Any business that uses Facebook for their website isn't getting my business

[Brian Elfert]

Nope - other way around.
Social media - email/Community Memory predate "forums" - Usenet, by a good 6/7 years.

My point is that I don't recall anybody calling it social media in the Usenet or early forum days. Social media seemed like it started to be a thing about the time that Myspace became big.

[Jason Roehl]

You are kidding right? Never in history has it been cheaper or easier to create a website. If your business can't afford $30 a month, then you've got some serious issues with your business model.

Does $30/month keep your website content up-to-date with product lines and news? A stale website is a dead website. For a mom-and-pop operation that has a retail location open 10-12 hours per day, any web presence that requires more than a few minutes a day isn't likely to be adopted and used to its full potential. A quick post on Facebook at least partially fills that gap.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Yeah - I'll give you that point.
Terms come and go though.

So do perceptions. I recall a lot of businesses I serviced that resisted email and web pages back in the 1990's.

[Mike Null]

Jason

I too, disagree with you about a website. Mine is now up to $12.95 per month (Yahoo) and delivers more than you can imagine with next to no attention. It is not true that a website has to be tended regularly. I sometimes go several months without any updating and it still works just fine.

I too refuse to participate in FB, Twitter and all the others.

[Curt Harms]

You are kidding right? Never in history has it been cheaper or easier to create a website. If your business can't afford $30 a month, then you've got some serious issues with your business model.

And $30/mo. is likely the deluxe model.

[Scott Shepherd]

Does $30/month keep your website content up-to-date with product lines and news? A stale website is a dead website. For a mom-and-pop operation that has a retail location open 10-12 hours per day, any web presence that requires more than a few minutes a day isn't likely to be adopted and used to its full potential. A quick post on Facebook at least partially fills that gap.

Sure does! With the changes made to websites today, and 1 page parallax scrolling pages being the normal now, site's like Wix and Shopify make updating your sites as easy, or easier than updating facebook. We haven't updated our sites in years now and the phone rings every single day from people who found us through our website.

We have an employee that's good with Facebook and I keep having the discussion with them "Our customers don't look on Facebook for our services". When you need a new widget, do you log into Facebook and search for a widget or do you go into Google and type "widget, Kansas City", and sift through the results?

We have never once got a customer from Facebook. Not once, and we do have a Facebook page and it does get updated. We've spent more time on Facebook than our own website, and again, zero sales from it. If we were selling different products and services, maybe it would be worth it, but in general, our customers aren't shopping for services on Facebook, which means if we wiped out our website and used Facebook, we'd cut dozens and dozens of calls out a month from customers and potential customers.

[Val Kosmider]

I am getting entirely sick of businesses that use Facebook as their only website. If your business only uses Facebook you aren't getting my business. More and more Facebook is requiring you to login to see business Facebook pages. I am NEVER signing up for a Facebook account so I guess these businesses just don't want my business.

I went to look at the Facebook page for the local VFW this evening, but now Facebook won't let me see the site without a login. It used to be public. (Not a VFW member, but I eat at their restaurant occasionally.)

Agreed...see below for why!

You are kidding right? Never in history has it been cheaper or easier to create a website. If your business can't afford $30 a month, then you've got some serious issues with your business model.

Agreed...cost next to nothing to have, at least, a basic website about your business. Name, address, phone, product services and hours. I can call/contact of I need more.

I am also in the camp where if I am forced to create an account or use social networking to do business with you, I go elsewhere. It is a choice and there are plenty of choices out there.

Agreed...log in? Nope. I already have pages of "log in" info...including Sawmill Creek! I don't need another log in just to get basic info about your business.

I doubt they'll miss your business. I don't mean that in a negative way towards you, it's your right not to like it but a lot more do than don't.

I think you ought to rethink this idea. There are millions of us who just blow you off as not being serious if you are using FB for your surrogate web site.

I have to admit that I also agree with Brian. If you have a real company you should have a real website with your own domain name and email address at the very least. I expect that most large businesses will think less of your company if your using a social media site to promote your services. That might not be a concern for some but it would be a disaster for me as I rarely do business with the public.

Agreed. This sums it up pretty nicely. If you are scraping by over a few dollars to have a web site, what else are you scraping by on? You probably wouldn't run your store out of your trunk; your web site is your store front window--putting it behind a password is just poor business sense.

IMHO

[Art Mann]

The problem isn't just Facebook. More and more, woodworking supply websites are requiring that you create an account and log in before buying anything. There is a CNC router bit and tooling website that I quit using, even though they have pretty good tooling at pretty good prices, because they force all customers to have a log in. If I am going to have to log in to every on line store I shop, why shouldn't I just create an Amazon account and buy everything there? Their prices are always competitive and it sure beats keeping up with dozens of useless account names and passwords.

[Brian Elfert]

The problem isn't just Facebook. More and more, woodworking supply websites are requiring that you create an account and log in before buying anything. There is a CNC router bit and tooling website that I quit using, even though they have pretty good tooling at pretty good prices, because they force all customers to have a log in. If I am going to have to log in to every on line store I shop, why shouldn't I just create an Amazon account and buy everything there? Their prices are always competitive and it sure beats keeping up with dozens of useless account names and passwords.

Many online stores require accounts, but some have guest options. I put up with it because I can usually get better prices than Amazon and Amazon does not carry everything.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

Curious...please answer the following questions...

How many of you are age:

less than 30?
30-45?
45-60?
60+?

Use LinkedIn?

[Curt Harms]

The problem isn't just Facebook. More and more, woodworking supply websites are requiring that you create an account and log in before buying anything. There is a CNC router bit and tooling website that I quit using, even though they have pretty good tooling at pretty good prices, because they force all customers to have a log in. If I am going to have to log in to every on line store I shop, why shouldn't I just create an Amazon account and buy everything there? Their prices are always competitive and it sure beats keeping up with dozens of useless account names and passwords.

I use one simple user name and password on all the sites that ask for a user name and password and don't need to. If they want to process and/or store credit card info that's another matter and someplace where paypal is handy. Something that I do find irritating is not showing shipping$ without an account or login. If I'm interested enough I'll do a guest login. 1313 mockingbird lane is a popular street address.

[Bert Kemp]

$3o a month yikes those must be awesome websites. I pay $60 a YEAR and $12 for my domain name.
I can do pretty much what I want to my site. Easy to add pictures and stuff.

Sure does! With the changes made to websites today, and 1 page parallax scrolling pages being the normal now, site's like Wix and Shopify make updating your sites as easy, or easier than updating facebook. We haven't updated our sites in years now and the phone rings every single day from people who found us through our website.

We have an employee that's good with Facebook and I keep having the discussion with them "Our customers don't look on Facebook for our services". When you need a new widget, do you log into Facebook and search for a widget or do you go into Google and type "widget, Kansas City", and sift through the results?

We have never once got a customer from Facebook. Not once, and we do have a Facebook page and it does get updated. We've spent more time on Facebook than our own website, and again, zero sales from it. If we were selling different products and services, maybe it would be worth it, but in general, our customers aren't shopping for services on Facebook, which means if we wiped out our website and used Facebook, we'd cut dozens and dozens of calls out a month from customers and potential customers.

[Duane Meadows]

... Something that I do find irritating is not showing shipping$ without an account or login. If I'm interested enough I'll do a guest login. 1313 mockingbird lane is a popular street address.

I totally agree with you, and on small things the shipping can be the major part of the expense! That to me is a good way to lose a sale.

[Brian Ashton]

Easy to get rid of garbage like pintrest when searching. Just add - (no space between the minus sign and the word) in front of what ever word you want discarded from the search results... you can have multiple disregard words as long as each has the minus sign in front of it. I.e. chippendale -pintrest -facebook... all search results that contain pintrest or facebook will be excluded from the results. I always use that function always cause theres so much garbage on the internet. Wirks on ebay also to get rid of garbage.


I also move on if a web based business puts up such annoyances. Would you enter a store if at the door they required you to sign in and hand over personal details. Too many other businesses I can go to out there that understand you don't hinder the customer to waste time or deal with those that don't

To be honest you'd have to be pretty foolish as a business owner to think you can afford to pass up on making money and increasing profit

[Brian Elfert]

I just discovered that with Firefox if I try to access business webpages on Facebook I get a login prompt every time. If I use Internet Explorer I can view the same Facebook pages with no login prompt. It still doesn't mean I like when companies use Facebook for web pages.