Do you need a website if you have a Google Business Profile and Facebook?

It is a fair question. Your Google Business Profile already shows your phone number, your hours, your photos and your reviews. Your Facebook page has your recent jobs. Plenty of contractors are busy without a website at all.

Our honest answer: keep both, and still have a website. Here is why.

What the Business Profile does well

If you serve a local area, your Business Profile is the most valuable free listing you have. It is what shows up on the map when someone searches "roofer near me", with your reviews right beside your name.

Google says local results come down to three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how close you are to the person searching) and prominence (how well-known you are). For prominence, Google points to how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. You can read it in their own words on the Business Profile help page.

So: fill in every field, add real photos, choose the right categories, and ask every happy customer for a review. If you only do one thing this month, do that.

What it cannot do

You do not own it. A Business Profile lives on Google's platform under Google's rules. The public can suggest edits to it. Profiles get suspended, sometimes by mistake, and getting one back can take weeks. A website on your own domain is the one place online that is entirely yours.

It holds a summary, not the whole story. A profile has room for a description, a list of services and photos. It does not have room for a page on each service, a gallery of finished jobs with what was done, the cities you cover, or answers to the questions people ask before they call.

It is not what AI assistants quote. More people now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini "who's a good contractor in Mississauga?". On 19 October we asked those three five questions a Mississauga homeowner might ask, such as "best roofing company Mississauga" and "who should I hire to renovate my basement in Mississauga", and recorded every source each answer cited.

Across 15 answers there were 95 cited sources. None was a Google Business Profile or a Google Maps link. One was a Facebook page. About 4 in 10 were contractors' own websites; the rest were review sites and directories, led by HomeStars (12) and the Better Business Bureau (8).

One day and 15 answers is a small test, and answers change from day to day. But the pattern was clear: when an assistant names a contractor, it points to a web page. That is either your page or someone else's page about you.

What about Facebook?

Facebook is good for showing recent work to people who already follow you. It is weak as a front door. Pages are often hard to browse without logging in, search engines show little of what is on them, and Facebook was cited once in those 95 sources. Keep posting there. Do not make it the only place your business is described.

When a profile alone is enough

If you are booked months out on referrals and do not want more work, a well-kept Business Profile may be all you need. A website earns its keep when you want to be chosen by people who do not know you yet.

The smallest website that does the job

You do not need a big site. A single page can cover it if it has:

• What you do and where, in one sentence at the top.
• Your phone number, tappable, on the first screen.
• Photos of your real work, not stock.
• Your services, each with a line or two.
• The cities or areas you cover.
• Links to your Google reviews and your Business Profile.

Then link the website from your Business Profile, and the profile from the website, so both point at each other.

We looked at what 230 Mississauga contractor sites actually show on a phone in our research post. If you would rather have someone build the one-page version, the websites page shows what we include.

FAQ

What happens if my Google Business Profile gets suspended?

Business Profiles get suspended, sometimes by mistake, and getting one back can take weeks. A profile lives on Google's platform under Google's rules, so a website on your own domain is the one place online that stays entirely yours.

Can other people edit my Google Business Profile?

Yes. The public can suggest edits to a Business Profile, because it lives on Google's platform under Google's rules. That is one reason to keep a website on your own domain as well: it is the one place online that is entirely yours.

Is a one-page website enough for a contractor?

Often, yes. A single page can do the job if it says what you do and where in one sentence at the top, puts a tappable phone number on the first screen, and shows photos of your real work, your services, the areas you cover and links to your Google reviews and Business Profile. A bigger site with a page for each service gives a specific question, such as basement finishing in Oakville, a page that answers it.

Should I link my website to my Google Business Profile?

Yes, link both ways: put the website in your Business Profile, and link the profile and your Google reviews from the website, so each points at the other. The profile is the best free listing a local contractor has, and the website holds what the profile has no room for: a page for each service, finished jobs, the cities you cover and answers to the questions people ask before they call.