{"id":20781,"date":"2017-06-13T13:22:57","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T17:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=20781"},"modified":"2017-06-14T09:09:51","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T13:09:51","slug":"google-mybusiness-website-builder-released-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/13\/google-mybusiness-website-builder-released-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Google MyBusiness Website Builder Released Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today Google is announcing the worldwide release of their small business web builder, Websites. First spotted<\/a> in January, it is a simple, single page web builder that allows a business to create a basic webpage in 5 minutes (or less if really simple).<\/p>\n

It is accessible either via the Google My Business dashboard. The Website Help files are\u00a0here<\/a>. In India, signup has its own page<\/a> and the product warranted an official Google India blog post<\/a>. So far the announcment in the US has been decidedly muted<\/a> and shy of details.<\/p>\n

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If there is a verified listing in the GMB, the data for hours, driving directions & business name as well as photos will be automatically inserted into the web page. Any changes to the GMB will also auto-flow to the web page.<\/p>\n

As I have noted<\/a> previously, the product is not really a replacement for a full blown multi page website that many businesses have already in the United States but for the business just coming on line in the developing world. It is also a reasonable play for a business in the US that has a Facebook only presence but wants to start increasing their exposure in local search.<\/p>\n

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Its easy to move from one theme to another<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The product lacks a number of obvious features like social sharing buttons, structured data, control over title tags & meta-descriptions \u00a0and an easy way to create a call to action button.<\/p>\n

It does however allow a small business operator to produce an attractive mobile ready site \u00a0in 5 minutes. And it is well suited to a first time website for a business with no or very little web presence.<\/p>\n

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Landing page for Website product in India<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The web site produced resides at business.site and while it creates a default url (yourbusinessname.business.site) there is an option to easily change the default url or to buy your own domain for the site directly from Google.<\/p>\n

Here is an example of a site that I built in a few minutes this weekend:\u00a0sissons-chainsaws-stoves.business.site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obviously the product is confronted with all of the standard issues that Google has in the local space:<\/p>\n