Do you need a website if you already have Instagram?

Not always, but most growing businesses end up needing one. If you're just starting and nearly all your work comes through DMs and referrals, Instagram plus a free Google Business Profile can carry you for a while. Once you want to be found on Google, show clear prices, take bookings and stop depending on one app you don't control, you need a website.

In practice it's rarely either-or. Instagram is where people discover you. A website is where they check the details and decide.

We'll cover what each one does well, when Instagram is enough on its own, and how to run the two together without doubling your work.

There are good reasons to hold off on a website. If these sound like you, put your energy into Instagram and your Google profile for now:

• You're just starting and still testing whether people will pay, like a home baker in Kompally taking her first cake orders.
• Nearly all your work comes from referrals, DMs and repeat customers, and your calendar is already full.
• Your customers are young, local and live on Instagram, and nobody ever asks for a price list.
• You don't have photos, prices or a clear list of services yet. A website with nothing on it won't help.

Let's be fair to Instagram. It's free, your customers already spend their evenings on it, and one good reel can reach people who would never have found your website.

• Discovery. Reels, Explore and hashtags put you in front of new people. A website mostly waits to be found.
• Personality. Behind-the-scenes stories, your team, a bridal look coming together. That's hard to get across on a web page.
• Speed. A new offer goes up in five minutes. Changing a website often means messaging whoever built it.
• Social proof. Comments, tags from happy customers and an active feed tell people you're real and busy.
• Conversation. DMs feel personal, and plenty of customers prefer them to filling in a form.

Here's what a website gives you that an Instagram profile isn't built for.

• Show up on Google. When someone searches “banquet hall in Kompally” or “salon near KPHB”, Google shows Maps results and websites. Clear service and location pages give Google something to match. Instagram posts can appear in search too, but you have little say in when or how.
• Back up your Maps listing. Your Google Business Profile has a website button, and a real site there, with the same name, address and number, makes the listing look complete. Google's own tips on local ranking ask you to keep your business information complete and up to date.
• Ownership. Your Instagram account lives on Meta's platform, under Meta's rules. Your domain and website can be yours.
• A price list that doesn't scroll away. Packages, menus and rate cards sit on one page, instead of in a story highlight from last March.
• Bookings and enquiries. A form or a clear “Book on WhatsApp” button that asks for the date, service and budget, so you're not answering “price pls” DMs at midnight.
• Trust with bigger buyers. Corporate clients, wedding families and NRIs booking from abroad often look for a website before paying an advance.
• Customers who aren't on Instagram. Plenty of people, older customers especially, search Google and never open the app.

Say you run a makeup studio in Dilsukhnagar with three years of bridal work on your grid. One morning the account is locked after a hacked login, or disabled by mistake. Your portfolio, the reviews in your comments and your inbox full of enquiries are gone until Meta sorts it out.

Accounts do get hacked and wrongly disabled, and getting a person at Meta to look at yours isn't easy. A website won't stop that from happening. It means you still have a portfolio, a price list and a phone number people can find while you fight to get the account back.

Keep copies of your best photos and videos off Instagram too. Your website gallery is a good home for them.

Think of it this way: Instagram gets attention, and the website closes the booking. Each should send people to the other.

• Point your bio link at your booking or enquiry page, rather than just the home page.
• Show your best reels or your feed on the website, so new visitors can see you're active.
• Use the website for what Instagram is bad at: prices, packages, FAQs, directions, parking, timings, and your advance and cancellation policy.
• Send ads to a page built for that offer, like a Diwali package page, instead of to your profile.
• Use the same WhatsApp number everywhere: bio, website, Google profile. Our post on WhatsApp Business vs a website covers how that part fits in.
• Answer repeat DM questions with a link to the right page instead of typing out prices every time.

Not much. Start small and add pages later. A simple site usually sits at the lower end of the ranges in our website cost guide, and salons and makeup artists will find more detail in our salon website guide. Four or five pages cover most businesses:

• Home: who you are, where you are, and one clear button to book or enquire
• Services and prices: even “starting from” prices save you a lot of DMs
• Gallery: your best work, with short captions
• About and contact: address, Google Maps, timings, WhatsApp and phone
• FAQs: advance, cancellation, travel charges, parking, whatever people ask you every week

If Instagram is all you have, set up your free Google Business Profile this week. It puts you on Google Maps, and our Google Business Profile guide shows you how.

Then write down your services, rough prices and the ten questions you answer most in DMs. That's most of your website's content already, and it's useful even if you wait.

When you're ready, ask us for a free website preview. We'll build a working version of your site, so you can compare it with your Instagram before deciding anything. There's no obligation to go ahead.