Build A Free Website With Google My Business

Google My Business

We recently received a request from a client to migrate their old website to a new platform. We were already considering using Google Sites and after reading Mike Blumenthal’s post on the number of sites created with Google My Business we decided to check out this new feature to see if it is worth recommending to clients.

There are a lot of free website builders, not many of them are very good. Google My Business does a great job of laying out a simple one-page website on a custom domain without a lot of fuss. This offering from Google isn’t all that great, but it is a lot easier (and better) than using Wix, GoDaddy, or Weebly when you have to claim and optimize your Google Business Listing anyway.

When you update your Google My Business information the business.site updates the information. Possibly easier to update than WordPress.

I setup our business.site over the weekend. Didn’t take long at all. There aren’t a lot of options to choose from.

The site template is very informative, business information such as phone number, directions, and business hours are above the fold. Also when I’m closed, it says, “Opening at 8:00 AM tomorrow.” Pretty cool. Pretty basic one page site: header image, call-to-action, about us copy, embedded Google Map, and business hours.

So if you are interested in primarily using your website to drive phone calls and in-store traffic, Google My Business webpage can do that effectively with minimal effort. Google has also added a “Post” feature for event promotion, it shows up primarily in branded search, but shows view metrics.

Google My Business Free Website

Strength – Easy to setup and update, uses Google My Business Listing to populate website, with business info, photos, and description

Weakness – Limited design options, no access to Google Analytics or Search Console

Opportunity – Integration with other Google services such as AdWords

Threats – Google could discontinue the product (not likely, given adoption rates)

This is a part of our Google My Business Claim & Optimize product.

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