The short answer
For most local service businesses, it's not either/or. Your Facebook page is good for staying in touch with people who already know you. A website is better at being found by people who don't, and at turning them into a quote request. The two work best together.
What Facebook does well
- It's free and quick to set up.
- It's easy to post recent jobs straight from your phone.
- Local word of mouth travels through shares, groups and recommendations.
- Customers can message you directly.
If your Facebook page is active, that's a real asset. Don't delete it.
Where a Facebook page falls short
People searching on Google may never see it
When someone types "concrete contractor near me" or "tree removal in [town]", Google mostly shows map listings from Google Business Profiles and regular websites. Facebook pages do appear sometimes, but you're competing on someone else's platform, with little control over how you show up.
A feed is a timeline, not a portfolio
Your best job from last spring is buried under months of posts. A customer checking you out on their phone sees whatever you posted last, not the work that would actually win them over.
Not everyone uses Facebook
Some customers don't have an account, and visitors who aren't logged in are often asked to sign in before they can keep browsing. Every extra step loses a few people.
It's hard to collect the details you need
A message saying "how much for a patio?" starts a long back-and-forth. A website quote form can ask for the size, location, timeline and photos in one go.
You don't control it
Facebook decides who sees your posts, changes its layout without asking you, and accounts sometimes get restricted or hacked. Your website lives at your own domain, and it stays yours.
Bigger customers expect a website
Homeowners planning a large job, property managers and builders often look you up before they call. A real website at your own address looks established in a way a Facebook page alone often doesn't.
What a website adds
- Your own address, like yourbusiness.com, on your truck, cards and invoices
- A page for each service and the towns you cover, which helps Google show you to the right people
- A quote form that collects the details and photos you need
- Your best photos organized by type of job
- A link from your Google Business Profile, which is one of the first things people see in local searches
How to use both
Keep posting jobs on Facebook, and add the best ones to your website gallery. Put your website link in your Facebook page details, and a Facebook link on your website. Link your website from your Google Business Profile. Each channel then sends people to the other, and a customer who finds you anywhere can reach you easily.
Where Google Business Profile fits in
There's a third piece many owners miss: your free Google Business Profile. It's what shows up on Google Maps and in the map box at the top of local searches, with your reviews, hours and photos. It's often the first thing a new customer sees. A Business Profile works best with a website behind it, because the profile can only hold so much. It gets you noticed, then your website answers the rest of the questions and collects the quote request. If you haven't claimed your profile yet, it's worth doing whether you build a website or not.
When Facebook alone is enough
Honestly? If you're booked solid from referrals, you're turning work away, and you don't plan to grow, you may not need a website right now. But if you want more jobs from people who don't know you yet, or you want bigger jobs, a website is the tool for it.
What it costs to add a website
At Weblit Studio we build you a free mockup first, using your Facebook photos and details, so you can see it before deciding. If you go ahead there's no setup fee and the first month is free, then it's $19 a month, or $29 a month with basic automation. No contract, and the domain is registered in your name.
See how this works for a trade that often runs on Facebook alone: concrete contractor website design. We also build cleaning business websites, tree service websites and solar installer websites.