My recollection is that far fewer businesses had any web presence in 2004. Big professional ones did, but random family-owned restaurants usually didn’t.
Some places that definitely would have a site otherwise, don't, but have Facebook instead. Some have a site but neglect it, so if you want current info you have to check their Facebook page. Others had sites and let them lapse because FB took over that role. Hell, the local public schools are like that, too. Have sites, send emails and texts and such, but FB is absolutely the best channel to get school & district news from.
Every time I order food the restaurant puts a flyer in there begging me to use their own site.
Meanwhile "Just Eat Takeaway confirms it’s gobbling up Grubhub in a $7.3B deal".
Immediately, when we connect web servers they are pentested and port scanned.
Joey also wants to let customers comment on those posts with questions and general excitement, or to reach out directly in a way that isn’t a phone line.
The issue is that Facebook and IG are really really good business and marketing platforms. That and ads is basically their whole reason for existence. And you get a huge audience, organic discovery, and moderation for free.
Every restaurant in my city’s primary social media presence is on IG. Unless you’re a huge chain and have a marketing department that’s basically all they get that isn’t mayyyybe a local mailing, or a sponsored story in a local newspaper or food blog.
Don’t get me wrong, I think you should have your own website for nothing else other than to lend some legitimacy when people Google your name but if you could only have one I would probably skip the website. “The Web” from a business standpoint is just Google’s centralized platform at this point since the thing that matters is audience and discovery.
https://palermospizzamenu.com/