From Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Blog, some opinions on using social media instead of a traditional website for your business. Attractive option, particularly for really small businesses – and it is easy to get swept up into all the excitement. There’s a place for Facebook and Twitter in your marketing toolkit, but don’t make it the only tool.

Here are some of the reasons:

1. Control – You can maintain control of your own website built from scratch or with a CMS tool. And you should maintain this control. Don’t leave your important business presence to the mercy of a company like Facebook. Their rules state that accounts are only to be used to represent individuals, and they can wipe out your presence if you violate that rule.

2. Creativity limitations – There are limits to what you can do inside existing social media tools. And there’s a risk that they could also make across the board changes that would impact your business.

3. Search limitations – a custom web site is simply better for bringing in new customers

Ideas to consider instead:

1. Create your web page on a custom domain and add a blog to your site. Link these to your Facebook or Twitter pages.

2. Create a Fan Page under Facebook, where users can post pictures, comments, discussions, etc.

Don’t ignore the social media – used correctly as part of a comprehensive marketing plan it will help you understand your customers better. Find out more about inbound marketing at InboundMarketing.com.

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