Google is Eliminating Business Profile Websites…How to Prepare Now!

When customers or first-time visitors search for your website after March 2024, rather than being taken to your website, they will now be redirected to your Google Business profile instead. However, even this is just a temporary fix. After June 10, 2024, Google Business profiles will no longer be shown either and visitors will simply receive a 404 error message. 

How Will This Change Impact Business Owners?

This disruption has the potential to have a significant impact on the continuity of a variety of visibility and business operation features for business owners who rely on their Google Business website for their online home base. Visitors to your Google Business website will only be redirected to your Google Business Profile through June 10, 2024. After that date, traffic will receive a 404 error message with no redirection. This means that any potential traffic attempting to find your website after June 10th, 2024 will be lost. 

Additionally, businesses that are currently using their Google Business website as a landing page for their active ad campaigns will need to redirect their ads to a new website or pause their ad campaigns prior to March 1, 2024, to avoid disruptions to ad functions and ads that lead to a 404 error page.

What Steps Can You Take Now To Minimize Disruption?

The coming changes will impact Google Business Profile users who currently use Google Business Websites. Google Business Profiles will not be impacted. If you are unsure whether your Google Business Profile is connected to a Google Business website, you can review your Google Business Profile for websites displaying either a business.site or negocio.site domain. 

If your business website uses either of these domains, it is a Google Business Profile website and you will need to create a new website to redirect visitors and advertising traffic to, ideally before March 1st, 2024. 

Follow the steps below to find out if you are currently using a Google Business Profile website and what you will need to do to minimize the impact of any disruption.  

Check the Websites Listed on Your Google Business Profile

If you are uncertain whether you currently have a Google Business Profile website attached to your Google Business Profile, you can easily find out by visiting your Google Business Profile and looking for a notice that reads “You have a website created with Google.” If you see this notice you are currently using a Google Business Profile website and you will need to follow the next steps to create an alternative before the disruption date.

If you don't see this message, you do not have a Google Business Profile website. But, having a business website linked to your Google Business Profile is a great way to get extra eyes on your business, so consider this a great opportunity to create a business website and link it to your profile. 

Create a New Business Website 

If you are currently using a Google Business Profile website to showcase your business or provide a landing page for your Google Ads campaigns, then you will need to create a new website to redirect your ads and business traffic to. 

Think of it this way, if you have had your business up and running for a while, maybe you are ready to trade up to professional business website design. 

Consider these consumer insights into business website design shared by intechnic. 

• Judgments on website credibility are 75% based on a website's overall aesthetics
• Almost 40% of users will bounce if they don’t like the content or layout of a website 
• Forrester research reports that, on average, every $1 invested in UX brings $100 in return
• The same Forrester report showed that a well-designed user interface has the potential to raise your conversion rate by up to 200%

If you are serious about growing your business in the coming year, maybe this could be the nudge you need to take the leap to a professional website design for your business.

The talented team of experts at Amata Agency can deliver a high-performing and visually stunning professional business website tailor-made for your brand. 

Their Web Design Pack is unbeatable in terms of bang for the buck. You get a custom-designed, secure, ADA-compliant website, premium plug-ins, and responsive web design that works great from any device. 

These features on a professional turnkey website would generally cost you $3,000 to upwards of $10,000 or more. The Amata Agency delivers all of this for less than $2,000 and includes 3-month’s of complementary hosting and your first year of domain registration. Best of all, the agency’s easy payment plan lets you start reaping the revenue rewards from your new business website now while you pay off the design over time. 

Edit Your Google Business Profile to Display Your New Website

Once you have your brand new business website ready to go, remember to return to your Google Business profile and enter your new website domain so visitors to your profile can find their way to your new home on the web. 

• Follow the steps below to edit your profile:
• Locate your Google Business Profile via Google Search or Google Maps
• If you haven’t verified your business profile yet, you will need to do that before you will be allowed to edit the profile 
• After accessing your verified business profile, select Edit Profile
• To change or add a website to your profile, you will need to first make sure that Googlebot, Google’s search crawler, is able to read your website content
• You will also need to run your new website through Google Search Console to check for any penalties 
• Once you have cleared Google’s checks, you will be presented with a variety of prompts that allow you to enter your website information. 
• Click Save after each change that you make to ensure the changes are permanent.  

Redirect Your Google Ads Campaigns to Your New Website

If you have your Google Ads campaigns set to direct consumers to your Google Business Profile website, you will need to change these links to direct Google Ads viewers to your new website. 

You can do this by following the steps below to edit the site links for your Google Ads campaign.

• Locate and sign in to Google Ads account.
• Select Ads & assets from the left-hand page menu on the left, then choose Assets 
• You should see a table containing all the assets associated with your Google Ads campaign. Select Associations from the table’s dropdown menu
• Select Sitelink from the list above the toolbar
• Click the Pencil icon next to the first site link leading to your Google Business Profile website and click Edit
• Change the site link to the desired page of your new website, and click Save 

Ensuring a Smooth Transition

You should be all set. Your Google Ads campaign and Google Business Profile should now be directing all of your potential customers to your brand new professional website so they can be wowed into becoming paying customers. 

Just remember that the deadlines are approaching fast. You will need to redirect your Google Ads campaign before March 1st, 2024 to ensure a seamless transition. If your website will not be ready by the deadline, consider pausing your Google Ads campaigns until your new website is ready for traffic. This will prevent confusion and save you from paying for clicks that can’t convert. 

The Silver Lining

While the shutdown of Google's Business Profile websites is an unwelcome disruption causing momentary stress for those impacted, there is a silver lining. It is easy to become complacent and keep plodding along with the same basic web page that you started your business with. This disruption could be just the jolt you needed to move your business to the next rung on the ladder by making the transition to a professional, modern business website. When you are ready to start designing your new website, let the experts at the Amata Agency create the perfect bespoke business website for your brand.