Have you received a message from Google that your webpage made with Google Business Profile has been discontinued?
What does it mean? How does it impact your local brand going forward? And what steps can you take from here?
Let’s jump right in and see what’s going on.
What Happened
First, a quick bit of background.
In the past, when you opened a Google Business Profile, you were presented with the option of building a simple webpage.
This feature served as a convenient solution for local businesses aiming to establish an online presence, which was especially helpful back during those times when navigating the complexities of creating a website could be challenging and costly.
You can identify these simple webpages by their addresses, which end with business.site or negocio.site
But, while these basic webpages served as a valuable alternative for small businesses lacking the resources to develop a comprehensive website from the ground up, they pretty much duplicated information already available on the Google Business Profile itself – which diminished their usefulness.
And, on March 5th, those webpages closed for good.
Who Does It Affect?
If you created a webpage with your Google Business Profile, then that page is unfortunately gone now.
However, as a way of easing business owners into this change (and providing some time for them to build a full-blown website of their own), anyone who visits the webpage address will be redirected to your Google Business Profile.
For a little while anyway.
Because, on June 10th, visitors who try to visit your Google Business webpage will find a “page not found” error.
Who Won’t Be Affected?
If you have your own website, one that wasn’t created with your Google Business Profile (again, that webpage would end with business.site or negocio.site), then you won’t be affected by this change.
Still, it’s good to keep in mind that there are some cases where certain parts of your business may be still run into some changes.
For example, a doctor’s office may have its own professional website, but some of the doctors themselves could have webpages they created with their Google Business Profiles. Often, this is referred to as a practitioner page.
In order to keep your online presence up to date, you may want to check to see if there are any aspects of your business that were using the simple Google webpage.
Webpages: Next Steps
One thing that hasn’t changed – having an online presence is a major factor in commerce these days.
While a free webpage may not be available with a Google Business Profile anymore, it’s definitely worth it to create a website for your business. And nowadays there are plenty of options.
-
- Squarespace
- Wix
- Shopify
- Weebly
- Google sites
- WordPress
- Go Daddy
Once you build a full-blown website for your business, you can update your Google Business Profile with your new website’s address.
Professional Web Design Services
For a top-notch business website that stands out from the competition, consider Smart Link Solutions’ web design services.
With a focus on user experience and innovative design, our tailored packages guarantee a seamless transition across various platforms – from tablets to mobile devices to desktops – ensuring that your content is easily accessible and visually appealing to everyone.
At Smart Link Solutions, we recognize the significance of achieving a high search engine ranking for your website. That’s why we incorporate search engine optimization principles into the design of all our websites.
Using cutting-edge techniques and industry best practices, we make sure that your website’s content is easily discoverable on major search engines like Google.
Bonus offer: If you’ve been impacted by the shuttering of webpages built with Google Business Profiles, you’ll receive FREE website hosting for the first year when you purchase a new website through Smart Link Solutions.
To learn more about how we can help your business thrive in the digital age, visit us at Smart Link Solutions. Check out our reviews!