{"id":8132,"date":"2021-06-28T09:39:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T09:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8132"},"modified":"2026-08-31T17:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:06:59","slug":"does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Does a Business Really Need a Website and Social Media? Not Always, No\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you start a new business, especially since the start of the pandemic, you\u2019ll be told that you need to be online.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet a website\u201d, you\u2019ll hear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s essential to be on social media!\u201d they say.<\/p>\n<p>Or you might get this recommendation: \u201cYou need to get some Google Ads running!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But is it essential to be on all social media channels? Do you really even need a website?<\/p>\n<p>When we started our business, yes, it was essential. But we\u2019re a marketing agency. It would look kinda crap if we didn\u2019t have a presence on social media, right?<\/p>\n<p>But the thing is, not all businesses need to be prolific on social media, not all of them need a website, need any presence at all. It just depends on your business type and the way you generate leads.<\/p>\n<p>Let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Spaghetti-Does-a-Business-Really-Need-a-Website-and-SM-2.jpg\" alt=\"Spaghetti - Does a Business Really Need a Website and SM (2)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Spaghetti-Does-a-Business-Really-Need-a-Website-and-SM-2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Spaghetti-Does-a-Business-Really-Need-a-Website-and-SM-2-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Spaghetti-Does-a-Business-Really-Need-a-Website-and-SM-2-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Spaghetti-Does-a-Business-Really-Need-a-Website-and-SM-2-768x403.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Does a Business Really Need a Website and Social Media? Not Always, No\u2026<\/h1>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>I Love a Shiny Thing. Don\u2019t We All?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media0.giphy.com\/media\/AxpvyWYDHuIH6\/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47gj4wwa3dqax7yfg5638emabbz97jshq1xzbl7gji&amp;rid=giphy.gif&amp;ct=g\" alt=\"Rotum GIF\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The lure of cool online stuff for your business is constant. Software can be bought for anything, for example. (#ZapierNerd right here!) But just because you can, doesn\u2019t mean you should.<\/p>\n<p>I met a business recently that doesn\u2019t need a website, a Facebook page, a Google listing, an Instagram account or even\u2026 a TikTok profile.<\/p>\n<p>What? Yes, it\u2019s true!<\/p>\n<p>Let me tell you about them\u2026<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re a holiday letting business in Wales, and we recently stayed in one of their cottages. It was in a beautiful and remote area, and the internet was so poor we nearly switched off \u2013 ideal holiday vibes.<\/p>\n<p>But I digress\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Reason They Don\u2019t Need a Website, Google Listings, Facebook Profile and All That Jazz Is That They Already Get Bookings From a Holiday Portal<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media3.giphy.com\/media\/5xtDarqlsEW6F7F14Fq\/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47km0qxrxjinf95pwk7nijxm8cr2v9g8ufnhkyv640&amp;rid=giphy.gif&amp;ct=g\" alt=\"Happy Eddie Murphy GIF\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They just get all their business from that.<\/p>\n<p>It costs them, though. There\u2019s a chunky referral fee taken out of every booking. But it\u2019s cheaper than the alternative.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You see, the alternative is this:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Build a website with eCommerce. Build it, host it, update it, market it.<\/li>\n<li>Set up Facebook, Instagram, and maybe some Pinterest or TikTok to market it.<\/li>\n<li>Post on social media 5-7 times a week and be active in groups locally and nationally.<\/li>\n<li>Create a Google My Business listing and stay active on it.<\/li>\n<li>Set-up some PPC to run ads to the website<\/li>\n<li>Or put a strong SEO campaign in place.<\/li>\n<li>And there\u2019s more\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yeah. That\u2019s quite a lot of work.<\/p>\n<p>Or they could just pay the holiday portal fee and wait for the bookings to come in.<\/p>\n<p>Because the holiday portal has a website and social media, and they do all this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>SEO<\/li>\n<li>PPC<\/li>\n<li>Facebook Ads<\/li>\n<li>Google updates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You see, you might need it all, but you might not be the best one to do it.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same argument for Amazon, Etsy, or Not On The High Street.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have an audience, you have to pay to get one.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, in the long run, a strong stream of traffic to <strong><em>your<\/em><\/strong> website is best, but until then (or maybe indefinitely) it\u2019s faster and more accurate to let the big portals handle it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>I Didn\u2019t Find Our Lovely Welsh Hideaway On a Holiday Portal Though\u2026<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media1.giphy.com\/media\/MOTkF7sT8u2Z2\/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e473td4olx4dc0ng2kfiiqspbd3iz8wx77h9qwmqxy9&amp;rid=giphy.gif&amp;ct=g\" alt=\"Warning R And R GIF\" width=\"395\" height=\"309\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepersonaltravelagents.co.uk\/find-your-personal-travel-agent\/linda-reynolds\/\">personal travel agent<\/a> who booked the holiday finds all her deals in their bespoke travel system and that is most likely fed by the agency website listings, so yes, they do work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The point is this:<\/strong> you might not need a website, or social media, or any self-build social media presence at all.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You might be fine with just social media.<\/li>\n<li>Maybe just LinkedIn is cool.<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re listed as a partner on someone else\u2019s website, that could be all you need?<\/li>\n<li>Or you could just go networking and drive the majority of your leads that way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019ve met and chatted to so many businesses over the years who come to us for marketing when they don\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n<p>What they really need to do is make a better job of referral marketing, direct mail, networking or similar.<\/p>\n<p>The thing to focus on is your business gets leads. Just because you <em>don\u2019t<\/em> get leads from social media, doesn\u2019t mean you will\u2026 or at least it doesn\u2019t mean you will without a tonne of effort that might be best swapped for some cash to a portal or partner to promote you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Welsh Hideaway Did Get Some Leads From Social Media Though\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>I visited their business and (as I always do) I gave them a Google review.<\/p>\n<p>But that didn\u2019t get them business. It did start a conversation with me though.<\/p>\n<p>They read the review and were grateful. They asked me for my opinion and other less honest marketers might have sold them something.<\/p>\n<p>But my advice was this:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStick with the portal as it\u2019s more cost-effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But I did share their other holiday let cabins on my social media. I wanted to show them the power of social media <em>after<\/em> you\u2019ve spent 10 years building an audience\u2026 or just asking someone who has done (me) to shout about them.<\/p>\n<p>I shared this post on my timeline:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsocialmediatodd%2Fposts%2F10223689977509734&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"714\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/SpaghettiBesties\/permalink\/2145716218904042\/\">this post in our Spaghetti Besties Facebook Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And the result was this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>25 leads (so far)<\/li>\n<li>2 confirmed sales (and more to come)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All without them creating a website or using their social media.<\/p>\n<p>The owners don\u2019t have any digital advertising or channels set up for it, but I shared the images on my social media anyway.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve had sales.<\/p>\n<p>How? AUDIENCE; my audience.<\/p>\n<p>As a business you need an audience but just setting up a website, social media, or listing isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n<p>You need a following and engaged one at that!<\/p>\n<p>(Without engagement you get very few eyeballs on your content!)<\/p>\n<p>Of course\u2026 you don\u2019t always need your own one &#8211; you can borrow one! The holiday let have a massive angle for influencer marketing (as proven by a mini test through me).<\/p>\n<p>There are A LOT of ways to use\/grow an audience in your marketing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paid (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads).<\/li>\n<li>Organic \u2013 Google, social.<\/li>\n<li>Shared \u2013 By someone <em>with<\/em> a good audience.<\/li>\n<li>Borrowed \u2013 Paying an influencer to share your product or service.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to build it and wait for them to come.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to create social media and post all day long.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to set up a website or listing and pay to drive traffic to it.<\/p>\n<p>You might need to if it\u2019s the right thing for you, but the point of this post is to find out what <em>is<\/em> right for you.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe paying Amazon ain\u2019t that bad compared to the 12-month SEO campaign?<\/li>\n<li>Maybe the holiday letting agency fees are OK when you consider the cost per click (not even lead) on Google Ads?<\/li>\n<li>Maybe your time is better spent running the business than running your social media, especially if it\u2019s not your thing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Don\u2019t Be Fooled Into Becoming a Digital Marketer!<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media1.giphy.com\/media\/7YDsAexb7o0Ers2d3f\/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47eb56g4igml7tbaq2vbtvjn40ngpx0l8nog1nfdie&amp;rid=giphy.gif&amp;ct=g\" alt=\"digital marketing GIF by Valynt Digital\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Far too many do it and are resentful because they feel they \u2018should post\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>You might not need to.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s right for my business might not be right for yours.<\/p>\n<p>What your competition are doing might not be right for you or working for them.<\/p>\n<p>How would you even know?!<\/p>\n<p>Digital marketing takes time, effort, skill, and creativity.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a farming family in Wales\u2026 maybe it\u2019s best to use other avenues and focus on animal care!<\/p>\n<p>Of course, if you\u2019d love a shiny website, social media, content and a strong digital marketing campaign (and it\u2019s right for you) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/contact\"><strong><em>we\u2019d love to chat<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Just be prepared to be told that we won\u2019t do anything for you unless we think it\u2019ll be the right thing to get you results.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spaghetti Agency: No Bull, Just Beef.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8132 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08-45-28\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.45.28-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.45.28-1024x723.png\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08-50-24\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.24-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.24-1024x763.png\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08-50-34\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.34-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.34-1024x764.png\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08-50-43\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.43-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.43-1024x761.png\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/does-a-business-really-need-a-website-and-social-media-not-always-no\/screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08-50-54\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.54-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-29-at-08.50.54-1024x768.png\" 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Or you might get this recommendation: \u201cYou need to get some Google Ads running!\u201d But is it essential to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,176,175,182,170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-toddstips","category-brand","category-business","category-storytelling","category-websites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8132"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11226,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132\/revisions\/11226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}