Does a Horndean Business Need a Website, or Are Facebook and Google Enough?
A lot of businesses in and around Horndean do fine on a Google listing, a Facebook page and people talking. This guide says when that is enough, when a website starts to pay for itself, and what to sort out first either way.
A Horndean business does not always need a website. If word of mouth, a Google Business Profile and a Facebook page keep you as busy as you want, that can be enough. A website starts to pay when you want enquiries from people who do not already know you, across several services and nearby villages. Either way, complete your free Google profile and check your free Horndean.co listing first.
See the £500 website build ↓The short version
Not every business needs a website. If recommendations, a Facebook page and a Google listing already fill your diary, a website will not add much.
It earns its keep when you want customers who have never heard of you. Those people search for a service and a place, and a Facebook page rarely turns up for that.
When you can leave it
You are fully booked. You work for one or two regular customers. You are about to change what the business does. In any of those cases, keep your Google profile in good order and look again later.
When a website starts to earn its keep
You want more enquiries than word of mouth brings. You are known in Horndean but want work in Clanfield, Rowlands Castle or Cowplain as well. You offer several services and people only think of you for one. You are paying for leads and would like to stop. Customers keep asking where they can see your work.
What Google and Facebook are good at
A Google Business Profile puts you on Google Maps with your hours, phone number and reviews. It is free, and for "near me" searches it is the first thing to get right. If you do only one thing, do this, and ask your customers for reviews.
A Facebook page works for people who already know you. It shows recent jobs, takes messages and keeps you in mind.
Where they fall short
Neither gives you a page for each thing you do. Someone looking for one particular service in Catherington or Lovedean is shown pages about that service in that place. A profile and a social page cannot be that page for every service and every village you cover.
You do not control them either. A page can be restricted or lose its reach, and the layout and the rules change without anyone asking you.
They also give AI assistants less to go on. Tools such as ChatGPT build local answers from web pages that say plainly what a business does and where, together with review ratings. Reviews plus a clear website give them more to work with than a social page alone. More on that in getting your Horndean business recommended by ChatGPT.
Free things to do this week
Finish your Google Business Profile. Then look for your business on Horndean.co and check the details are right, or add it for a free basic listing if it is missing. Both put accurate facts about you in front of search engines and AI assistants at no cost.
If you decide you want one
Read how websites are priced before you ask anyone for a quote. If you run a trade, see what a trade website needs.
For firms to ask, Waterlooville.co ranks web designers on their Google reviews. It is the list for neighbouring Waterlooville, not a Horndean ranking, though it includes some firms in Horndean and Clanfield. The publisher of this guide also builds websites: a £500 one-off build that you own outright.
About this guide
Horndean.co is published by Dean Keating, who is based here in Horndean and whose business builds websites. That means we have an interest in the answer being yes, and the advert below is for his own service. We have tried to say plainly when the answer is no.
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