When small business owners think about getting the business online and ranking on search engines, they’re mostly thinking about Google. As the top search engine in the world with around 86 percent of the market share, it’s a practical move.
Ranking on Google gives you the best odds of increasing traffic to your site. On top of that, Google offers other services that help you increase web and foot traffic, such as Business Profile and Google My Business.
If you ever want to stop drawing traffic, though, it begs the question of how to remove my business from Google. If you’re at that point, keep reading for some tips on removing my business from Google.
Why Remove Your Business from Google?
On the surface, the idea of removing your business from Google might seem absurd. What possible reason could any business owner have to want to stop drawing eyes and feet to their website or physical store?
One major reason you’d want to remove your business from Google is that you’re selling the business. At that point, you’d want to leave the listing open so the new owners can go through the claim your Google Business process. Then, they can update the listing with all of their information and contact details.
If you decided to simply close a business, you’d also want to remove the listing from Google. That would eliminate the odds of people calling the business, physically going there, or trying to reach a website that doesn’t exist anymore.
How to Remove My Business from Google
Fortunately, there is an option for removing your Business profile. It takes a few steps, as follows:
- You must log in to Google My Business
- Select Businesses from the sidebar menu
- Choose the edit option for the business
- On the Next screen, mark your business as permanently closed
- After confirming the close business option, select remove listing
This will effectively remove the business from Google, although it may take time for the changes to take full effect. The listing may still appear in Google searches, but with minimal or no details attached.
Removing from Google Maps
You may also want the business removed from Google Maps. The process for that is somewhat simpler.
You must find the business on Google Maps. Once you find it, select the suggest a change option. That should pull up a close or remove option.
Pick remove and provide a reason, such as business permanently closed. That should remove the listing from Google Maps.
Removing a Business from Google and You
While most people don’t think about getting their business off of Google, the day may come when you want the answer to how to remove my business from Google. If the business changes hands or closes, for example, you’ll want the business removed or at least not in your control anymore.
Fortunately, you can accomplish most of the job in Google My Business. You can finish removing it on Google Maps.
Looking for more tips on controlling your business’s digital footprint? Check out the posts over in our Business and Technology sections.
