What Is Google Sites and Why Use It?

Google Sites is a website-building platform from Google. If you're familiar with other website platforms like WordPress or Wix, you can think of Google Sites as something that's somewhat similar, but perhaps more specialized for businesses and web-based teams. 

If you already use other Google products and find them particularly useful for a business or organization that you work with, Google Sites might just be another one to add to your digital toolbox. Here's what you need to know about it.

A Brief Intro to Google Sites

Google Sites is an app that's a part of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), which is a group of Google's business productivity apps, including Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and more. 

Google Workspace is free for anyone with a Google account to access and use, but there there are a variety of paid Workplace subscriptions that range from $6 to $18 per month that offer additional business-level features, including a custom domain for your Google Site.

There's also a Workspace Individual subscription that costs $9.99 per month that's aimed toward entrepreneurs and business owners. A Workspace Individual subscription includes features such as smart booking services, professional video meetings, personalized email marketing, and more.

But you don't need a paid Google Workspace account to access and use Google Sites. If you have a Google account, navigate to Google Sites, then select the plus sign to create a new site. If you don't already have a Google Account, create your new Google account in order to use Sites.

Your site's domain will be https://sites.google.com/view/[your site's name], but you also have the opportunity to purchase a custom domain or use a domain you already purchased from a domain registrar.

What Google Sites Allows You to Do

Google Sites allows you to create a website without having to know how to code it yourself. When you're creating your Google Site, keep the Google Sites Support Page open and handy, so you can refer to it if you have questions.

Like other platforms, such as WordPress.com and Tumblr, Google Sites has site-builder features that make it easy and intuitive to design your site the way you want. You can also add "gadgets," such as calendars, maps, spreadsheets, presentations, and more to make your site more functional.

Choose a theme and customize it any way you want for a professional-looking site that looks and functions great across all desktop and mobile screens.

Why Use Google Sites?

Google Sites offers endless possibilities to make your website unique and customized. You may find that other platforms may be more appropriate, like Shopify or Etsy, for example, if you were planning on setting up an online shop, but you'd have to use both Google Sites and those platforms to determine for yourself whether one is better than the other in terms of what best suits your style and needs.

If you have a large team you work with, you may want to consider using Google Sites to build an intranet for communication purposes. The great thing about Google Sites is that you get to choose who can and can't access your site. So whether you want external visitors to be able to visit your site or you want to give collaborative editing privileges to certain users, you can easily do that with just a few clicks using Google Sites.