Do you need to choose between them?
Not necessarily. Keep Instagram if customers discover your products or work there. Add a website when your hours, prices, menu or services become hard to find among posts. Your Google profile connects this information with local search.
A café’s photo of today’s cake belongs on Instagram. Its regular menu, kitchen hours and address should remain accessible when that photo is no longer on the first screen. A salon’s colour work may inspire someone; the time and price of the service answer a different question.
Give each channel a clear role
- Instagram: new products, recent work, behind the scenes and conversations with your community.
- Google profile: contact details, opening hours, reviews and a website link. Menu and booking links are also available for relevant activities.
- Website: your business, services and prices, directions, useful information and links to your tools.
You do not need to publish every new item in three places. A change in opening hours, however, should be consistent wherever you display your hours.
Try this test on a phone
Ask someone who knows little about your business to find four answers: are you open tomorrow, what does the thing they want cost, how do they get there and how can they contact you? Do not explain where to tap.
Note what is missing, what requires scrolling through posts and what is difficult to read without signing in. This does not measure your Google ranking; it reveals which information needs to be easier to find.
A small shop with a stable range may start with an accurate profile and a clear page. A restaurant changing its menu needs a simple way to update dishes and prices. The number of pages comes after that need.
Avoid conflicting information
Choose where you maintain the reference version of your information, then check the other channels whenever it changes. For an exceptional closure, put the dates on the site, update your profile’s hours and announce it on Instagram if you use it.
Keep the domain name in your name and retain access to your accounts. A domain, a website and a social account are separate things: our domain name guide explains what to ask a supplier.
Choose the next investment
Fix missing information before paying for more posts. Compare maintenance time, recurring costs and your ability to retrieve your content. The website cost guide provides a way to compare offers.
In our Geneva business survey, “no website found” does not mean “no social presence”. The study concerns websites; it does not show that Instagram is useless.
Sources and scope
- Google: local business links, accessed 15 October 2026.
- The decision method and examples are TAO Labs advice. They are neither an Instagram audience measurement nor a ranking promise.
For your trade: restaurant, salon, tradesperson or shop.