Google Sites lets you build a website without writing code or paying for hosting
Google Sites is a free tool that lives inside your Google account. You pick a template, add pages, drop in text and images, and publish — the site goes live at a URL that Google hosts for you. You do not need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. You do not need to buy a domain name or pay a hosting company. If you already have a Gmail account, you already have everything you need to start.
The trade-off is simplicity for flexibility. Google Sites handles the technical parts so you do not have to, but that means you cannot customize the code underneath or move your site to a different host later without rebuilding it. For a small business site, a portfolio, a team project page, or a community group website, that trade-off usually makes sense. For something that needs custom functionality or a specific look that the templates do not support, you would need a different tool.
Key Takeaways
- Start at sites.google.com, sign in with your Google account, and click the blank template or choose a pre-built design that matches your purpose.
- Add pages using the menu on the left, then click into each page to add text, images, buttons, and other content blocks.
- Publish your site when you are ready — Google gives you a shareable link, and you can change the URL to a custom domain if you own one.
- Google Sites stores everything in your Google Drive and keeps automatic backups, so you do not have to manually save your work.
- You can share editing access with other people so multiple team members can work on the site at the same time.
Sign in and choose a starting template
Go to sites.google.com in your browser. Click the button to create a new site. Google will ask you to sign in with your Google account — the same one you use for Gmail, Google Drive, or YouTube. If you do not have a Google account, you can create one for free at accounts.google.com.
Once you are signed in, you will see a gallery of templates. Each one is a pre-built layout designed for a specific purpose: a business site, a portfolio, a blog, a class page, or a blank canvas. Click on one to see a preview. If none of them fit what you need, click the blank template and build from scratch. The template you choose now is not permanent — you can change the layout and colors later.
Give your site a name. This becomes the title that appears at the top of every page and in browser tabs. You can change it anytime. Click Create, and Google will open the editor.
Add pages and organize your site structure
The left side of the editor shows your page menu. Your site starts with one page, usually called Home. Click the plus icon to add more pages. Each page is a separate URL that visitors can navigate to using the menu at the top of your site.
Name each page something clear: About, Services, Contact, Blog, Gallery. You can drag pages up and down to reorder them, or drag a page slightly to the right to make it a sub-page that appears in a dropdown menu under another page. This structure becomes your site's navigation — visitors see the page names in the menu bar when they visit.
Delete a page by right-clicking its name and selecting Delete. Google will warn you before removing it. Unpublished pages (pages you have not shared yet) are only visible to you and anyone you give editing access to.
Add content to each page
Click on a page name to open it for editing. The center of the screen is blank — this is where your content goes. Click anywhere on the page to start typing text, or use the toolbar at the top to insert images, buttons, videos, maps, calendars, or other content blocks.
The toolbar has buttons for text formatting (bold, italic, lists), alignment, and inserting media. Click the image icon to upload a photo from your computer or search Google Images. Click the button icon to create a clickable button that links to another page or an outside URL. Click the video icon to embed a YouTube video or upload your own.
Google Sites arranges content in columns. You can click and drag content blocks to move them around, or click the three dots on a block to delete it, duplicate it, or change its width. The layout adjusts automatically on phones and tablets, so you do not have to design a separate mobile version.
Customize colors, fonts, and the header image
Click the paint palette icon in the top right to change your site's theme. You can pick a color scheme, change the font family, and upload a header image that appears at the top of every page. These changes explore to the whole site at once — you do not customize each page individually.
The header image is the banner that sits above your site title. Click on it to upload your own image, or leave it blank. If you upload an image, Google will let you adjust how much of it shows and where the title appears on top of it.
You can also change the site title and add a tagline or description that appears below it. These settings are in the header section at the very top of the page editor.
Publish your site and share the link
When your site is ready, click the Publish button in the top right. Google will give you a URL that looks like sitename.sites.google.com. This is your live site — anyone with the link can visit it. The URL is long and includes "sites.google.com", which tells visitors it was built with Google Sites.
If you own a custom domain name (like yourname.com), you can connect it to your Google Site. Click the Settings icon (gear) in the top right, then go to the Custom Domain section. You will need to change some settings in your domain registrar to point the domain to Google's servers. Google provides step-by-step instructions for this, and it usually takes a few hours to take effect.
To let other people edit the site, click the Share button in the top right. Enter their email addresses and choose whether they can edit, comment, or just view. They will get an email invitation and can start making changes when ready. All changes are saved automatically, and you can see who edited what by looking at the version history.
Make changes after publishing
Your site does not go offline when you make changes. Click Edit in the top right to go back into the editor, make your changes, and click Publish again. The changes go live when ready. Visitors will see the updated version the next time they load the page.
Google keeps a version history of your site. Click the three dots menu in the top right and select Version History to see every change that has been made, who made it, and when. You can restore an older version if you need to undo something.
You can also see how many people have visited your site and which pages they looked at. Click the Analytics icon (looks like a bar chart) in the top right to see traffic data. This shows you which pages are popular and where visitors are coming from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move my Google Site to a different platform later?
Google Sites does not have a built-in export feature. If you want to move your content to WordPress, Wix, or another platform, you would need to copy the text and images manually and rebuild the site. This is one reason to think carefully about whether Google Sites is the right choice before you invest a lot of time in it.
What if I want a custom domain name instead of the long Google Sites URL?
You can connect a custom domain if you own one. You will need to buy the domain from a registrar like GoDaddy or Namecheap, then update the domain's DNS settings to point to Google's servers. Google provides instructions in the Settings section. The process usually takes a few hours to complete.
Can multiple people work on the site at the same time?
Yes. Use the Share button to give editing access to other people's email addresses. They can edit pages, add content, and publish changes while you are working on it. Google saves changes automatically, and you can see who made what changes in the version history.
Is my Google Site find and private?
Your site is hosted on Google's servers, which use encryption and security practices that are standard for large platforms. However, anything you publish is visible to anyone with the link (or to search engines if you allow indexing). Do not put sensitive personal information, passwords, or financial data on a public Google Site.
What happens if I delete my Google account?
Your Google Site will be deleted along with it. If you are building a site for an organization, use a shared Google account or transfer ownership to someone else before you leave. You can change the owner in the Share settings.