Compared · 2 minute read
Is a Google Business Profile enough, or do you need a website?
Plenty of small businesses rely on their free Google profile: the listing with your hours, your reviews and a map pin. It is worth having. But it is Google’s page about you, not your own website, and Google decides what it shows and for how long.
The short answer
Keep your free Google Business Profile. Then give it somewhere to send people: your own website, on your own .co.za, that you control. Appetite Host builds that website for you, and shows your Google reviews on it.
Google used to give out free websites. Then it stopped.
Google Business Profile once let businesses make a simple free website on a Google address. In March 2024 Google discontinued them. Visitors were redirected to the business’s profile until 10 June 2024, and after that the address stopped working, according to Search Engine Journal’s report at the time.
Businesses that had printed that address on vans, cards and signs had to start again. The lesson is simple: build your online presence on an address you control.
Side by side
| Appetite Host website | Google Business Profile | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your own website, with as many pages as your plan includes | A listing on Google Search and Maps |
| Your address | Your own .co.za, registered in your name | A page on Google |
| What it can say | Everything: your services, areas, prices, story, photos and reviews | The fields Google provides |
| Who controls it | You | Google sets the rules and can change them |
| Cost | R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with your first year included, then R249 to R499 a month | Free |
What it is
- Appetite Host website
- Your own website, with as many pages as your plan includes
- Google Business Profile
- A listing on Google Search and Maps
Your address
- Appetite Host website
- Your own .co.za, registered in your name
- Google Business Profile
- A page on Google
What it can say
- Appetite Host website
- Everything: your services, areas, prices, story, photos and reviews
- Google Business Profile
- The fields Google provides
Who controls it
- Appetite Host website
- You
- Google Business Profile
- Google sets the rules and can change them
Cost
- Appetite Host website
- R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with your first year included, then R249 to R499 a month
- Google Business Profile
- Free
Why you need both
- Your profile gets attention. It is what shows on the map when someone nearby searches.
- Your website does the convincing. It has room to explain what you do, where you work and why you, with your real photos and reviews.
- Your website helps your profile. A profile that links to a proper website, on a matching .co.za, looks more established to customers.
Your Google reviews, on your own website
You have worked hard for your reviews. An Appetite Host website can show your real Google reviews, so visitors see them on your own page alongside everything else.
Built for you, from a conversation
Naya can read your Google listing to start your website from what is already there, then asks the questions that matter: your services, your areas, what makes you different. Your website is live within 1 working day of payment. Your own .co.za address follows as soon as you confirm your email, usually the same day.
Questions
Is a Google Business Profile enough without a website?
It gets you on the map, which matters. But it is a listing on Google, not your own website: you cannot say everything you need to, and Google decides what it shows. Most businesses do best with both, linked to each other.
What happened to Google’s free business websites?
Google discontinued Business Profile websites in March 2024. Visitors were redirected to the business’s profile until 10 June 2024, and after that the addresses stopped working.
Can my Appetite Host website show my Google reviews?
Yes. Your website can show your real Google reviews.
Prices checked on 8 October 2026, as each provider showed them to a visitor in South Africa. They change; check with the provider before you decide.
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