The news about the shutting down of Google business profile at the beginning of spring 2023 became a real shock for lots of users. So, if you are one of their users and need some practical instructions about how to migrate to WordPress, then we will give you a step-by-step guide.
Such migration is important for the users who created a free site with only one page on Google. So, users won’t have access to these sites starting from June 2024. They will see an error and this will negatively influence your business. That’s why, it is crucial to start searching for a reliable Ubuntu Virtual Private Server and run the website with WordPress.
Backup of the business profile site.
The initial step in the migration procedure from Google business profile to WordPress is to back up all the information from your previous website. There are no exporting options, so you will be doing everything manually. Because it is a single-page website, it takes only a couple of minutes to complete this process.
Right-click on the images you want to save and store them on your machine. As for the text, you should also select the needed information and save it to the doc. There should not be any challenges, because usually, the data on these sites are minimal.
Select a web hosting provider
Web hosting is a place for storage of the data from your website. WordPress is free of charge while the hosting solution is paid one. On HostZealot, you can find cheap Virtual Private Severs that will cost you roughly a couple of dollars per month with an annual subscription.
As a new user you will not need to invest in expensive solutions, just start with the basic one and you will see when you will need to upgrade. The purchase will take only a couple of seconds – select the needed VPS plan, then specify the location and operating system. Fill in a couple of more details as with any online purchase and make a payment. Your account will be immediately created and login details will be sent to your email address.
WordPress Installation and Setup
After entering your hosting account, you can manage your site from here and install WP. For instance, from cPanel you can use the simplest installer and just follow the instructions on it. After that open the WP dashboard so you can log in and add customization, new pages, and also needed content.
Add content from your previous account to WP
Now you have an active WP website and all you need to do is import the necessary content. There is no automation in this process, so you should do it manually. Start by adding pages such as a contact page, about us, and others. It should be done in the WP dashboard. Then add the copied content from your previous site. Begin with the title of the pages, then copy and paste the text into the content editor. Here, you can also add some pictures or videos. Click “+” and add any necessary media file. After filling in all the data, press “publish” and repeat this procedure for all other pages.
Optimization for the local SEO
This is an important step that will help your potential clients to find your business on the search engines. Check whether your GMB (Google My Business) profile is fully completed and add all the needed details to attract more local clients. One more great way of SEO improvement is structuring your data also called schema markup. This microdata gives additional information to search engines. A sample of microdata can look like:
– Working hours
– Payment variants
– Events
– Phone number/address
There are lots of options on how to improve local SEO so you can find tons of information online. Moreover, you can use additional tools to simplify the optimization processes.
Change your URL in the Google business profile
At this point, you have completed all the challenging processes and you should only complete your full migration. Enter your business profile and click the edit button, now you can enter the contact section and add your new URL address instead of the old one.
That’s it, the process of migration is successfully completed once you have added the new address to your profile. Now, all the users who are searching for your website will be redirected to the valid address of your WP website. As you see, there are no difficulties connected with this process and even a user without technical skills can easily cope with this task. Just follow all the above-discussed steps such as – backup your website, choice of a reliable web hosting provider, WP installation, adding content to the WP site, optimizing for local SEO, and changing the URL address for the new one in GBP.