One of the biggest debates that happens within marketing today is whether to focus efforts on a freelancer’s website or their social media channels.

At Wishu, we believe that for creative freelancers, neither should be overlooked or neglected and that each plays its vital role in attracting clients. 

Let’s weigh up the pros of each. 

Website pros: 

1. Helps your brand get found online
   According to Nielson, nearly 90 percent of people use the internet to find local businesses. If you don’t have a website and properly maintain it, you’re missing out on critical opportunities to be found.
   Having a website means your business can utilise a search engine optimization (a.k.a SEO) strategy to grow its online presence. Statistics show that 53.3 percent of all website traffic comes from organic search, so if businesses double down on their SEO and organic search strategy, they can see incredible growth in their lead generation efforts. 
2. Promotes your services In the digital space
   Fundera reports that 1.79 billion people shopped online last year, which means there were 1.79 billion people who could have found your website and looked at your services.
   Your landing page is important here for the clearer it is, the more conversations you’ll attract. Your landing pages should effectively describe what your services are and how they solve your audience’s problems. You can also spruce up your landing pages and further reward your website visitors by displaying special offers. 
3. Integrates into your sales funnel
   When debating website vs social media for your business, keep in mind that a website plays an important part in your sales funnel. Your website guides people from the top of the sales funnel (where they learn about your business and services) to the middle and end of your sales funnel, where they convert and become customers.
   A website also serves as a great sales automation tool for your business. It’s a space where leads can learn about your services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. That makes it incredibly valuable to your sales process. 
4. Establishes credibility and social proof
   If a business looks credible online, their website visitors are more likely to trust them and turn into customers. In fact, the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report shows that 81 percent of consumers said that they need to be able to trust a brand in order to buy from them. 
5. Provides key data for your company
   Forbes reports that 64 percent of marketing executives “strongly agree” that data-driven marketing is crucial to success in a hypercompetitive global economy. The more data you have, the more you can piece together what’s working for your business’ web presence. 

Social Media pros: 

1. Helps you connect with your audience
   As a freelancer, part of your attraction is your relatability. You aren’t a big corporate company so people can feel like they trust you and that what you do comes from the heart. Digital Information World reports that internet users are now spending, on average, 142 minutes per day on social networking and messaging platforms.
   Creating a community on social media platforms will make your audience want to participate in and follow you. This also allows your brand to reach new audiences and build brand awareness.
2. Builds your brand and reputation
   Social media is also a vital channel to use when building your company’s brand. The more connected social audience is with your brand, the more likely they’ll become customers and brand advocates. Humanise your social media presence by celebrating your wins – both big and small – on different platforms. 
3. Shares your content on a widespread level
   As you debate website vs social media and how they help your company, remember that social media helps you share your content with the masses. All it takes is one piece of valuable content to reach the right person at the right time to create a loyal customer.  Social media users like to consume content in different ways on different platforms, so keep this in mind as you share your content. Sharing content across multiple platforms can also increase your company’s status as an industry-leader. The more you share, the more you enhance your gravitas, which can influence people to keep following you to obtain valuable information. 
4. Reaches new audiences
   Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram allow you to use hashtags to follow specific topics.
   If you post content on these platforms and use hashtags, your content can be seen by people who follow those hashtags.
   Using the hashtag strategy can help you reach targeted audiences organically on social media. You can also reach targeted audiences through paid social media marketing, but that will come with a price tag. 
5. Encourages interaction with your brand
   Something that’s unique for social media usage is that it encourages interaction and engagement between brands and their audience. Think about it: every like, comment, or share is a validation that your brand is worth engaging with. It’s a form of social proof that everyone on social platforms can see.
   The more you engage on social media, the more your brand will be seen.
   You can also study when people interact with your social posts most and adjust your social strategy to capitalise on it. Sharing a piece of content that people will want to share at the right time can get your brand’s name in front of hundreds (or even thousands) of new people.
   Study the data and capitalise on when your peak engagement times are to increase your chances of a post going viral.