Google Business Profile

Your free Google business.site website stopped working

Google no longer runs the free business.site websites made from Business Profiles, so those links lead nowhere. Build or pick a new site and put its full address in your profile's website field.

5 steps

  1. Step 1: Search your business name and city while signed in, and check what the Website button on your profile opens.
    2 min
  2. Step 2: If it points to a business.site address or an error page, get a working site ready first: your own domain, or any site you control.
    1 day
  3. Step 3: On business.google.com, select Edit profile, replace the old address with the full new one starting https://, and select Save.
    2 min
  4. Step 4: Make sure Googlebot isn't blocked on the new site, and add it to Search Console so you can spot problems.
    15 min
  5. Step 5: Update the same old link everywhere else it appears: business cards, email signatures, social bios and other directories.
    30 min
  6. Arrived: Your profile's Website button opens a live site you control. Google reviews the change first, usually within minutes but sometimes up to 30 days.

Checked 13 Nov 2026 · source: support.google.com

No website on your listing?Google's free business.site websites were switched off in 2024. B12 builds one from your listing details. Build one with B12 (partner) B12 is our website partner; we may earn a commission if you sign up. It does not change what we write.

What happened

For years Google let owners build a simple free website straight from their Business Profile. The address ended in business.site and the content was pulled from the profile itself. Google has shut that product down. The sites no longer load, and the help article Google used to keep about them has been retired: its old address now opens the general Edit your Business Profile page, with no mention of business.site at all.

So if your profile, your cards or your van still point at a business.site address, those visitors hit a dead end. Google’s current help doesn’t describe any redirect, export or recovery for the old sites.

Many owners never touched the website field after creating the free site, so the old address may still be sitting there. Search your business name and city while signed in to the managing account, and tap the Website button. If it errors or lands on something you didn’t expect, fix that before anything else. A broken link from your own profile looks careless to a customer comparing you with a competitor.

Choosing a replacement

Google’s rules for the field are short. The address must be complete, starting with https:// or http://. The site should represent this business, and the guidelines rule out URLs that redirect people elsewhere, social media pages included. Google also asks that Googlebot can crawl the site and suggests watching Search Console for penalties.

Within those rules, anything you control works. What matters for the customer is that the new page covers the basics the old one did: what you do, where you work, your hours, how to reach you, and a few photos. Owning your own domain this time means you won’t be stranded if a free service closes again.

Things the profile still does without a site

Your profile itself keeps working. Hours, reviews, photos, posts, services and the call button all stay. Nothing about the shutdown removed those. What you lose without a website is the place where a customer goes for more than a profile can hold.

Clean up the old address elsewhere

The profile is only one place the old link lives. Go through your email signature, social bios, invoices, other directory listings and anything printed. Each one is a dead end until you change it.

If it doesn't work

  • You can't remember which account owns the profile: sign in with each likely Google account at business.google.com until the profile appears.
  • The new link shows as Pending for a long time: Google says edit reviews can take up to 30 days. Leave it and check the status again.
  • You have no site and no time to build one: leaving the field blank is allowed for now, but customers lose the easy way to learn more.
  • Your old business.site address was printed on signs or vans: there's nothing Google offers to forward it, so plan to replace the print.
No website on your listing?Google's free business.site websites were switched off in 2024. B12 builds one from your listing details. Build one with B12 (partner)B12 is our website partner; we may earn a commission if you sign up. It does not change what we write.

Questions owners ask

Can I get my old business.site pages back?

Google's Business Profile help no longer offers any way to restore or export them. The article Google used to keep about these websites now opens the general Edit your Business Profile page instead, which tells you the product is gone.

Did losing the website hurt my Google ranking?

Google's local ranking page doesn't name having a website as a factor. It names relevance, distance and prominence, and says prominence is influenced by links from other websites. A dead link on your profile mostly costs you visitors who wanted more detail.

Can I put my Facebook page in the website field instead?

Google's guidelines say URLs must not redirect or refer users to other landing pages, including pages created on social media sites. Use a site you control, and add your social profiles in the separate social links section.

Do I need to verify again after changing the website?

No. Google's edit page names the business name and address as the changes that can require re-verification. A website change goes through the normal edit review.

Sources

Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.

Related fixes

Written by Ellis Marr (a pen name) · Checked 13 Nov 2026 · How we check