Need a Website if You Have Google and Facebook?

Is a Google Business Profile and Facebook page ever enough?

Sometimes, and I'd rather say that up front. If your calendar is full from referrals, you do one simple service in a small area, and nobody asks where your website is, a complete Business Profile plus steady reviews may carry you for now.

The question to ask isn't "do I need a website?" It's "what happens when someone hears my name and goes looking?" If the answer is "they find a thin profile and a Facebook page with three posts from last year," you're losing some of those people.

What does each one actually do?

Swipe sideways to see every column.

	Google Business Profile	Facebook page	Your website
Main job	Getting found on Google Maps and Search	Staying in touch with past customers and referrals	The full story: services, towns, proof, how to hire you
Who sets the rules	Google, which reviews edits and can suspend profiles	Meta, which can suspend or disable accounts	You
Room for detail	Description capped at 750 characters, no links or price promotions	Posts and an About section	As much as you need, one page per service
Open to AI search crawlers	Used by Google's own results; Google lists it among AI-feature basics	Facebook's robots.txt disallows ClaudeBot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot and other named AI crawlers, then every crawler it doesn't list	Yes, if you allow them
Best for	Map results and reviews	Community and repeat customers	Being checked out, compared, and quoted

Checked 10/20/2026. Details change; check the source.

Your Business Profile gets you found and Facebook keeps you in touch, but only your website runs on your rules.
All three are worth having. They just do different jobs.

All three are worth having. They just do different jobs.

What can't you fit on a Google Business Profile?

Your Business Profile is essential, but it's a listing, not a website (more on showing up in Google Maps for your trade). Google's rules for it say:

The business description can't go over 750 characters and can't include links or HTML.
The description shouldn't focus on "special promotions, prices, and offer sales."
Google reviews changes before they go live.

That leaves no room for a page per service, your warranty terms, what a typical job looks like, or answers to the questions customers ask before they call. Google's own help for the website field says to make sure "Googlebot isn't blocked on your site," which tells you Google expects that field to point to a real site.

Google also ran a free website builder inside Business Profile and shut those sites down in 2024, as CBC News reported on 03/04/2024.

Who owns your Facebook page and your Google profile?

Not you, in the way that matters. Google says it "reserves the right to suspend access to Business Profiles" for guideline violations. Meta's terms say it may "suspend or permanently disable your access" for serious or repeated breaches, and may disable accounts that stay inactive for a long time.

Neither of those is likely if you follow the rules. But if all of your online presence lives on two platforms, a mistake on either one takes you offline. Your own domain is the one address that stays put.

Google and Meta can both suspend access for breaking their rules, which is unlikely if you follow them.
If all of your online presence lives on two platforms, a mistake on either one takes you offline.

Can ChatGPT, Claude and Grok find you without a website?

Partly, and less reliably. Here's what the platforms publish:

ChatGPT. OpenAI says that to be eligible for ChatGPT search, a site should allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it. ChatGPT also uses partner search providers and "trusted third-party providers" for local listings, so you might still appear through those.
Claude. Anthropic's Claude-SearchBot indexes pages for Claude's search, and Claude-User fetches pages when someone asks.
Grok. Grok searches the web and X live. xAI doesn't document a crawler.
Facebook's side. As of 10/20/2026, facebook.com/robots.txt disallows ClaudeBot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot and other named AI crawlers, then every crawler it doesn't list. GPTBot and ClaudeBot are the OpenAI and Anthropic training crawlers. Their search crawlers, OAI-SearchBot and Claude-SearchBot, aren't named there, so only the catch-all rule covers them. That doesn't mean AI tools can never see Facebook content, but Facebook is telling those crawlers not to crawl it.
Google's AI features. To appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, Google says "a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet." Google also says to keep your Business Profile current.

Facebook's robots.txt tells AI crawlers not to crawl it, and Google doesn't spell out a Facebook rule for the website field, but a real site is the clean answer.
A website is the one place you can open to all of them on purpose.

Getting found on Google and in AI answers

A website is the one place you can open to all of them on purpose.

What do customers do after they read your reviews?

BrightLocal surveyed 1,002 US adults (published 02/11/2026). After reading positive reviews, 54% said they go on to visit the business's website, the most common next step in the survey. The same report says "just 40% of local businesses" have a dedicated website. If a homeowner likes your reviews and goes looking for your site, a missing one is where some of them stop (more on looking trustworthy before you have reviews).

What should a first contractor website include?

It doesn't need to be big (more on what a contractor website should include). Start with:

One page per service you want more of
The towns and counties you serve, written out
Your license number and insurance. Your state may have rules about showing a contractor license number in advertising, so check your state's rules. In Florida, see s. 489.119, Florida Statutes (linked in Sources).
Real photos of your own jobs
Your reviews, or a link to them
A tap-to-call phone number and a short quote form

If all a homeowner finds is a thin profile and an old Facebook page, you're losing some of those people.
A first website doesn't need to be big.

Then put the website address in your Business Profile's website field, link Facebook to it, and keep your name, phone, and hours the same everywhere (more on the business details that must match everywhere).

How 3Fold Labs helps

I build the website as the place your Business Profile and other listings point to, with the same name, phone, hours and service area everywhere. On the search side, I work on your Google Business Profile and how you show up in Maps. It doesn't need to be a big site to start, and what a contractor website costs shows what changes the price.

More on websites built to get calls and my Getting found on Google and in AI answers.

FAQ

Can I just put my Facebook page in the Google Business Profile website field?

Google's guidelines say not to use URLs that "redirect or 'refer' users to landing pages... other than those of the actual business, including pages created on social media sites." Google doesn't spell out a Facebook-specific rule, but a real website is the clean answer.

Is a one-page website enough?

It's a fair start. One page with your services, towns, license, photos, and contact info beats no page. Add a page per service as you go.

Will a website get me more calls?

Nobody can promise that. It gives people who already found you a place to check you out, and gives search and AI tools something to read.

Should I stop posting on Facebook?

No. Facebook is good at keeping you in front of people who already know you. Just don't make it the only place your business lives.