Short answer: yes.
Longer answer: Facebook is useful, but it’s not yours. And that matters more than most small business owners realise until something goes wrong.
What Facebook Is Good For
Let’s be fair — Facebook has its place:
- Discovery: People browse local groups and recommendations
- Updates: Easy to post quick news, changes, photos
- Community: Groups build connection and repeat customers
- Reviews: Social proof matters, and Facebook reviews are visible
For a lot of Macedon Ranges businesses, Facebook is where locals find you. That’s not nothing.
The Problem With Building Your House on Someone Else’s Land
Here’s the thing: you don’t own your Facebook page. Facebook does. And they can change the rules, the layout, or the algorithm whenever they like.
We’ve seen businesses lose access to their own pages because of:
- Hacked accounts they can’t recover
- Facebook’s automated systems flagging legitimate posts
- Policy changes that hide business posts from followers
- Simple login issues with no human support to fix them
When your only presence is on Facebook, you’re one locked account away from disappearing from the internet entirely.
What a Website Gives You That Facebook Doesn’t
You own it. Your domain, your content, your rules. Nobody can move the furniture or lock the door.
Google can find it. People searching “web design Macedon Ranges” or “coffee Gisborne” won’t find your Facebook page. They’ll find websites.
It looks professional. For some customers, “Facebook only” reads as “small hobby business.” A website signals you’re serious.
Booking and contact forms actually work. No comment threads to scroll through, no “message us and we’ll reply eventually.”
Email addresses. You can collect newsletter signups and actually reach people — not just hope Facebook shows them your post.
The Smart Approach: Both
We’re not saying abandon Facebook. We’re saying don’t rely on it exclusively.
Use Facebook for what it’s good at: community, quick updates, local discovery. Use your website for what it’s good at: credibility, search visibility, and owning your own space online.
They work together. Your Facebook page can link to your website. Your website can embed your Facebook feed. But if one disappears tomorrow, the other keeps working.
Starting From Scratch?
A simple website doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. For most small businesses, we’re talking a few key pages:
- Home (who you are, what you do)
- Services or menu
- About (your story, your team)
- Contact (phone, email, location, hours)
That’s it. You can add more later, but that core set does most of the work.
Want to talk through what you’d need? We’re based in the Macedon Ranges and we work with local businesses, not corporates. We can tell you honestly whether a website makes sense for you right now — no pressure either way.
