In most cases, yes, you need a website too. Social media is great for getting known, but your website is your point of reference: it’s where Google and AI assistants find information about you, where people looking for you find hours, services and contacts, and its rules don’t depend on a social network.
What a website does that social media can’t.
- It helps you get found on Google when someone searches for what you do, even if they don’t know you.
- It gives you a chance to be cited by AI: ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answers mostly read web pages.
- It doesn’t depend on an algorithm: no social network decides who sees it or changes its rules.
- It answers calmly: services, prices on request, frequently asked questions, how to book, all in order.
- It collects contacts with a form, a calendar or a WhatsApp button.
What social media does better.
Getting you discovered by people who aren’t looking for you, showing your everyday work, keeping you in your followers’ minds. It complements the website; it isn’t an alternative.
When social media can be enough.
At the start, for a newly opened business with a very small budget, a well-kept profile can be the first step. But as soon as you want to be found by people searching on Google or asking an AI assistant, the website becomes necessary.
They work better together.
There is no single path that fits everyone: a Ca’ Foscari University of Venice study of small and medium-sized food businesses in north-east Italy (2024) found that small, low-cost experiments, a clear marketing strategy and collaboration with outside professionals all help.
Website and social media tell the story of the same business: same information, same style, each bringing visits to the other. That’s why Aleryc handles website, social media and digital menus as parts of the same online presence, and during the consultation we tell you honestly where it makes sense to start.