Google has switched off websites made with the Google Business Profile platform, with many companies potentially losing their online presence as a result.
The move was announced by Google back in January, giving businesses time to make alternative arrangements for a new website provider.
However, aftermarket online expert, Jim Lang, says it is possible that many businesses may have missed the notifications and woken up to find themselves with no website this morning.
“This will only affect businesses that have exclusively created their online presence using a Google Business Profile website,” Lang stated. “Typically, these are the websites where their domain ends with business.site. However, many businesses will have used their own .co.uk or .com domains as well.
“It is important to reiterate, this does not affect websites created by providers that are not Google, such as Garage Services Online or any third-party website builder.”
Google Business Profile ‘closed’
For those garages who are affected, visitors to their ‘closed’ website will see a ‘page not found’ error and be redirected back to the garage’s Google Business Profile. This redirect is only in place until 10th June 2024.
Lang continued: “For any garage business that now finds itself without a website presence, urgent action is needed to find an alternative solution for a new website using a new domain. The new website domain should also be updated on the garage’s Google Business Profile too. Not doing so will lead to frustrated customers who will take their business elsewhere.
“Going forward, I would urge any garage owner to make sure their website is set up in the right way, with everything aligned from their social media and the integration of any online booking facility via their garage management system. This approach increases Facebook’s lead generation while making it easier for customers to book in.
While it may seem daunting for busy garage owners to establish an online presence, Lang states that it can be taken care of quite quickly and simply.
“For a garage to establish its position and take more market share, it is imperative that it can be easily found online and is visible above and among the garage’s competitors in the search results,” he commented.
“This comes down to having a website that accurately reflects the business and intercepts the relevant profitable online traffic for the garage which results in the work it wants. We have been advising on this for a while now and are happy for any garage owner to give us a call for free advice.”
For free expert online advice, contact Garage Services Online.
