Your Google Business Website Is Dead. Now What?

In early 2024, Google notified every business owner who had ever created a free website through Google Business Profile that the service was being discontinued. By 10 June 2024, even the temporary redirects that had sent visitors to a business's Google Business Profile page had expired. Type one of those old business.site URLs into a browser today and you get nothing — a blank page, a 404, or a browser error.

Hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses lost their web presence overnight. If yours was one of them — or if you're only now realising what happened — this guide covers exactly what to do next: a clear action plan, an honest cost comparison of every replacement option, and a frank explanation of what actually determines your Google ranking in 2026.

What Exactly Was the Google My Business Website?

Google launched its free website builder as part of Google My Business (now rebranded Google Business Profile) in 2017. Any business owner could generate a basic single-page site — hosted on a business.site subdomain — directly from their Google Business Profile dashboard. It pulled in your business name, photos, hours, and description automatically, required no technical knowledge, and cost nothing.

For a cafe owner in Parramatta or a plumber in Geelong with no web presence, it was genuinely useful: free, instant, and connected to Google Search. The limitations were always real — no custom domain authority, no meaningful SEO capability, no booking integration, no proper contact forms, almost no design flexibility — but for businesses who just needed something to point to, it served a purpose.

Google's decision to retire the product reflects a strategic shift: the company now wants local businesses discoverable through Google Business Profile and Google Maps alone, without maintaining a separate hosted website product. The casualties are the businesses that treated that free page as their primary online presence.

The Shutdown Timeline

• Early 2024: Google announces the shutdown and notifies business owners by email and dashboard notification.
• March–May 2024: Existing business.site URLs redirect visitors to the business's Google Business Profile instead.
• 10 June 2024: Redirects end. All business.site URLs return errors for visitors.
• Ongoing: Any directory listings, social media bios, printed materials, or email signatures pointing to those URLs now lead nowhere.

If your business had a business.site URL listed anywhere — your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, Yellow Pages listing, or a sticker on your front window — every single one of those links is now broken.

The Real Impact on Your Business

The immediate damage is not just "my website is down." It is a chain of problems that compounds quietly over time.

1. Broken trust signals. When a potential customer clicks a link and hits a dead page, they do not call you. They close the tab and contact your competitor. Online first impressions are binary — there is no "almost working."
2. Lost Google ranking signals. Google used your website's content to match your business to relevant searches beyond your Business Profile alone. Without a website, your profile must carry all that weight — and it has real structural limits.
3. Directory inconsistency. If you are listed on True Local, Yellow Pages, Yelp Australia, Hipages, or any other directory with that dead URL, those are now broken citations. Google cross-references directory listings for local ranking purposes, and inconsistent or dead NAP (Name, Address, Phone + website) data is a negative signal.
4. No owned digital asset. Your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and Instagram are all rented platforms. A website hosted on infrastructure you control, at a domain you own, cannot be switched off by a product decision made in Mountain View. Google has now demonstrated, concretely, that it will shut down tools businesses depend on when those tools no longer serve Google's strategy.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports approximately 2.4 million actively trading businesses in Australia. Research consistently shows businesses with dedicated websites receive significantly more contact attempts than those relying solely on social profiles or directory listings — and that gap widens as consumer trust in "no-website" businesses continues to erode.

Step-by-Step: What to Do Right Now

Step 1: Audit Every Place Your Old URL Appeared

Before building anything new, find everywhere your old business.site URL was listed. Check: your Google Business Profile (edit and remove the dead link immediately), your Facebook About section, Instagram bio, LinkedIn company page, industry directories (True Local, Hipages, Service Seeking, Oneflare, Localsearch), your email signature, and any printed materials. Build a list — you will need to update every one of these once your new site is live. A broken URL in a directory you forgot about in 2021 is still damaging your local ranking today.

Step 2: Update Your Google Business Profile Today

Log in at business.google.com and remove the broken website URL entirely. A profile with no website URL performs better than one pointing to a dead link — Google treats unresolvable URLs as a negative signal. While you are logged in, verify your business name, address, phone number, hours, and primary category are all current and complete. Add recent photos if you have not posted any in the past 90 days; profile completeness and recency are both ranking factors.

Step 3: Choose Your Replacement Website Path

You have three realistic options, each with materially different costs, timelines, and outcomes. The right choice depends on your budget, the role your website plays in your lead pipeline, and how much time you can realistically put into it. The full comparison is in the next section.

Step 4: Get Your New Website Indexed by Google

Once your new site is live, submit it to Google Search Console (search.google.com/search-console) and request indexing via the URL Inspection tool. This is free and takes under ten minutes. Google will eventually crawl a new site on its own, but manual submission can reduce the delay from weeks to days. Submit your sitemap too if your platform generates one — most do.

Step 5: Update Every Listing With Your New URL

Return to the list from Step 1 and update every directory, social profile, and listing with your new website URL. Consistent NAP data — including a consistent, working website URL — across the web is a confirmed Google local ranking factor. This step is unglamorous and takes time, but skipping it leaves ranking signals on the table indefinitely.

Step 6: Redirect Residual Traffic Where Possible

If you had a custom domain connected to your old Business Profile website, point that domain to your new site with a 301 permanent redirect. This passes any residual link equity and ensures visitors following old links still reach you. If you were on a pure business.site URL with no custom domain, there is nothing to redirect — which is precisely why owning your domain matters going forward. A domain you own and control is non-negotiable for any serious business website.

Your Three Replacement Options: An Honest Comparison

There is no single right answer, but the trade-offs are concrete and worth understanding before you commit time or money.

Platform pricing current as at September 2026. DIY costs vary by plan tier; agency and freelancer costs reflect typical 5-page business website quotes in Australian capital cities.

The Hidden Costs of DIY Website Builders

Wix and Squarespace are genuinely good products for many use cases. But there are real costs that do not appear on their pricing pages — costs that matter specifically for local business SEO and long-term digital strategy.

Platform lock-in. Your content lives inside Wix's or Squarespace's proprietary system. If you want to move platforms in three years, you are largely starting over — there is no clean export of pages, blog posts, and media structure. Your content must be rebuilt manually. This is not hypothetical: Google just demonstrated exactly what happens when a platform you depend on retires a product. The risk is structural, not exceptional.

Technical SEO constraints. Most DIY builders generate heavier HTML, load unnecessary JavaScript, and make it difficult or impossible to implement structured data (schema markup) correctly. Google's PageSpeed Insights consistently scores Wix and Squarespace sites below well-built custom or WordPress sites on Core Web Vitals — and Core Web Vitals (loading speed, interactivity, visual stability) are a confirmed Google ranking factor as of 2021 and remain so. A slow website hurts you twice: once in rankings, and again when mobile visitors leave before the page loads.

Subdomain authority problems. If you build on yourname.wixsite.com or yourname.squarespace.com without connecting a custom domain, you are building Google ranking authority for Wix's domain, not yours. Always purchase and connect a custom domain — this is non-negotiable and adds $15–$30 per year.

Monthly fees compound significantly. Squarespace's base business plan runs approximately $16 per month AU at the time of writing. Over five years, that is $960 — before accounting for annual price increases. Add a booking system, e-commerce, or higher storage tier and the monthly cost rises further. The "free to start" entry point is a marketing position, not a sustainable cost model.

Your time has a dollar value. The most underestimated cost of DIY is the hours you spend building, maintaining, and troubleshooting a website instead of running your business. A tradie losing half a day trying to fix a broken mobile layout on Wix is losing billable work — often worth more than it would have cost to have the site built and maintained professionally. Time spent on your website is time not spent on your actual trade.

What Google Actually Looks at for Local Business Rankings in 2026

Most local SEO articles describe ranking factors in generic terms. Here is a plain-language breakdown of what Google's documentation and tools like Semrush and Ahrefs consistently show matters for local search in 2026:

• Relevance: Does your Business Profile and website clearly and specifically describe what you do, for whom, and where? Vague or incomplete descriptions reduce Google's confidence in matching you to relevant searches.
• Distance: Google estimates how far your business is from the searcher. You cannot directly control this, but accurate, consistent address data across your website, Business Profile, and directories is essential.
• Prominence: How well-known is your business online? This encompasses your website's domain authority, the quantity and quality of mentions across the web, and your review count and recency on Google.
• Review velocity and recency: A business with 80 reviews and 10 posted in the last 90 days will typically outrank one with 200 reviews and none in 18 months. Recency signals active operation. Ask every satisfied customer for a Google review — it costs nothing and compounds over time.
• Website content depth: Google reads your website to understand your services, service area, and relevance to specific searches. A site with a dedicated page for each service and suburb you cover gives Google significantly more to work with than a single-page profile. This is ranking surface area your Google Business Profile alone cannot provide.
• Core Web Vitals: Page load speed, first input delay, and cumulative layout shift. A website that scores poorly on these is penalised in rankings and drives away visitors. Test yours free at PageSpeed Insights.
• Local schema markup: Structured data that explicitly tells Google your business category, opening hours, service area, price range, and contact details. Most DIY-built sites either get this wrong or skip it entirely.

For tradies and contractors, local search is often the primary discovery channel — well ahead of social media or word-of-mouth referrals. A tradie who loses their web presence (as many did when Google shut down these websites) may be losing quote requests they have no visibility over. Businesses like APX Trade Group, licensed electricians in Sydney, understand that a professional website functions as a lead-generation asset, not merely a digital brochure — every page targeting a suburb or service type is a potential entry point for a new customer.

Should You Just Rely on Your Google Business Profile Without a Website?

It is a reasonable question. Google Business Profile is free, prominently displayed in local search results, lets you post updates, receive messages, and respond to reviews. Why spend money on a separate website?

Google can change its products. The shutdown of the Business Profile website builder is the clearest possible evidence of this. Google has also retired Google+, Inbox by Gmail, Google Allo, and many other tools businesses incorporated into their workflows. A website on infrastructure and a domain you own and control cannot be switched off by a product decision at Google.

Business Profile has hard content limits. You can write a 750-character description and list services. You cannot explain your process in depth, showcase an extensive portfolio, publish articles that rank for additional search terms, or integrate a booking system synced to your calendar. A website does all of that.

Higher-value customers do their due diligence. A potential customer who finds you on Google Maps will often click through to your website before calling — particularly for higher-cost services like construction, legal advice, or medical care. A missing website causes a meaningful percentage of those people to choose a competitor who has one. The higher the transaction value, the greater the website's influence on conversion.

Additional search rankings compound over time. Your Business Profile can rank for "[service] near me" searches. Your website can rank for "[service] [suburb]", "[service] [city]", "[service] cost Australia", and hundreds of other queries your customers are typing every day. Each of those rankings is a potential lead that your profile alone cannot capture.

Choosing the Right Website for Your Business Type

Not every business needs the same website. Here is a practical guide by sector, based on what actually converts visitors into enquiries:

Service businesses — tradies, cleaners, gardeners, mobile services: A 4–6 page site covering your services (one per page where possible), service area, a portfolio or photo gallery, an About page, and a contact page with a quote request form. Fast to build, high ROI, and highly targetable for local search. A well-structured service business website typically converts 2–5% of visitors into enquiry or call actions.

Hospitality — cafes, restaurants, bars: Menu display is non-negotiable. You also need current hours, a location embed, high-quality food photography, and ideally an integrated booking or reservation system. For cafes, social proof — awards, "as seen in" media coverage, supplier partnerships — converts browsers into visitors. Suppliers like ZenPacks Australia, who provide eco-friendly food packaging to hospitality venues nationally, consistently observe that their cafe clients are being evaluated on digital presentation before a customer sets foot inside. See our guide to websites for cafés and coffee shops for what converts in this sector.

Beauty and wellness — salons, barbers, spas, therapists: Online booking is the single most important feature for this sector — phone-call bookings are declining rapidly among under-40 clients. A strong visual design, clear team profiles, and integrated booking in a fast-loading package is the combination that converts.

Professional services — accountants, consultants, advisors: Trust signals dominate. Credentials, client testimonials, case studies, and a precise description of who you serve and what outcomes you deliver. Regularly published content on relevant topics drives ranking in professional service searches over time.

The Real Cost of Doing Nothing

This is the number most business owners never calculate. If your old Google Business Profile website generated an average of 50 visitors per month — a conservative figure for an established local business — and 2% of those visitors converted into enquiries, that is one new lead per month from a channel that is now dark. At an average Australian tradie job value of $800, that is $9,600 in potential annual revenue sitting on a dead URL.

The question is not whether a replacement website costs money. The question is what leaving that lead channel inactive is costing you every month it stays broken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover the content from my old Google My Business website?

Partially. Google offered users the option to export Business Profile website content before the June 10, 2024 deadline via Google Takeout. If you did not export before the deadline, that content is likely gone from Google's systems. However, if your old site was indexed before shutdown, archived versions may exist at the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org). Search your old URL there before assuming the content is permanently lost.

Do I need to notify Google when my new website goes live?

Yes — two actions. First, update your Google Business Profile with the new website URL as soon as it is live. Second, add the site to Google Search Console and use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing. Google will eventually crawl a new site organically, but manual submission reduces the delay from weeks to days. Both steps are free.

Will starting a new website reset my Google ranking?

A new domain starts with zero authority and builds over time as Google crawls your content and external sites link to you. If your old Business Profile website was the only site Google associated with your business, getting a new, properly structured website live will almost certainly improve your local ranking — not hurt it. The absence of a working website is a larger negative than a new domain's initial lack of authority.

What is the minimum viable website for a local business?

Four pages: a home page (who you are, what you do, where you operate, and a clear call to action — phone number or contact form prominently displayed); a services page (each service listed individually, not lumped under a single heading); an About page (builds trust and humanises the business); and a Contact page (phone, email, contact form, and an embedded Google Map). Four well-written, fast-loading pages will outperform a sprawling 15-page site with no clear structure or purpose.

How long until a new website appears in Google search results?

For a new domain: typically 2–6 weeks for initial indexing, 3–6 months before meaningful local search rankings develop. If you are moving to a new platform on an existing domain that Google already has context for, the process is faster. Implement 301 redirects from any old URL structures you are abandoning — these pass link equity to the new addresses and prevent ranking resets.

Is Wix or Squarespace good enough for local business SEO in Australia?

Both platforms have improved their SEO tooling significantly. For a local business whose website is primarily a trust signal and contact gateway, either can be adequate. The limitations become meaningful when you want to rank aggressively for multiple service-plus-suburb combinations, implement custom schema markup, or achieve the page speed scores that Google's Core Web Vitals assessment rewards. A more flexible platform gives you more control over these technical factors.

Should I buy my domain name before building a website?

Yes — immediately, regardless of which website path you choose. A .com.au domain costs $15–$30 per year from Australian registrars including VentraIP, Crazy Domains, or Netfleet. Register your trading name with .com.au (the highest-trust TLD for Australian businesses in local search) and also .com if it is available. Your domain is a separate asset from your hosting and must be registered independently — so that no platform switch ever leaves you without control of your web address.

Can I use a Facebook Page instead of a website?

Facebook Pages have serious structural limitations as a primary web presence: you cannot control the URL structure, implement technical SEO, or present content in the format a Google crawler can fully process. More fundamentally, Facebook actively restricts organic reach to push paid advertising, and can restrict or close any business page without notice. The lesson of the Google Business Profile website shutdown applies here with equal force. Use social platforms to extend your reach; use a website as the owned asset those platforms point to.

Your Website After Launch: What Keeps It Working

The most common mistake after building a new site is treating it as permanently finished. Google consistently rewards websites that are actively maintained — updated content, current hours and services, and sound technical health. At minimum, review your service list, photos, and any pricing information every quarter.

If your goal is for your new website to generate leads rather than merely exist, local SEO work — specifically, content targeting the suburbs and service combinations your customers are searching for — compounds over time in a way that most other marketing channels do not. An SEO retainer starting at $39.95 + GST per month is how businesses transition from "I have a website" to "my website brings me consistent work." The businesses that started this 12 months ago are now ranking for searches their competitors do not know exist.

If your Google Business Profile website is gone and you need a professional replacement built fast, weauto builds professional websites for Australian local businesses for $99 + GST, live in 5 business days.

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• Google My Business Website Alternative
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