Are WebSites Still Vital To Businesses, Despite Social Media?

Social media will be used by nearly 70 percent of small businesses in the next 12 months according to research done by Techaisle. 81 percent of those polled also have a company website–which continues to be a useful element of doing business online.

The question remains–is it a wise investment for smaller businesses to delve into social media and forsake the company website while doing so? How should the two mediums be integrated together? Is your company’s website now just an extension of a billboard on the web?

Traditional websites come with no guarantee that customers will visit them, let alone purchase from them or use their services. It requires careful search engine optimization, marketing and technical skill just to get your site out there where it can be found by potential customers. And that costs money. On the other hand, social media is relatively inexpensive, setup costs are low, and they provide a mechanism for interacting with current customers and attracting new ones.