"I've got Instagram — do I really need a website?"

Fair question. Instagram is free, you already know how it works, and your customers are on it. So is a website just an expensive box-ticking exercise? Here's the honest answer — including the cases where social media genuinely is enough.

When Instagram alone is actually fine

If you're a side-hustle baker selling to friends-of-friends, a personal trainer with a full client list, or testing an idea before committing — you don't need a website yet. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you one. Save the money, keep posting, and revisit when you're turning people away.

When it starts costing you real money

• You can't be found by strangers. Instagram shows you to followers. Google shows you to people who need you right now — "plumber henderson", "cake maker north shore", "physio near me". No website means you're invisible for every one of those searches, and your competitor isn't.
• You look like a hobby. Rightly or wrongly, buyers checking a $2,000+ purchase look for a website before they call. No site reads as "not established". For trades, clinics, and professional services, that first impression decides who gets the enquiry.
• You're renting your audience. One algorithm change, one hacked account, one ban-by-mistake — and your entire business presence is gone. It happens to NZ businesses every week. Your website is the only channel you own.
• You can't answer the boring questions. Prices, hours, services, location, FAQs — buried across 400 posts on Instagram, one click away on a website. Every question a customer can't answer alone is a DM you have to handle or a sale you lose after hours.

The right setup for most NZ small businesses

It's not Instagram or a website — they do different jobs. The setup that works: Instagram/TikTok to get discovered and stay familiar → website to look credible, answer questions, and capture the enquiry → Google Business Profile so locals find you on Maps. Social feeds the funnel; the website converts it.

You don't need ten pages. A sharp one-page site — what you do, who for, proof, prices or "from" pricing, and one obvious contact button — outperforms a bloated site every time. That's a $500 build, not a $10,000 one. (Full pricing breakdown: how much a website costs in NZ.)