We’ve all said it plenty of times – don’t build your site on a platform where you can’t own its content or user experience. If you’re investing in building a brand through a website, you don’t want to rent your site’s content on a platform like Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Google Sites. These platforms could decide to close down and then all of a sudden, you’re left without a website.
Google to Discontinue Websites Built by Google Business Profile
Google announced earlier this week that it plans to discontinue its Google Business Profile website feature in March. Beginning in March and until June 10, 2024, visitors to these sites will be redirected to the corresponding Business Profile, after which they will see a “page not found” error.
Businesses using the website builder in their Google Business Profile will need to build a new website using alternative platforms like Wix, Squarespace or WordPress, and update their Business Profile with the new website link. If businesses choose not to have their Google Business Profile website rebuilt, existing customers and users of the website will be met with a broken site (not a good user experience).
Potential Implications After March
Aside from losing your website built with Google Business Profile, you will also be losing any traffic that was previously going to the website. Be aware of the following locations / channels you’ll need to plan to update.
Links from Google Ads
Any traffic you may be obtaining from a Google Ads campaign pointing to your Google Business Profile site will be impacted. At the time of the website being shut down, unless you have another website to point traffic to, you’ll want to push pause on your Google Ads campaigns. If not, you could end up paying for clicks that send people to a broken page.
Links from 3rd Party Websites
If you have linked to any content on your Google website from an external website or social media platform, be warned that those links will no longer work. Google will likely use a blanket redirect for any page on your Google site, which will redirect related URLs to your Google Business Profile until June 10. After June 10, those links will point to a broken page.
Links from Email Signatures
If you have linked to your Google site through your email signature, be warned that the link will be redirected in March and will stop working in June. Plan to update your email signature link to point to a new website.
What’s the Best Website Builder to Choose?
For businesses that plan to rebuild their websites, what is the best platform to use?
The Problem with DIY Website Builders
It’s important to keep in mind that most DIY website builders including Wix, Squarespace and GoDaddy sites will have limited support and customizations. Additionally, these platforms do not perform well when it comes to organic search (SEO). Due to the lack of customizations and the inability to alter certain aspects in the code, websites built on these platforms tend to not rank well for competitive key phrases and topics. It’s been proven time and time again that WordPress is the most reliable and SEO-friendly content management system for small businesses and we couldn’t agree more.
With a WordPress website, you own your content for the life of the site, you control the user experience on the site, you can have a custom design that is unique to your brand / offering, and WordPress sites are successful with SEO. With that said, a WordPress website is an investment – you’ll need to budget for a designer, a hosting platform and ongoing maintenance of the website. Consider this a long-term investment into your brand.
Getting Started
If you currently operate a Google-made website, you’ll want to start the transition process to a new site platform sooner than later. Feel free to ping us anytime if you need help with the process.
