TRUQ insights · July 2026
Is Instagram enough for a business in Iraq?
TL;DR: No. Instagram reaches people who already follow you. A website reaches people who are searching for what you sell. In TRUQ's July 2026 study of 350 Erbil businesses, 29 businesses (8%) had put a Facebook or Instagram link where their website should be, and 81% had no website link at all. When a customer asks Google or an AI assistant for a restaurant, a dentist or a gym in Erbil, the answer is built from websites and Google listings, not from Instagram bios.
Followers and searchers are different customers
Instagram shows your posts to a slice of your existing followers, when the algorithm allows it. Search works the other way: the customer starts it. Someone typing "dental clinic Erbil" or asking an AI assistant for one has intent and money in hand, and no follow button is involved. A business that only exists on Instagram is invisible at exactly the moment a new customer is choosing. That is the moment a website wins.
What a social page cannot do
The gaps are structural, not cosmetic. A profile cannot rank for search terms, cannot host a real menu or price list, cannot answer an AI assistant's questions, and can be suspended without warning because the platform owns the account. It renders half-broken for anyone not logged in. The comparison in plain terms:
| Job to do | Instagram page | Your own website |
|---|---|---|
| Found by new customers searching | No | Yes, on Google and AI assistants |
| Menu, prices, booking | Photos only | Real pages with WhatsApp ordering |
| Works without login | Partly | Fully |
| Owned by you | No, the platform | Yes, your domain |
| Cost per order | Ads to stay visible | $0 |
The right setup is both, doing different jobs
Keep Instagram for the audience you built. Add a website to catch the customers you have not met. In Erbil the bar is on the floor: only 11% of sampled businesses have a real website, so a one page site with WhatsApp ordering already beats roughly 8 out of 10 competitors in your category. Put the website link in your bio and on your Google listing, and let each channel do what it is good at. What that costs is public: see the fixed website prices or the packages by industry.
"Nobody scrolls Instagram looking for a dentist. They search. If you are not in the search results, your competitor is."The TRUQ team, Erbil
Questions, answered.
Do I still need Instagram if I have a website?
Yes. Keep Instagram for followers and stories, and use the website to catch people who search. The two do different jobs. The website link belongs in your Instagram bio and on your Google listing.
Can a Facebook or Instagram page rank on Google?
Not the way a website does. A social profile competes with every other profile on that platform and shows almost nothing to a searcher who is not logged in. A website on your own domain can rank for searches like "restaurant in Erbil" and can be read fully by Google and by AI assistants.
What happens to my business if my Instagram account is blocked?
You lose the audience with it, because the account belongs to the platform, not to you. A website on your own domain is yours. Nobody can suspend it, and your customer contact stays on WhatsApp, which does not depend on any algorithm.
How much does a website cost compared to running ads?
A one page website at TRUQ costs $600 once, plus $30 a month for hosting and care. Social ads stop working the moment you stop paying. A website keeps answering searches every day at no extra cost per customer.
Add the channel that searches can find.
Keep your Instagram. Add a website that brings the customers who search. Live in days, one fixed price.
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