Google is shutting down websites made with Business Profiles
Google Business Profile websites will be turned off in March 2024.
Customers attempting to visit your website will then be automatically redirected to your Business Profile until June 10, 2024. Beyond this ****, visitors will encounter a “page not found” error.
Why we care. Businesses wanting to maintain their online presence must create a new site using alternative tools, then update their Business Profile with the new site address before the deadline to ensure a smooth transition for customers.
Alternative tools. Google has suggested using one of the following platforms to build a new website for your business:
- Wix.
- Squarespace.
- GoDaddy.
- Google Sites.
- Shopify.
- WordPress.
Ad campaigns issues. If your Ads campaign is linked to a website from Google Business Profile, make sure to change the website link before March 1, 2024, to keep your ads running. If that’s not possible, you can choose to pause your campaigns.
Third-party domains. If you’ve set up a custom domain to direct traffic to your Google Business Profile website, visitors to this domain will be redirected to your Business Profile until June 10, 2024. To manage this transition, log in to your hosting company account and select the “Redirect” option or a similar feature to reroute your third-party domain to a different website before the specified ****.
What Google is saying. A Google spokesperson said in a statement:
- “Websites made with Google Business Profiles are basic websites powered by the information on your Business Profile.”
- “If you don’t have a website made with a Google Business Profile, the changes won’t affect you.”
- “Domains that end with business.site and negocio.site will be removed from the website field on your Business Profile in March. We recommend that you update your Google Business Profile to point to a new website.”
- “Other than that, your Business Profile won’t be affected.”
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Deep dive. Read Google’s announcement in full for more information.
Source link : Searchengineland.com