Do I need a website, or is Instagram enough?

Updated October 22, 2026 · 5 min read

For most small businesses, Instagram is a good shop window but a risky only home. It helps people discover you, but you don’t control who sees your posts, the platform can disable an account, and a social page can’t take bookings or payments on your own terms. The sensible minimum is three things you control alongside it: a free Google Business Profile, a .com.au domain, and a simple website with your hours, prices and a way to book, enquire or buy.

What Instagram does well

Australians are on social media every day. In the six months to June 2025, 78% of adults used Facebook and 53% used Instagram, and 45% had used Instagram in the past week, according to ACMA’s 2026 report. Social media is also where people find things to buy: 60% of shoppers use it for product discovery, and one in two have bought something after seeing it there, according to Australia Post’s eCommerce Report 2026.

Businesses use both. In 2024–25, 55% of Australian businesses had their own website or app and 51% used social media for their online presence, according to the ABS:

Source: ABS Characteristics of Australian Business 2024–25, released June 2026, for the year to 30 June 2025.

What you don’t control on Instagram

• Who sees your posts. Instagram’s feed is selected and ranked by an AI system that predicts what each person will find most relevant, and its models and signals change frequently, says Meta. Being eligible for recommendations “doesn’t guarantee” your posts reach people who don’t follow you, according to Instagram’s help. Without paying, reach depends on how many followers you have and the platform’s algorithms, says business.gov.au.
• Whether the account stays up. Instagram can disable an account immediately for breaches of its terms or policies, and tells you only “where appropriate”, according to its terms of use. A deleted account can’t be restored, and you may not get the same username back, says its help on disabled accounts.
• Your name and account. Instagram may change a username if it decides that is necessary, and its terms ban buying, selling or transferring an account, which matters if you sell the business one day.
• The rules. Platform terms of use “may also change at short notice”, warns the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

What a website and a Google listing add

A Google Business Profile is free and shows on Search and Maps, says Google. Businesses with a location customers visit, or that travel to their customers, are eligible, according to its guidelines. The profile shows your hours, phone number and website, and in some categories links for booking, reservations or orders, according to Google’s help. Google recommends claiming one in its own guide to getting your website on Google.

A domain is something your business controls. A .com.au is licensed to a business with an ABN for one to five years at a time, under auDA’s rules. You don’t need a website to use it: it can carry your business email on its own, says auDA. In auDA’s Digital Lives of Australians 2026 survey, 56% of small businesses had a dedicated website, up from 49% in 2025, and 47% of consumers said a domain ending in .au was a sign a website could be trusted.

A website answers the basic questions and takes the order. It makes you look more professional, makes it easy for customers to find and contact you, and lets them buy, according to business.gov.au. In 2024–25, 21% of Australian businesses received orders through their own website or app, according to the ABS.

A sensible minimum

Use one or two social channels well rather than many badly; a neglected social presence can be worse than none, says business.gov.au.

Protect the accounts you rely on

• Turn on multi-factor authentication, give access only to the staff who need it, and remove it as soon as they don’t, as the Australian Cyber Security Centre advises.
• Know how you would regain a hijacked account. Being unable to log in is a warning sign of an account takeover, says Scamwatch.
• If someone impersonates your business, warn customers on your social pages, website and at the counter, and tell them how you will and won’t contact them, as Scamwatch suggests. A website you control is one place they can check.

The same rules apply on Instagram

Creating or arranging fake reviews is illegal, and incentives for reviews must apply whether the review is good or bad and be disclosed, says the ACCC. Your own posts and paid influencer posts follow the same advertising rules, and you are responsible for false claims others post on your page, according to the ACCC’s guidance on social media promotions. In March 2026, a business paid A$39,600 in penalties over influencer reviews on Instagram that didn’t disclose free products, according to the ACCC.

Sources

• ACMA: How we communicate (February 2026)
• Australia Post: eCommerce trends 2026 (March 2026)
• ABS: Characteristics of Australian Business, 2024–25 (June 2026)
• Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Feed AI system (June 2026)
• Instagram: Terms of Use, Recommendation eligibility and Disabled accounts
• Google: Business Profile, Guidelines for representing your business and Edit your Business Profile
• Google Search Central: Get your website on Google
• auDA: .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing (June 2026), com.au domain names and Digital Lives of Australians 2026
• business.gov.au: Set up a business website and Social media for business
• Australian Cyber Security Centre: Security tips for social media and messaging services (April 2026)
• Scamwatch: Account or identity takeover scams and Dealing with business impersonation
• ACCC: Online reviews, Social media promotions and PhotobookShop penalties (March 2026)

Figures and platform rules were checked in October 2026 and can change. General information, not legal advice.