It took an extra five days but now websites built and hosted on Google Business Profiles are now being redirected to the Business Profile listing on Google Maps. Google announced in January that it will be shutting down Business Profile websites on March 1, 2024.
Google updated its help page this morning to say, “As of March 5, 2024, websites made with Google Business Profiles are no longer available and customers that visit your site will be redirected to your Business Profile instead.”
What it looks like. I made a GIF of how this looks, when you try to click over to a Google Business Profile website, you are redirected to a Google Maps listing. You can see in the GIF below a screenshot of the Business Profile website. Above that screenshot, I click on the link to that Business Profile website, which then takes me to Google Maps and not that website.
It is a 302 redirect, by the way.
Redirects will stop working. Google added, “Your customers will only be redirected to your Business Profile until June 10, 2024. After that, customers will get a “Page not found” error when they try to visit your website.”
So in a few months, those redirects will stop working as well.
Alternative tools. Google suggested using one of the following platforms to build a new website for your business:
- Wix
- Squarespace
- GoDaddy
- Google Sites
- Shopify
- Durable
- Weebly
- Strikingly
- WordPress
Why we care. By now, I hope you were aware that these Google Business Profiles websites were going offline and you created a new website using a different website builder tool. For those that did not do this yet, maybe you should jump on that right away.
Then make sure to add the new URL to your Google Business Profile.
In a few months time, those redirects for your old URLs created by Google Business Profiles will stop working completely. It is a shame, we would all wish Google would keep the redirects up indefinitely.
