"I've got Instagram, why would I need a site?" — we hear this every week and it is a fair question. Instagram is free, you already use it, your customers are there. Snapping back with "you need a website" is easy but not honest. The truth is that the two do different jobs, and which one you need depends on what you sell.
What Instagram genuinely does better
- Daily visibility. Showing today's work, the state of the shop, today's special — it is faster and more natural than a website will ever be.
- A face and trust. People want to see the person behind the business, and stories do that better than any page can.
- Comments and messages. The lowest-friction way to talk to a customer.
So the question is not "should I quit Instagram". Do not quit.
The three things Instagram cannot do
1. Show up on Google
When someone searches "appliance repair Brooklyn", Instagram profiles do not come back; business websites and map results do. Instagram profiles are largely closed to search engines, and profile text is not written to answer a search query anyway.
That gap matters because there are two different customers: the one who already knows you (finds you on Instagram) and the one who has never heard of you but has the need right now (searches on Google). You do not reach the second through Instagram.
2. Keep information still
You shared your price list in a story; 24 hours later it is gone. You posted it; three weeks later it is buried under 40 posts. When a customer asks "how much was it again", the question comes back to you.
On a website the price list, opening hours and address stay in the same place. When something changes, you change one thing.
3. Belong to you
If the account goes down — a false report, a stolen password, a policy change — your followers go with it. Nobody can promise that will not happen. Your own address is yours; nobody can close it.
So when do you actually need a site?
If you answer yes to any of these three:
- Do customers find you by searching? (repairs, trades, health, legal, real estate)
- Do you need to publish fixed information like prices, a menu or a service list?
- Do people ask you to send them a link? ("Do you have a website?")
If all three are no — say you make handmade goods sold only to your immediate circle — Instagram may be enough for a while longer. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
The right way to run both
The best setup is simple: Instagram brings the traffic, the site closes the job.
- Put the site address in your bio — it is the only clickable link Instagram gives you.
- Say "price list is in the bio link" in stories instead of retyping prices.
- Embed your Instagram feed on the site so visitors see it is current.
- Let the Google result bring the site, and let the site introduce Instagram. Two directions.
"But a website is expensive"
A fair objection: even a simple brochure site starts around $3,000 at an agency in 2026. Paying that while Instagram sits there free feels absurd — correct.
But the equation changed. With İyziWeb you describe your business in one sentence and your site comes back in about five minutes with the design, the copy and the images. It is free and we do not ask for a card. If you do not like it you do not publish it; the only thing you lose is five minutes.
If you decide to go ahead, the practical next step is turning social media attention into site visits.