More than half of the 3,626 businesses in the Cessnock council area have no employees at all. That is a lot of people running a business off their phone between jobs, and a Facebook page suits that. It is free, it lives on the phone you already carry, and the people who already know you are on it.
The catch is who a Facebook page reaches. It is built for people who already follow you. Somebody who has just moved to Heddon Greta, or who is planning a weekend around Pokolbin from somewhere else, is not following anybody yet. They are typing what they want into Google, and a website is what gives them something of yours to find.
I build websites from Muswellbrook, up the valley, and I build them from scratch. No page builder and no template, and every price is published on this site, so you can see what a website would cost before deciding whether it is worth having alongside the Facebook page.
A Facebook page is a noticeboard for people who already know you. A website is there for somebody who does not, turning up when they search for what you do, with your hours, your prices and a way to get in touch that does not depend on them having an account or scrolling past last month’s posts.
It is also the only one of the two that is yours. Facebook decides who sees your posts and what a business page can do, and it can change either without asking you. A website sits on a domain in your name, says what you want it to say, and is still there if you ever step back from social media.
You do not have to choose between them, and I would not tell you to shut the page down. They work best together: Facebook for the regulars and the everyday posts, the website for everything a stranger wants to know before they ring you, with your posts pointing back to it.
Where it goes wrong is when Facebook is the only place your hours or prices live, and somebody finds a post from three months ago and trusts it. A website holds the current version in one place. On a monthly plan I keep it that way, so the Facebook page can go back to being the easy part.
The council area is really three kinds of place. Cessnock itself, with Vincent Street as its main street. The towns around Kurri Kurri, Weston and Abermain, with Lang Street for the shops. And the vineyards at Pokolbin, Rothbury and Mount View, where a good share of the customers are visitors planning a trip from somewhere else.
Each needs something a little different from a website. A cellar door or a place to stay is selling to somebody who has never been here and can only go on what they find online. A hairdresser or a shop in town is mostly trying to be the one that turns up when a local searches. The build gets the same care either way. What changes is what goes at the top of the page.
The Hunter Expressway, open since March 2014, is Kurri Kurri’s main road to Newcastle, and a road like that carries customers both ways. It carries competition too: a business from further down the road is one search away from the person who used to come to you.
You should not have to get on a phone call to find out whether you can afford something. Every build is a “from” price, and you get the real number in writing before you agree to anything.
Every build includes your first month of me looking after the site. After that, keeping me on starts at $99 a month, and you can stop whenever you like. What is in each build, the monthly plans and the add-ons are all on the full pricing page.
Nothing I have built is in the Cessnock council area yet, and I would rather say that than blur it. The two below are both live: a recovery studio up the valley in Muswellbrook, and a virtual assistant business that runs online.
Nat’s recovery studio, seven recovery services under one roof. Her customers find what they need and book it from their phone.
“Ben just got it. He took the time to understand my business, what I stand for and, more importantly, how I need to come across to potential clients. His communication is exceptional, he works bloody quickly and he made the whole process feel easy.”
Paige’s virtual assistant business. Small business owners find her on Instagram, land here and get in touch.
“Great experience, my website is exactly what I wanted. Easy to talk to and work with, highly recommend.”
Both case studies in full cover what the problem was, what got built and what it does now.
If the Facebook page is doing the job and you are flat out, you may not need a website yet, and I will tell you so. If you are not sure, ask me before you spend anything.
I work right across the Hunter Valley, and with small businesses everywhere else in Australia.
Tell me about your business and what you’d love it to become. No pitch, just a chat to see if I can help.
