With so much functionality getting added to social media channels is a website even necessary anymore?
There are a bunch of things you can do on social media now that used to be possible only if you had your own website.
For example, you can:

* Sell products on Facebook and Instagram
* Deliver live webinars and workshops in a Facebook group (or Page)
* Add a contact form to a Facebook page

All of these enhancements to social media are very helpful but they don't replace websites.
Here are 5 overlooked reasons why businesses still need websites even in 2021.

The Boring Reasons
I personally don't think it's helpful to echo the obvious. So, let's get a few of those out of the way real quick.
Getting Found Online
Of course, having a website can help you get found online but so can having a lot of Instagram followers. There are all kinds of ways to get found online. What people actually mean is that without a website you're going to miss out on the potential for organic traffic from Google searches. This is true. It's obvious. But who cares if you're already getting a ton of visibility through other channels?
More visibility is always better. But this isn't a very interesting reason to me for why websites are still relevant in 2021.
Telling Your Story
Websites give you a nice platform to give people your backstory. But, is it a lot better than your bio on Instagram? Maybe. Again, this reason doesn't really grab me as all that compelling.
Show Your Work / Portfolio
Again, yes. Websites give you the most flexibility to show your work. But you can post images to Instagram just as easily (if not more easily) than you can post a new project to your website. Of course, you can also post examples of your work to Facebook and Twitter too. You have more control over the layout on your own website. But, if nobody goes to your website and everybody sees your Instagram feed, then you can make the argument that Instagram is doing a better job getting your work out there.
I believe a strong case can be made for why websites are better than social media for all of the above-listed reasons. But, all of those examples are rather ho-hum reasons for why websites are still relevant today.
I'm much more motivated by the factors below.
Ownership and Accessibility
How easy is it to reach your audience and who owns that relationship?
The importance of owning your own audience can't be overstated. Suppose you want to announce something like a new property listing, a new product offering, a new tour date, etc. and you want to make sure everybody sees the news.
If you just post the news to your Facebook page only about 2-3% of your page followers are going to see your post in their feed unless you decide to pay money to “boost” the post.
That means in order for the remaining 97% to see your announcement they have to go to your page. They have to come to you without any prompting. You can't go to them. That's a very big deal.
This wasn't always the case. It used to be that if someone followed your Facebook Page all of your posts would show up in their news feed. Then Facebook changed the rules. That's a scary thing.
You should not be forced to rely on 3rd parties to control your access to your own customers.
Authority and Positioning
Who are you and how can you help people?
I'm talking about more than just what you'd say in your bio on Instagram. A website provides the best platform – by far – to give people the information they need to know about what you're able to offer, who it's for, and why you are uniquely positioned to be able to deliver that outcome better than anyone else.
You can get a lot of this information out there on social media and podcasts but it won't be as powerful because the information on social media is too sca...