Your own website or just Instagram? What your business really needs
Instagram is a great shop window, but it isn't yours. Here's when it's enough and when it's costing you customers.
Patrick Uribe · Granada · · 6 min read
Instagram helps people discover and remember you; a website helps them find you on Google and choose you. If your customers search for you by name or by service, you need both. A simple one-page website already covers the essentials.
Many small businesses run on Instagram alone: a florist with beautiful photos, a hairdresser with a full diary or a workshop showing off its work. And it works, until it doesn't. Then comes the question: “Do I actually need a proper website?”
There's no single answer, but there are a few keys to deciding sensibly.
What Instagram does really well
- Getting discovered by people who didn't know you existed yet.
- Showing your work with photos and videos, day by day.
- Building closeness: people see who's behind it.
For a visual brand, it's essential. The problem isn't Instagram: it's relying on it alone.
What Instagram can't do
Show up on Google
When someone searches for “birthday cake in Granada” or “bespoke carpenter in Granada”, Google doesn't show them Instagram profiles: it shows websites and Google listings. If you don't have a website, that person who already wanted to buy ends up with your competitors.
Explain clearly what you do
Prices, services, FAQs, how to get there, how to order. On a profile all of that is scattered across posts, highlights and the bio. On a website it's organised and can be found in seconds.
Be yours
Your profile depends on another company's rules: a change in the algorithm can cut your reach overnight, and a blocked or hacked account leaves you without a shop window. Your website and your domain are yours.
When Instagram is enough, for now
- You've just started and are testing whether the business works.
- All your customers come through word of mouth or because they walk past.
- You sell very few products and manage fine through messages.
Even so, create your Google profile now: it's free and puts you on the map. I explain how in the guide to showing up on Google Maps.
Signs you already need a website
- You answer the same questions over and over by message: prices, opening hours, how to order.
- People ask for quotes and you have nowhere to show your work in an organised way.
- You want to sell beyond your neighbourhood or beyond your city.
- Your competitors show up on Google and you don't.
- You want to sell online with payments and shipping, without doing everything by hand.
You don't have to choose: make them work together
Ideally, Instagram attracts and the website converts. The link in your bio leads to the website; the website links to your Instagram so people can see your day-to-day. That's how businesses I've worked with do it: pocoestudio shows its renders on Instagram and has the full portfolio and contact page on its website; Studio Tablas shows the workshop on social media and sells its furniture in its online shop, in five languages.
Instagram introduces you. Your website closes the sale.
Where to start without overspending
You don't need a huge website. A one-page express website, with your services, photos, location and a WhatsApp button, already covers the essentials and shows up on Google. If you want to know what it would cost, here are my website prices, and on web design I explain how I work.
FAQ
Can a business run on Instagram alone?
It can, especially at the start or if customers come by word of mouth. But without a website you don't show up when someone searches for your service on Google, and you depend on another platform's rules.
Which is better for selling, Instagram or a website?
They do different things: Instagram gets you discovered and a website gets you found and chosen. What works best is using them together.
What's the simplest website I can have?
A one-page website with your services, photos, location, opening hours and a WhatsApp button. It's quick to build, affordable and already shows up on Google.
Do I have to stop using Instagram if I get a website?
Quite the opposite: the link in your bio should lead to your website, and your website should link to your Instagram. They strengthen each other.