Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?

If you are just starting out, a well-filled Google Business Profile is the right first step, and it costs nothing. But a profile and a website do different jobs, and for most small businesses the profile works better with a website behind it. Here is why, in plain terms.

What does a Google Business Profile do well?

A Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up on Google Maps and on the right of Google search when someone looks up your business or "plumber near me". It is free, and it does a lot:

• It gets you on the map. Google ranks local results mainly on relevance, distance and prominence (Google Business Profile Help).
• It answers the quick questions. Hours, phone number, address or service area, directions.
• It collects your reviews, which is where many customers look first.
• It is fast to set up. An hour, if you have your photos ready.

If you have no website and no budget, set up and verify your profile today. It costs nothing, and few things do more for a local business online.

What can't a Google Business Profile do?

The profile is Google's page about you, not yours. That shows in a few ways:

• You don't fully control it. Anyone can suggest an edit to your hours, phone number or even whether you are open, and Google may publish a change if you don't respond to it in time (Relevant Audience on Google's suggested edits).
• There is little room to explain. The business description is limited to 750 characters, with no links (BrightLocal). That is about a paragraph to say why someone should call you instead of the next pin on the map.
• Everyone looks the same. Every profile has the same layout, the same buttons, the same grey. Yours sits in a list next to your competitors' profiles, one tap away from theirs.
• Google changes it when Google wants to. Google used to let businesses make a simple website from their profile, at no cost. It turned those sites off in March 2024 and stopped redirecting them in June 2024, so the links businesses had printed on vans and cards went nowhere (Search Engine Journal).

Does a website help my Google ranking?

It helps the profile do its job. Google says prominence, one of the three things local ranking is based on, draws on "how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have" (Google Business Profile Help). A website is the place those links can point to: the local paper, a supplier, a trade association, a happy customer's blog.

A website also lets you answer the questions people actually type into Google. "How much does it cost to replace a water heater" or "do you cut curly hair" can each have a page on your site, and a profile has nowhere to put them.

Nobody can promise a ranking, and nobody should. But a profile with a good website behind it gives Google, and customers, more to go on.

What does a website do that a profile can't?

• It says why you. Your story, how you work, who you are good for, in your own words and as long as you need.
• It shows what you do. Services and prices, photos of real jobs, the areas you cover, a menu, a portfolio.
• It turns a visit into a call. A clear phone number, a form, a booking link, on a page built around getting in touch.
• It is yours. Your domain, your words, your photos. Nobody else edits it, and it doesn't change when a platform changes its mind.
• It works everywhere. The address goes on your van, your invoices, your Instagram bio and your email signature, and it is the same address for years.

What about Facebook or Instagram instead?

The same logic applies. A Facebook page or an Instagram account is great for showing new work and staying in touch with customers who already follow you. But you are a guest there: the layout, the rules and who sees your posts are up to the platform. Use social media to send people to your website, not instead of it.

What should a small business website have, at minimum?

You don't need much. Five pages cover most local businesses:

1. Home: what you do, where, and how to reach you, all visible without scrolling.
2. Services: each service with a sentence or two, and prices or a starting price if you can.
3. About: who you are and why you do it.
4. Reviews or work: proof, from real customers or real jobs.
5. Contact: phone, email, a form, your hours and your area.

Keep your name, address, phone number and hours exactly the same on the website and the profile. Mismatches confuse customers, and they confuse Google.

How do a website and a Google Business Profile work together?

Put your website address in your profile, and your profile's reviews and map on your website. Someone finds you on the map, taps through to your site, sees your work and your prices, and calls. The profile gets you found; the website gets you chosen.

Don't have a website yet?

That is what Sitestove does. We build you a finished website first, and you decide after. Send us your current site, or just your business name if you don't have one, and in about a week you get a new one, working, on a private preview link. Like it? It's yours for $150 a month, with hosting, care and an editor. Don't like it? Walk away. We'll still be friends.

Or pick a design that is already finished. Each one is made once and sold to one business. See what's included in the price.