In a recent move, Google has announced Google Business Profile websites will be shut down. This means that the basic websites powered by the information provided in your Business Profile will no longer function in the coming months. This is likely to impact many small business owners and entrepreneurs who have built their online presence using Google Business profile websites.
Google has announced plans to discontinue the Google Business Profile websites starting in March 2024. This means the free websites provided by Google through its Business Profile service, previously known as Google My Business, will no longer be available.
Google My Business gives businesses a quick way to establish a basic online presence, with which they can showcase key details from their Business Profile. Details include particulars such as operating hours, contact information, and their services/products.
Many small business owners eager to be found online are also familiar with those unsolicited calls that offer a free business listing to enhance their online presence. These will go away. However there are a significant number of these businesses that have created profiles on such free websites, and for some, these platforms are their primary online presence – particularly for attracting local traffic. With Google’s upcoming changes in March, businesses that do not have an independent website will lose this form of free online advertising.
What should a business do in this situation? We advise against waiting until the last minute to seek alternative solutions. Instead, we recommend establishing a new website on a different platform, such as WordPress. By creating a new website, businesses have the chance to invest in a more modern online presence that offers enhanced functionality and better represents their brand.
For businesses relying solely on the free Google Business Profile website, a new, modern website becomes crucial for maintaining online visibility. The discontinuation of these free business listings will affect how websites appear in search engine results, directly impacting SEO. As this service ceases (expected by June 2024), visitors will be met with a “page not found” error, negatively affecting conversions from local searches. Consequently, the SEO strategies previously effective in directing traffic to businesses like Mary’s Pizza, for example, will no longer return the same results.
And the same goes for your ads that are linked to your free Google Business Website. These ads will function properly – until March. We recommend discontinuing the ads in March. For those who prefer to plan ahead, consider redirecting these ads to your new website hosted on your own domain,
In summary, the upcoming changes will impact anyone who relies on websites created with Google Business Profiles in several ways:
- By March 2024, websites developed using Google Business Profiles will be deactivated. Customers attempting to visit your free website will instead be redirected to your Business Profile.
- In June 2024, all redirection services will cease. Consequently, visitors trying to access your website via Google My Business will be met with a ‘page not found’ error, rather than being directed to your associated business profile.
- This affects users who have created their online presence using Google Business Profile or Google My Business accounts, particularly those with site addresses ending in business.site and negocio.site. These will be removed from the website field on your Business Profile, necessitating a move to a new, independently hosted website to maintain online visibility and functionality.
- Without an alternative website to your Business Profile page, prospective clients might struggle to find complete information about your business, or worse yet they never find you.
