Changing Your Domain: How to Update Your Google Business Profile
Switched to a better domain name? Here's how to update your Google Business Profile so customers land on the right site—and Google keeps trusting your listing.
You got a better domain name. Maybe your old one was hard to spell over the phone. Maybe it had a dash in it, or a word people kept getting wrong. Whatever the reason, you made the switch. Good.
Now there's a loose end: your Google Business Profile still points to the old address. That's the free listing that shows up when someone searches your business name, or "plumber near me," and sees your hours, phone number, reviews, and a link to your site.
If that link still sends people to the old domain, you've got a problem worth fixing today. The good news is that you can update your Google Business Profile after changing your domain name in about five minutes. Here's how, and here's what to watch for.
First, make sure the old domain still works
Before you touch anything, keep your old domain alive and pointed at your new one. This is called a redirect. When someone types the old address, or clicks an old link, it sends them straight to the new site.
Do this first, for one simple reason: people already have your old link. It's in old emails, on a business card, in a customer's bookmarks, on someone's Facebook post from two years ago. If the old domain just dies, all those people hit a dead end. A redirect catches them and carries them over.
Your registrar or web host can set this up. Most have a help page for it. If you're not sure how, ask them for a "301 redirect" from your old domain to your new one—that's the term they'll know.
Update the website link on your profile
Once the redirect is working, log in and change the link. Here's the short version:
- Search your own business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages the listing.
- Find the panel that lets you edit your profile. You'll see options like Edit profile, Info, or a pencil icon.
- Open the Website field.
- Delete the old domain. Type the new one.
- Save.
That's it. Google has a walkthrough with screenshots if you get stuck—see their help page on editing your Business Profile. The change can take a little while to show up publicly, but the update itself is instant on your end.
Double-check the exact address you paste in
Small thing, big difference. Paste the new link into a browser first and make sure it loads your actual homepage—not a parked page, not an error, not a "coming soon" screen. Copy it from the address bar so you don't fat-finger a letter. One typo here means every customer who clicks lands nowhere.
What changing the domain does—and doesn't—affect
People worry that swapping the domain will wipe out their reviews or reset their listing. It won't. Your reviews, photos, hours, and history live with the profile itself, not with the website link. You're only changing where the "Website" button sends people.
Your listing's standing in the local map results mostly comes from other things: how complete your profile is, how consistent your name, address, and phone number are across the web, and your reviews. The website link is one input among many. Updating it keeps everything pointing the same direction, which is what you want.
If you want to go deeper on how the profile and the website split the work, we cover that in why Google shows your profile for some searches and your site for others and in what your Google Business Profile can't do that your domain can.
While you're in there, fix the mismatches
A domain change is a good excuse to line everything up. Customers trust a business when the name over the door, the name on the website, and the name on Google all match. If your new domain finally matches your business name, make sure the profile spells it the same way.
We walk through this in matching your business name, domain, and Google profile so customers trust you. And if you run more than one site and aren't sure which link belongs on the listing, read which domain should you put on your Google Business Profile before you save.
The other places your old domain is hiding
The profile is the big one, but it's not the only spot. Take ten minutes and update the old link wherever it lives:
- Your email signature
- Your Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp pages
- Any online directories or trade listings
- Your invoices, quotes, and printed materials going forward
- Google Ads, if you run any
You don't have to catch every last one on day one. The redirect covers you while you clean up over the following weeks. But the more places you fix, the fewer people bounce through the old address.
How long until it settles
The website link on your profile usually updates within a day or two for most searchers. Google's own systems catch up to the new domain over the following weeks as it crawls the redirect. Keep the old domain and its redirect running for at least a year—longer if it's cheap to hold—so no old link ever goes cold.
If you've been putting off a better domain name because the Google side felt complicated, now you know it isn't. The switch itself is the harder decision.
Not sure a better name is worth it for your shop? Browse names for your city or trade and see what's out there—it takes under a minute. Or send us one specific domain you're weighing and we'll tell you straight whether it's a fit.
