Google Business Profile or a Website? Why Smart Businesses Use Both
When someone searches "plumber near me" or "bakery open now", the first thing they usually see isn't a website. It's a box with a map, star ratings, opening hours and a phone number. That box is a Google Business Profile, and it's free.
So it's a fair question: if Google already shows your business for free, why pay for a website at all? This guide explains what a Google Business Profile does well, where it falls short, and why the businesses that win locally use a profile and a website together.
Quick answer: a Google Business Profile gets you found, especially on Google Maps. A website gets you chosen: it answers questions, builds trust, takes bookings and gives you a professional email address. Use the profile as your shop sign and the website as your shop.
What a Google Business Profile does well
A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a free listing you manage at google.com/business. Once verified, it can show:
- Your business name, address or service area, and phone number
- Opening hours, including holiday hours
- Photos of your premises, products or work
- Customer reviews and your replies
- A "Website" button, directions and a call button
For local searches, this is prime real estate. It appears in Google Maps and in the "local pack", the map and three businesses shown at the top of many searches. Setting one up is one of the best free things any local business can do.
Where a profile alone falls short
Google closed its free profile websites
Until 2024, Google let businesses create a basic website from their profile, on addresses like yourbusiness.business.site. Google shut these sites down in March 2024, redirected them to the profile until June 2024, and then they simply stopped working. Businesses that relied on them lost their web address overnight and had to start again elsewhere.
That's the core risk of building on a platform you don't own: the platform can change the rules at any time.
You can't tell your full story
A profile has a short description, a few photos and a list of services. It can't hold a detailed price list, case studies, an FAQ, a booking system, a blog, or the kind of explanation that convinces a careful customer to pick you over the business next door.
It doesn't help you outside local searches
Your profile appears for searches tied to a place. It does much less for searches like "how much does a kitchen renovation cost" or "best accountant for freelancers", which are exactly the searches where a helpful page on your own website can bring in new customers for years.
No professional email
A profile can't give you an address like hello@yourbusiness.com. A website on your own domain can, and that matters for trust (and for staying out of spam folders, as our guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC explains).
Google Business Profile vs a website: side by side
| Google Business Profile | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Domain and hosting, from about $2 a month combined |
| Shows on Google Maps | Yes, and it's the main way to appear there | Indirectly, by strengthening your profile |
| Ranks for non-local searches | Rarely | Yes, with helpful content |
| Space to explain and persuade | Very limited | Unlimited |
| Bookings, forms, online payments | Basic, via third parties | Fully yours |
| Professional email | No | Yes |
| Who controls it | You |
How a profile and a website work together
The two aren't competitors. Each makes the other stronger.
- The profile sends visitors to your website. The "Website" button is one of the most clicked parts of a profile. If it leads to a fast, clear site, those clicks turn into enquiries.
- Your website makes your profile more trustworthy. Google compares your name, address and phone number across the web. When your website shows exactly the same details as your profile, that consistency helps you rank locally.
- Your website catches the searches your profile can't. Helpful pages and blog posts bring in people who aren't searching "near me" yet but will become customers.
- Reviews on your profile, proof on your website. Ask happy customers for Google reviews, then feature the best ones on your site.
How to set up both in an afternoon
- Claim or create your Google Business Profile at google.com/business and complete verification.
- Fill in everything: categories, hours, services, at least 10 good photos, and a description that says who you help and where.
- Register a domain that matches your business name.
- Build a simple website with five pages: Home, Services, About, Reviews/Work, Contact. WordPress makes this straightforward. Freelancers can follow our guide to a freelancer portfolio website instead.
- Use identical name, address and phone details on both.
- Add your website link to your profile, and a "Find us on Google" link or map to your website.
- Post updates on your profile and keep your website fresh. If Google still isn't showing your site, our guide to why a website isn't showing on Google walks through the fixes.
Not sure what a website will cost you? We broke it down line by line in what a small business website really costs.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Google Business Profile enough without a website?
It's enough to be found, but rarely enough to be chosen. Without a website you have no space to explain your services, no professional email, and no protection if Google changes or removes features, as it did with profile websites in 2024.
Does having a website help my Google Business Profile rank?
Yes. A website with the same name, address and phone number as your profile, clear service pages and a link to your profile gives Google more confidence in your business, which supports your local ranking.
Can I still make a website from my Google Business Profile?
No. Google closed its free business.site websites in 2024. You'll need your own website and domain, which you then link from your profile.
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating and managing a profile is free. You only pay if you choose to run Google Ads.
Give your Google profile a website worth clicking
Your profile gets you on the map; your website closes the deal. With SternHost you can register your domain and launch a fast WordPress website on hosting from $1/month, with free SSL, unlimited professional email on your own domain and daily backups included.
Launch your business website with SternHost hosting and put a real website behind your Google Business Profile. Need a name first? Find your domain here.
