A Google Business Profile – previously known as Google My Business (GMB) – is a critical online business listing for a modern organisation.
You’ll come up as a result on Google Maps and in the rich results of Google Search, where potential customers will get all your most important information at a glance. And you can drive incredible traffic: according to Google, 76% of people who use their smartphones to search for something nearby will visit a business within a day.
That traffic isn’t limited to those on foot. Optimising Google My Business profiles so that they send users to your site can greatly increase web traffic and conversions.
But if you’ve used the built-in website builder on Google Business Profile, you’ll no longer have a site.
The end of Google Business Profile websites
On 5 March 2024, Google stopped supporting websites made with the Google Business Profile website builder. Google began redirecting users to the company’s business profile instead, but after 10 June 2024, users will simply get a “Page not found” error when they try to navigate to the site.
The Google Business Profile website builder tool was designed to create super simple sites – places where a business could go into a little more detail about its brand, products and services. Up until a few years ago, the tool was widely used by small businesses who were hesitant to invest in a full website build.
The change is a result of the sale of Google’s domain business to Squarespace. If your website URL contains “business.site” or “negocio.site”, your website will be affected.
But far from being bad news, the end of Google Business Profile-generated websites represents a chance to optimise Google Business Profiles, enhance the SEO of Google My Business listings, and present your brand in a more complete and strategic way online.
Why Google Business Profile websites were bad
Websites built by Google Business Profile were inherently limited and limiting. At Growth Partners we believe that any business looking to grow online should take the opportunity to say good riddance to bad rubbish.
Despite being built by Google, the Google Business Profile website builder was notoriously bad for implementing search engine optimisation strategies. There was little to no SEO functionality or control, and most sites built with the tool featured a single web page that gave Google hardly any content to bite into.
The tool was easy to use, sure, but in terms of building websites that could do what websites should do – increase web traffic and drive sales – it wasn’t very effective.
But now that the website builder is dead, any business that has its eyes on serious, sustainable growth has been given a golden chance to build back better.
An opportunity to enhance your online presence
When properly designed, built and maintained, a website will be any modern business’s single most valuable asset.
Your website is the hub of your online presence, how you present your brand, products and services to the world. It can act as a 24/7 salesperson, marketer and customer service representative.
An investment in a high quality website can generate an incredible return, and not just through direct ecommerce sales – it can build brand awareness and trust, it can help you engage with new customers and markets, and it can increase knowledge of and demand for your offerings.
And at Growth Partners we use deep knowledge and proprietary technologies to build websites that do all that and more.
Purpose-built websites for continuous, sustainable growth
“Let’s build a new/better website” – easy to say, far harder to do.
A website, as with any construction project, must start with a strong foundation; which is why we developed the DigitalArchitect System®.
DigitalArchitect removes the confusion that surrounds digital marketing, SEO and web design, and replaces it with data, clarity, purpose and an actionable growth plan.
It generates a deliberate website structure and a digital transformation roadmap, using data from in-depth audience insights and customer behaviour analysis. We then craft engaging, targeted content that will capture prospective customers at all stages of the buyer journey – awareness, consideration, transaction – and drive continuous, sustainable growth.
Our Lite plan is built for $3M-10M revenue businesses that are ready to grow, and that understand the potential for their website to drive that growth.
Whether your Google Business Profile site has been shut down, or you want to enhance your online presence for another reason, you can kickstart your growth journey and discover your online market potential today with an obligation-free chat.
Common questions we get asked
How do I make my Google site SEO friendly?
It’s always been very difficult to implement SEO strategies on a Google site – i.e. a site built through a Google Business Profile – but now it’s impossible, because as of 5 March 20204, all of these sites have been taken down.
If you previously relied on Google Business Profile for your website, you’ll need to create a new one and host it elsewhere.
How do I do SEO for Google My Business?
Your first step to enhancing Google My Business (GMB) SEO is ensuring that your Google Business Profile is filled with accurate information. Moving forward you should regularly update info, add photos, and solicit and reply to reviews.
Finally, and most importantly, you need to link your profile to a high quality website that is built to convert visitors into customers. We’re ready to help.
How do I bring my website on top of Google Search?
The Google search engine results page (SERP) displays three main types of results, and the technique for ranking higher is different for each type of result:
- Paid ads: You can pay to bring your website to the top of Google’s search results by investing in Google Ads.
- Organic results: You can earn your way to a higher ranking by investing in search engine optimisation (SEO).
- Rich results: You can be featured as a rich result by creating high quality content and carefully curating your Google Business Profile.