Side by side
Facebook Page, Instagram or your own website, compared
Sources for each row are linked further down.
| What you need to know | Facebook Page | Instagram professional account | Your own website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to set up | Free; ads cost extra | Free; ads cost extra | Free on a builder’s address; your own domain or a designer costs money |
| If you lose access | Appeal a suspension in time; a failed appeal is final | A disabled account is hidden; you may be able to ask for a review | Move provider, if the domain is in your name and you have a copy of the site |
| Seen without an account | Check it yourself in a private window | Profile details: “Anyone on or off Instagram”. Photos and videos: “Anyone on Instagram” | Yes, by anyone with the link |
| Google and Bing | Its robots.txt lets Googlebot and Bingbot crawl most of the site | Photos and videos only from public, professional accounts of over-18s | Every page, with titles and text you write |
| ChatGPT and Perplexity search | Its robots.txt blocks PerplexityBot and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot | The same as Facebook | You choose which crawlers to allow |
| Bookings and payments | Messages and an action button; checkout inside Shops has ended | Messages and links out; checkout inside Shops has ended | Bookings, deposits or an online shop |
| Your customer list | You reach followers through Facebook | You reach followers through Instagram | A sign-up form builds a list you hold |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column →
You can probably skip a website for now if…
- Most customers come from people who already know you, or from repeat bookings
- You’re testing a side hustle and haven’t decided to carry on
- Customers find you by scrolling, not searching: cakes, nails or crafts, for example
- You take bookings and payments in person or by message, and that works
- Your services and prices fit in a short profile and rarely change
- You keep regular customers’ contact details outside Facebook and Instagram
If most are true, complete your profile with hours, contact details and prices. If you meet customers in person, at your premises or theirs, add a Google Business Profile too. Working from home? See getting on Google without a shop address.
You probably need a website if…
- People search for the service you offer, not your business name
- You want customers to book, pay a deposit or buy without messaging you first
- You need to explain prices, what’s included, areas you cover or your terms
- Some customers don’t use Facebook or Instagram, or won’t log in to look
- You’d lose most enquiries if your account were hacked or suspended tomorrow
- You want AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity to find and describe you
Who controls your page, and what happens if you lose it
Meta’s terms say that if it decides you have “clearly, seriously or repeatedly” breached its terms or policies, it may suspend or permanently disable your access, and may permanently disable or delete your account. Its help pages say:
- A suspended Facebook account isn’t visible to anyone and you can’t use it. You can appeal within 180 days, though the limit varies by region. If you don’t, or the appeal fails, it’s permanently disabled and you can’t ask for another review. Meta can also disable an account without suspending it first (Facebook Help Centre).
- A disabled Instagram account is no longer visible to others. You may be able to ask for a review by logging in (Instagram Help Centre).
- Hacked accounts start at facebook.com/hacked, on a device you’ve logged in from before, or instagram.com/hacked (Facebook’s guide, Instagram’s guide). A Page you manage has its own recovery form, which you can use only while logged in and soon after losing access.
You manage a Facebook Page by switching into it from your own Facebook account. If you can’t use that account, you can lose control of the Page too, unless someone else has full control.
Free tools can close, too: Google turned off websites made with Google Business Profiles in 2024. A domain registered in your name can move with you; see who owns your website and domain.
Protect what you have, whichever you choose
- Turn on two-factor authentication for every account you use for the business.
- Give a second person you trust full control of your Facebook Page.
- Download a copy of your Page now and then. The link expires after four days, so save the file when it arrives.
- Keep customers’ details somewhere you hold. For marketing emails or texts to individuals, including sole traders, the ICO says you need specific consent, unless they bought or negotiated to buy something similar from you and you offered a simple opt-out when you took their details and in every message (ICO guidance, under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act).
Can people without an account see your page?
Partly. Instagram’s web help page says anyone can see a public account’s profile and posts at instagram.com/yourname. Its public and private accounts table is narrower: your profile photo, name, username and bio are visible to “Anyone on or off Instagram”, but photos and videos on your profile only to “Anyone on Instagram”. For a Facebook Page, we found no clear answer in Meta’s help pages, so look for yourself:
- Open a private or incognito window on your phone, so you aren’t logged in.
- Search for your business name and open your Facebook Page and Instagram profile.
- Check your hours, prices, phone number and latest posts show without a log-in prompt in the way.
If your prices or phone number are hard to find without logging in, a single web page with those details will help.
How each shows up on Google, Bing and AI assistants
Facebook. Facebook’s robots.txt file, the public instructions a site gives to crawlers, lets Googlebot and Bingbot crawl most of the site, so a public Page can appear in Google and Bing.
Instagram. Instagram asks search engines not to index photos and videos, except public posts, reels and story highlights from 1 January 2020 onwards, on accounts that are public, professional and held by someone over 18.
A website. A page for each service or common question gives people more ways to find you, and Google’s SEO starter guide says “you can influence the title links in Search by writing good titles”.
AI assistants. Google says any page that’s indexed and eligible for a snippet in Search can appear as a link in AI Overviews (Google’s AI features guide), so an indexed Facebook Page can appear there. ChatGPT and Perplexity are different: Facebook’s and Instagram’s robots.txt files block PerplexityBot by name and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot through a rule for every crawler they don’t list. OpenAI says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot “will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers”, except as navigational links, and Perplexity says PerplexityBot is “designed to surface and link websites in search results”. Both say robots.txt may not apply when a user asks them to open a page, but details that exist only on Facebook or Instagram are less likely to reach them. On your own website, check yourdomain/robots.txt doesn’t block crawlers you want.
What each costs, and the time it takes
Facebook and Instagram
Free to use, but posts slide down the feed, so they need regular posting and quick replies.
A free website builder
£0 if you build it yourself, as on Google Sites. Some free plans use the builder’s address, not yours.
A paid builder plan
Your own domain, built by you. Watch for introductory prices that rise at renewal, and prices shown without VAT.
A web designer
Built for you, for a one-off fee, a monthly fee or both. Check for minimum terms and whose name the domain is in.
The cheapest website guide prices each route, the cost calculator adds them up over one and three years, and pay monthly or one-off compares two ways to pay a designer. A simple website needs updating only when your prices, hours or services change, but someone must keep its security and backups in order.
Using a website and social pages together
Social media can be where people discover you, and the website where they check details and get in touch. Google’s SEO starter guide lists social media promotion as one way to promote a site.
- Add your website to your Facebook Page’s links and contact info, and to your Instagram profile in the app (Instagram doesn’t allow this on a computer).
- Link to both profiles from your website’s footer or contact section. In some regions, Google also lets you add one link per platform to your Google Business Profile.
- Keep your name, phone number and opening hours the same everywhere, and change them everywhere on the same day.
- When you post, link to the page that answers the next question, such as prices or booking.
If you’d rather have it done for you
Millwards Digital builds websites for UK small businesses, working entirely online. Launch is one polished scrolling page for £249, plus £39 a month for hosting, SSL, backups, routine security, support and agreed content changes: £717 for the first 12 months, plus any new domain, with no VAT added. Care renews monthly and you can cancel before the next billing date.
Common questions
Is a Facebook page enough for a small business?
It can be for now, if most customers come through people who know you and you don’t need online bookings or payments. If people search for what you do, or losing the page would stop your enquiries, add a website.
Is Instagram enough for a small business?
It can be, for a visual business whose customers find it by scrolling. Instagram lets search engines index photos and videos only from public, professional accounts of over-18s, so a website helps people who search.
What happens if Facebook suspends my account?
Nobody can see it and you can’t use it. You can appeal within 180 days, though the limit varies by region; if you don’t, or the appeal fails, it’s permanently disabled with no further review.
Can ChatGPT or Perplexity find my Facebook page?
Less easily than a website that lets their crawlers in. Facebook’s robots.txt blocks PerplexityBot and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot, and OpenAI says blocked sites won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers, except as navigational links. Google’s AI Overviews are different: they link to pages in Google’s search index, and Facebook lets Googlebot in.
How we checked. On 14 November 2026 we read every page linked above. The Shops note comes from Meta’s Graph API v26.0 changelog, which says checkout directly on Facebook and Instagram for Shops “has been sunset”. Policies change, so check the source before relying on a detail.