Make your own website the command centre of your online marketing, and link your social media pages to it. You control your website, but the platform controls your social media page: what shows, when and to whom.
Learn this skill in the course Digital Marketing (MC-DM).
Signs that you depend too much on one platform
- Your only online presence is a Facebook or Instagram page.
- Your posts reach fewer people each month, unless you pay.
- Customers cannot find you when they search on Google.
Website and social media page compared
| Your website | A social media page | |
|---|---|---|
| Control | You own it. You decide what to show, when and for how long. | The platform owns it. It decides if, when and to whom your content shows. |
| How people find you | Search, at the middle and end of the buying journey, 24 hours a day | News feeds, in a short time window |
| Strengths | Can rank in search results. A central hub for offers, articles, videos, FAQs and product data. | Fast sharing of content of public interest. Paid ads can find the right audience and build awareness. |
| Risks | Not found if it does not rank: people need the URL | Few connections, lost likes, or a ban after a complaint |
Use the website as your command centre in four steps
- Get your own name. Register your domain name and business email.
- Make the website easy to find. Optimise it for the words that your buyers search for.
- Publish once, share everywhere. Publish each post on the website first, then push it to all or selected social media pages.
- Drive people to your location. Put offers on the website that bring people to your shop, mall outlet or office (online to offline, O2O). Keep reviews and testimonials on your own site.
Build and run the website yourself: learn it in WordPress for Digital Marketing (MC-WP). Set up the domain, DNS and business email in Advanced WebOps (MC-AWO).
Social media still has a role. Use it for awareness and to bring people to the website. But keep your main content, your offers and your customer data on the site that you control.
What to do this week
- Search for your main product and your town on Google. Check if your website shows.
- Put a link to your website on each of your social media pages.
- Publish your next post on the website first, then share it.
