Warning: This post is inspired by an episode of GirlBoss.
Girl Boss on Netflix is my new guilty pleasure. Not only the bitch got the attitude, but there are some hidden business tips that are valuable for small businesses. Hell, it even inspires me to write a blog post!
For those who are not familiar with the show, Girl Boss is a story about a girl (loosely inspired by Sophia Amoruso, the Nasty Gal’s founder) who set up a business on Ebay selling vintage clothing at age 23, and became went on to be named one of “the fastest growing companies” by Inc. Magazine in 2012. In 2016, she was named one of the richest self-made women in the world by Forbes.
Anyway, on this particular episode, her Ebay store was suspended so she couldn’t run her business. She went on a soul searching trip, and decided to build her own website. “Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t. But it will be mine”.
Facebook and Ebay are great for social interaction and brand awareness, but should they replace your own website?
The short answer is NO. Although Facebook and Ebay are free to set up, relying solely on these third party platforms can be costly in the long run. Don’t get me wrong – they are great to grow awareness. But as you know, your posts can disappear in the most saturated newsfeed, the messages from the customers can get lost on the world wide web, and most importantly….
….your page DOES NOT belong to you.
If they decided to close your account for some reasons, you are doomed. You will loose your customer database, your sale records and the actual venue to sell your products.
Oops.. that’s no good!
Facebook or Ebay does not provide maximum brand experience as your own website.
Sure it has your logo, branding, your voice when you post all the status but it still has the Facebook/Ebay logo on the top of the page. It would not have the complete branding experience that a dedicated website will. Getting to know you is one of the important steps that your customers want to experience before committing to purchasing from you. It is about building a trust. A website with well-executed branding and user-friendly experience will help you build that trust. You want them to feel the values that you will bring to their lives and feel resonate with you before they commit to make a purchase.
Your important information is always not readily available on the Facebook or Ebay, while you can add as many information and pages you like on your own website.
Your website is the main hub for people to learn about you. Whether they want to know more about yourself (About Us), or how your process, learning more about your products and service, all they need to do is find it on your website, rather than scrolling down that long feed of Facebook. There are some limitations also on what you can add on Facebook and Ebay and sometimes the most valuable information got lost in there.
Facebook & Ebay does not help your SEO
A great SEO guru once said that when people ready to make a purchase, they don’t turn into Facebook to find the best place to buy. Instead, they use Google search engine.
A dedicated website has Google on your search. You can maximise the search engine optimisation on your own website but not on Facebook. It enables you to tailor your content to the exact phase and keywords that your potential customer are searching for.
So what is the conclusion?
In short, Facebook and Ebay should be tools used to maximise your sales and leads but not your main tool. They are great to get people to interact and building your brand but it does not replace your own website. In this saturated facebook and eBay competition, your dedicated website is a must have, a necessity.
As Sophia would say:
