As a business owner, you’ve heard about social media and the value of it in your business marketing strategy. You may even have a Facebook page or a Twitter account you use to communicate with your customers. That’s a good start, but without a web page where your clients and customers can visit, you are missing a key opportunity. Consider these reasons to have a site.

#1 – Where Are You Directing Customers?

Chances are good people know of your location, but only if they are in you immediate area. Even more importantly, when your customer shares your image with his or her followers, as is the goal of social media, these potential customers will not know where to go to get that dish.

With a web page, someone seeing your photo can instantly head right to your company’s website. They can check out your menu, pricing, and location. They can even pick up the phone and make reservations. No matter what your business, you want customers to be able to come to your web page to learn more about your location.

#2 –Is This A Company I Can Trust?

There’s no doubt there are thousands of Twitter accounts designed to do nothing more than get you to click on a link. It’s quite bothersome to those who really want to use the site to learn more about a company. If your business is using Twitter or any other social media tool as a way to market to prospective clients, you need to have a web page to avoid being labeled as “one of those companies.”

In other words, if you even take the step to create your own free website, your customers simply will not know that you are a real company they can trust. No matter what you are talking about or who is interacting with you, a simple website allows customers to connect with you. Without it, they simply do not trust you.

#3 –How Can Your Clients Get Involved?

Finally, there’s the key question many businesses using social media fail to ask. What do you want the customer to do? Perhaps you are networking on Facebook. You love talking to people who have stopped in to your location and talked to you. It’s fantastic, but why are you bothering? If you don’t have a website, you are not luring in your customers.

Do you want them to come to your store? Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter? Do you want them to follow your blog, order from you directly or get to know your company? A Facebook page is great, but without the follow through on your site, you are wasting your time.

Do you want them to come to your store? Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter? Do you want them to follow your blog, order from you directly or get to know your company? A Facebook page is great, but without the follow through on your site, you are wasting your time.

Why not use your website to help people “check in” at your establishment on sites like FourSquare? Connecting is the goal, after all. It’s all in the website. Without one, you are not engaging your potential customers enough or encouraging your current customers to come back.

Author Bio:

Joseph Stark Jr. is a freelance writer and blogger by day, focusing on technology and web design niches. By night he is a tech junkie, gym member, and avid comic book enthusiast. When he’s not out in his garage modifying his computer, he’s writing for established companies like CopyForByLines.