If every customer already knows you, a Facebook page and WhatsApp are enough for now. You need a website when new customers look for you on Google, when people want prices and details without messaging you, when banks, tenders or partners expect one, or when you cannot afford to lose the page. A Facebook page is rented space; a website on your own domain is yours.
What a Facebook page does well
- It is free and takes minutes to set up.
- Your existing customers are already there.
- Posts, photos and comments keep people in touch with you.
- Messenger and WhatsApp make conversation easy.
What it cannot do
- You do not own it. Pages are restricted, hacked or lost, and there is nobody to phone.
- It is hard to find on Google. A page may appear for your exact name, but rarely for “plumber in Rundu”.
- Information sinks. Your prices are in a post from March. Nobody scrolls that far.
- Not everyone is on it. In October 2025 Namibia had about 2.00 million internet users and about 797,000 social media user identities, according to DataReportal.
- You cannot shape it. A booking form, a price list or a page per service is not possible.
Side by side
| Facebook page | Website on your own domain | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Free | From N$1,199.99 with us, plus a yearly domain fee |
| Owner | Meta | You |
| Found through Google | Rarely | Yes, page by page |
| Best at | Staying in touch with people who know you | Explaining yourself to people who do not |
| Prices, services, hours | Buried in posts | In fixed places |
| Email address | None | name@yourbusiness.com becomes possible |
| Effort to keep up | Regular posting | Occasional updates |
When you do not need a website yet
If the business is a few weeks old, the offer keeps changing, and customers come by word of mouth, wait. Set up a free Google Business Profile, keep the Facebook page current, and save the money.
Signs it is time
- Strangers ask “do you have a website?”
- You answer the same questions about prices and hours every day.
- A competitor appears on Google and you do not.
- A tender, funder or bank form asks for a web address.
- You want an email address that is not a free one.
The sensible combination
Keep the Facebook page for conversation. Add a website for the facts, with WhatsApp and call buttons that bring people straight back to the conversation. Link each to the other and to your Google Business Profile.
A one-page website is usually enough to start.