You can make a free website for your business in under an hour. Google stopped hosting free business.site pages in 2024, so today the free routes are a site built from your Google Business Profile, Google Sites, or a builder's free plan. Whichever you pick, show your phone, WhatsApp, hours and map first.
What happened to Google's free business websites?
Google used to build a basic website from your Business Profile, at an address ending in business.site. In March 2024 Google turned those sites off. Visitors were sent to the Business Profile until June 10, 2024, and after that they got a "page not found" error.
The profile itself kept working. Only the website went away, and Google removed business.site addresses from the Website field. If you never replaced it, customers who look for your website on Google find nothing to tap.
Which free option should you choose?
Each option below costs nothing to start. They differ in the address you get, how much you build by hand, and what the free plan leaves out.
| Option | Address you get | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A site built from your Google profile | Address you getyourname.reachbylocus.com | Good forShops with a Google listing that want call, WhatsApp, map and booking without design work | Watch out forThe free plan shows a small "Powered by Reach" link, and your own domain is not supported yet |
| Google Sites | Address you getsites.google.com/view/yourname, or your own domain | Good forA simple page you lay out yourself from a template | Watch out forNothing is filled in for you: you type the hours, add the map and update both by hand |
| A website builder's free plan (Wix and similar) | Address you getA subdomain of the builder | Good forOwners who want full design control and may upgrade later | Watch out forFree plans carry the builder's branding; read the current plan terms before you build |
| An Instagram or Facebook page | Address you getA social profile | Good forShowing new stock and daily photos | Watch out forGoogle's rules say not to use URLs that refer people to other landing pages, "including pages created on social media sites" |
If you already have a Google listing and little time, start from the listing: the facts are already there. If you want to arrange every block yourself, use Google Sites. Keep the social page, but link to it from the website rather than using it as the website.
What does a local shop's website need?
A customer opens a shop's site on a phone to answer one of four questions: are you open, where are you, how do I contact you, and what do you sell. Put the answers on the first screen.
- Your name and what you sell, written the same way as on your signboard and your Google profile. See the name rules.
- Call and WhatsApp buttons that work with one tap. See how to add WhatsApp.
- Your address with a map and directions, or the areas you serve if customers don't visit.
- Opening hours that match Google, including holiday hours.
- Real photos: the shop front so people recognise it, the inside, and your best products.
- Prices or a short service list, if you show prices in the shop.
- A way to book or order, if you take appointments. See how to add a booking link.
How to make the website, step by step
- Check your Google Business Profile first: name, category, phone and hours. The website repeats these facts, so fix them at the source. If you have no profile yet, create one.
- Pick one option from the table above.
- Write the first screen: your business name, one line on what you sell and where, and Call and WhatsApp buttons.
- Add your address with a map, your opening hours, and three to six real photos.
- Add a short list of services or products, with prices if you show them in the shop.
- Publish, then open the site on your own phone and tap every button: call, WhatsApp and directions.
- Paste the website address into the Website field of your Google Business Profile.
- If your builder lets you add code, add LocalBusiness schema with the free schema generator.
Do you need your own domain?
No, not to start. A free site lives on the builder's address. Your own domain, such as yourshop.in or yourshop.com, is a yearly fee paid to a domain registrar.
It becomes worth paying for when you print the address on bags, boxes, visiting cards and the shop board. An address you own stays the same if you later move to another builder, so nothing you printed goes out of date.
Check that your builder can connect a domain before you print anything. Google Sites can; a site built from your Google profile on Reach cannot yet.
Does a website help you rank on Google Maps?
Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence "is also based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have."
A website helps through prominence: it is the page a supplier, a trade association or a local news site can link to. In our experience it also helps relevance, because it can describe services in more detail than the profile fields allow. It does not move you ahead of a shop that is closer to the person searching. For the full picture, see how to rank higher on Google Maps.
Worked example (illustrative)
Ravi runs "Sai Mobile Repairs" near the bus stand in Nashik. His Google profile has 40 reviews, but its Website field has been empty since his business.site page went away. Most customers find him on Maps and then ask on WhatsApp what a screen replacement costs.
- He checks his Google profile: the hours still show the old Sunday timing, so he fixes them first.
- He builds a site from his Google listing, so the name, address, map, phone and hours come across as they are on Google.
- He uploads a photo of the shop front and two of the repair counter.
- He adds a price list for the five repairs people ask about most.
- He opens the site on his phone and taps Call, WhatsApp and Directions.
- He pastes the site address into the Website field of his Google profile and prints it on his visiting card.
The price questions on WhatsApp now come with the price already known, and the visiting card points to a page that shows his hours and reviews.
Tool: free website from your Google profile
Questions owners ask
- Can I get a website for my business completely free?
- Yes. Google Sites, builders' free plans and a site built from your Google profile cost nothing. You pay only if you want your own domain or want to remove the builder's branding.
- Do business.site websites still work?
- No. Google turned them off in March 2024, and the redirects to Business Profiles stopped on June 10, 2024.
- Can I use my Instagram page as my website on Google?
- Google's rules say not to give URLs that refer people to other landing pages, including social media pages. Use a real website and link to Instagram from it.
- Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
- Not to appear on Maps. A website still gives customers a page you control, an address to print, and room for prices, services and booking.
- How long does it take?
- About an hour for a one-page site, if your Google profile is already correct. Most of that time is choosing photos and writing the price list.
- Can I make the website on my phone?
- It depends on the tool. Google's help tells you to open Google Sites on your computer. The free website tool on this site works in a phone browser.
Keep the website in step with your Google profile
With Reach
Reach by Locus builds a one-page website from your Google Business Profile listing: name, category, address with a map, phone, WhatsApp and opening hours. Publishing is part of the Free plan, on its own reachbylocus.com address.
When you change your hours or phone number on Google, the site follows. Once booking is turned on, customers pick a time inside your opening hours and the request arrives in Reach.
You upload your own photos in the website editor, and your Google reviews show on the site once your profile is connected.