Google’s business.site websites have closed: what to do now

The 6 steps in the video

The video opens with a question: did your business have a free website from Google? Those business.site websites have closed. Google switched them off in 2024.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check your Google profile

   0:19

   Your Business Profile still works. Only the free website has gone.

   Google said the closure wouldn’t affect Business Profiles, so your listing, reviews and photos are all still there. Sign in at business.google.com and check your hours, phone number and photos while you’re in.

2. 2

   Step 2: Remove the old link

   0:31

   Delete the business.site address, so customers don’t land on an error page.

   Google cleared business.site addresses from profiles in March 2024, so your website field may already be empty. Check it anyway, then hunt down the old address everywhere else: social pages, directories, email signatures, printed cards and van signs. Each one now leads to a “page not found” error.

3. 3

   Step 3: Get your own domain name

   0:43

   An address you own, like yourbusiness.je, stays with you whoever builds your site.

   Register it in your own name, or your company’s, so a closed service or a change of designer can never take it away. A .je costs £49 a year direct from the registry, and registrars set their own prices. Our guide Do you need a .je domain, or will .co.uk do? helps you choose.

4. 4

   Step 4: Build a proper website

   0:55

   Start with what you do, where you work and how to get in touch.

   The replacement doesn’t need to be big. One page that says what you do, where you work and how to reach you covers what a business.site page did, and you can add to it later.

   Free builders are an option too. Our guide to free website builders against a website from £100 compares what each costs over three years.

5. 5

   Step 5: Use your new address everywhere

   1:07

   Your Google profile, social pages, email signature and invoices.

   Put the new address on your Business Profile first, then everywhere the old one appeared. Google’s guidelines (opens in a new tab) ask that the website on your profile is your own, not a link that forwards people to some other page.

6. 6

   Step 6: Check it on your phone

   1:19

   Lots of customers will find you on a mobile, so test it there first.

   Open the new site from your Google profile on your own phone. Tap the phone number, read the opening hours and send yourself a message through the contact form. Our video on mobile-friendly websites has six quick checks.

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