domain gives you yourbusiness.com + [email protected]. Facebook gives you nothing
What Facebook is good at
Facebook is a marketing channel. Itâs excellent for:
- Community engagement and comments
- Running targeted ads to specific demographics
- Sharing news, updates, and promotions
- Customer communication through Messenger
- Event promotion
All of these are valuable. None of them replace a website.
The ownership problem
Facebook can change its rules at any time. Theyâve done it before â organic reach for business pages dropped from 16% to under 2% between 2012 and 2023. The page you built with thousands of followers now reaches a fraction of them unless you pay for ads.
Your website? You own it. No algorithm decides who sees your content. No platform can throttle your reach. No terms of service can shut you down overnight.
Use both, in the right roles
The winning formula:
- Website = your digital headquarters. All information, services, pricing, contact, SEO, email
- Facebook = your marketing megaphone. Engagement, ads, community, updates
- Link Facebook to your website (not the other way around)
- Drive Facebook traffic to your website where you control the experience
A website costs about RWF 30,000/month from providers like Kisimenti. Your Facebook page costs nothing â but it also gives you nothing that you own. Invest in the foundation first, then amplify with social media.