Do I need a website if I already have Instagram?

Short answer: yes, but probably a smaller one than you think.

I get why people ask. Instagram is free, you’re already posting there, and your customers follow you. Why pay for a website on top?

What Instagram is good at

Showing your work. Behind-the-scenes. Keeping regulars interested. Building a bit of personality around the business. If you’re good at it, keep doing it.

What it’s bad at

Being found by people who don’t know you yet. When someone searches Google for “cake shop near me”, they get the map, Google Business Profiles and websites. Instagram posts rarely show up there.

Answering basic questions. Your hours, prices, menu and address are buried somewhere in a bio, a highlight or a post from March. A customer who has to scroll for it often just moves on.

Taking orders or bookings properly. “DM to order” works until you’re busy, then messages get missed.

Looking established. Some people, especially for bigger purchases like renovations or catering, check for a website before they trust a business. No website reads as “side project”, fairly or not.

You don’t own your Instagram account

This is the part people don’t think about. If your account gets hacked, locked or banned (it happens, sometimes by mistake), your “website” is gone overnight, along with how customers find you. A domain and a website are yours.

What you actually need

For a lot of small businesses, one page is enough:

• What you do and where
• Hours, address, phone
• Photos (you can reuse your best Instagram ones)
• A way to order, book or get in touch
• A link to your Instagram, so people can see more

Plus a properly set-up Google Business Profile, which for local searches matters more than either.

Then Instagram does what it’s good at, and the website and Google listing handle the boring but important stuff: being found, and answering questions.