Google provides a range of web services for your company to manage its online presence. These include Google Ads, Analytics, Web Vitals, Tag Manager, and many more tools used by website design and digital marketing agencies across the globe, including us at Sprint Digital!
Up until now, Google has also offered a separate website creation service linked to Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business), which allowed companies to create basic websites using their existing business profile information.
What has changed?
Google recently announced that they will be shutting down their website service associated with Google Business Profiles starting from 1st March 2024. Any existing websites will no longer be accessible, and the ability to design new websites using this service will also be discontinued.
Additionally, Google has explained that from March 1st, 2024, all visitors to existing websites will be redirected to the parent company’s Google Business Profile page instead of the now-defunct website. However, this redirection will only stay in place until 10 June 2024 after which point all links to the website will result in a “Page Not Found” error.
What does this mean for you as a Google Business Profiles website owner?
In short, it means that any of your websites previously created with this service will need to be recreated or replaced with a new website if your organisation wishes to maintain its current web presence. Google has also recommended that companies ensure all ad campaigns and social media accounts linking to these websites are updated so that the shutdown does not negatively affect an organisation’s digital marketing campaigns.
It should be noted that while Google Business Profile websites can have any domain name, they will often contain the stock “business.site” domain ending – this can be an easy way to identify which of your sites this change may affect. If you are unsure whether you have a Google-built site, follow this link to find sites associated with your account. Note that we don’t use Google website creation services here at Sprint Digital so none of our client sites will be affected.
What can organisations do to prepare for this change?
While Google does offer some other website design tools, there is currently no way for organisations to migrate their existing Google Business Profiles websites to a new platform or hosting provider automatically.
This means that the only option for companies is to begin the process of recreating or building a brand-new website via a third-party platform. Google has recommended several reputable website design platforms including WordPress, Squarespace, and others, as potential candidates for your website redesigns.
At Sprint Digital we can personally vouch for WordPress and Squarespace in particular, as we use both of these platforms to design user-friendly and high-performing business websites for our clients. In fact, the website you are on right now was built using WordPress, alongside over 40% of all websites on the internet!
How can your business make the best of this situation?
While losing a website is far from ideal for any organisation, this shutdown does present an opportunity for your business to reinvent its website strategy in a more advantageous way. The websites provided by Google were quite basic as they were created using solely the information that a company already had on its Google Business profile.
While this was a quick and easy way for companies to get online, these websites lacked a lot of the functionality and digital marketing add-ons that modern websites provide.
Here at Sprint Digital Marketing Agency, we specialise in top-class Website Design combined with Content Marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), PPC (Pay-Per-Click), Email Marketing, and more as needed. All with the end goal of providing a tailored web presence with the best possible user experience and business growth potential.
In conclusion, whilst this shutdown may be disappointing for those who have depended on Google Business Profiles for their websites in the past, it also offers the opportunity for a new and invigorated website design and digital marketing strategy going forward. And for some businesses, the push to create a new website could be a blessing in disguise.
If you or your business are in need of a website, big or small, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Sprint Digital for a consultation.
