1 September 2025 1:19 pmThere have never been more choices for communicating your marketing messages online. What's more, every platform is full of ‘experts’ promising algorithm busting strategies for instance financial success. All for a price of course.
While social channels can help tell a story and gain followers for niche markets and demographics, turning followers and likes into sales is another thing altogether. For a start, social media is global. Follows and likes can come from all over the world, including from bots and click farms. Few, if any, come from genuine, local customers who are likely to buy.
Email marketing is a powerful tool. Perhaps the most powerful direct marketing communication there is. But email lists don’t magically appear, they need to be built. You can certainly try buying lists (if GDPR means nothing to you…), but what do you really know about the owners of the addresses on the list? They probably don’t know you at all, so it's going to be a long job to build trust with them. In sales terms they are, at best, ‘cold’ leads.
So, what’s the answer? Increasingly, smart marketers are building online sales strategies with their website at the centre. The reasons are clear and unequivocal. Let's dive in…
Websites deliver credibility
Starting a social media page takes seconds. Enter some basic details, throw up a couple of candid pictures and you’re up and running. Keeping and building a social media presence takes a lot of effort, as can be seen by the number of businesses with stagnant social pages.
A website takes more effort. You’ll need to register a domain, buy hosting, design and build the website, and make sure it’s looking good and says what you need it to say. That effort is rewarded with instant credibility when a potential customer finds your website.
Let’s take a simple example. You’re in a new town looking for a restaurant and you do a quick Google search. One result has a website with a full menu, customer testimonials and some lovely, mouth-watering, pictures. Contact details are there, as is a booking form etc. Then there’s another restaurant, but that only has a Facebook or Instagram page. There are some customer pictures of the menu from two years ago and a few mixed comments. Which one are you going to book?
A website tells your story properly
Social media platforms deliver posts in random and disconnected orders. You have no control over what your potential customer might be reading, or when. Social media also tends to prioritise the scandalous. Heaven help you if someone has something less than positive to say!
With a bit of planning and careful execution it’s easy to guide website visitors through your site, answering their questions and always putting your best foot forward. You can deliver illustrations of how your product answers customer needs and show examples of happy customers. With a bit of good design, you can integrate appealing images and speak in the language (and voice) that will resonate best with your likely potential customers. You have control.
Your website features in search results
We all do it. Whenever we need a bit of information, we go straight to Google search. Its why SEO is such a big topic, because strong results deliver strong traffic. Despite what social media companies might tell you, when it comes to high value or complex products, people rarely shop on social media.
Another example - a search today for ‘buy hi-fi amplifier’ on Google delivered no social media results on the first ten pages. None at all. Retailers, manufacturers, forums and magazines were all there, but no social results.
Your website can be in front of your customers anytime they search with Google (and other search engines), your social activity will not.
Your website delivers email signups
We said earlier that email marketing is supremely powerful if you have a rich list of interested people. If you are careful (by which I mean no ‘instant’ popups, please…) you can easily collect email subscribers with your website. There’s lots of ways to achieve this, from simple signup boxes, delayed popups, special deals, promotions, events invite etc. When it comes to email signups from a website you can be, at least reasonably, assured those who signup are potential customers.
Getting signups takes effort, rarely do people give away their email address quickly. However, once you have a legitimate address it can be an incredibly powerful way of informing subscribers when new products, events and specials are available. However, perhaps more importantly, you can use newsletters to builder a deeper and more powerful relationship with your customers, sharing less ‘salesy’ news. Your website is working for you all the time.
Where social media posts have a vanishingly short shelf-life, your website is omnipresent, working for you night and day, no matter if your physical business is open or not. From simple things like contact forms and newsletter signups, to full purchases via eCommerce transactions, it’s an investment that is always ready to deliver.
In addition, your website traffic can tell you a great deal about your visitors and potential customers. Services like Google Analytics or Microsoft Clarity can be added easily (and for free) and they will tell you more about your visitors than social platform can even dream of. Want to know where your visitors are coming from, what age group they are or even what device they are using? No problem with website analytics!
Wrapping up
There is little doubt in my mind that an investment in your website is the most important money you will spend when it comes to digital marketing in 2025. Our website clients enjoy a constant source of quality customer traffic, enquiries, information delivery and positive brand building. In a world of short-term consumerism your website is one of the few online assets that delivers value for money over the long term. If you’d like to know more about building, maintaining, or fine-tuning a website for your business feel free to get in touch.
