How to create a website on Google

Google Sites is Google's free website builder, and it's genuinely useful for quick client projects or internal documentation, though it has real limitations you should understand before recommending it.

To create a website on Google Sites, you start by going to sites.google.com and clicking "Create." You'll choose a template that matches your project type—there are layouts for portfolios, product showcases, team pages, and general business sites. The editor uses a drag-and-drop interface where you add content blocks directly onto the page. You can insert text, images, embedded videos, forms, calendars, and Google documents. The navigation menu appears automatically on the left or top of the page, and you add new pages by clicking "Add Page" in the navigation panel. Google Sites handles hosting automatically under a subdomain like yoursite.sites.google.com, though you can connect a custom domain if the client owns one through any registrar. Publishing is instantaneous—no deploying or build processes.

Where Google Sites falls short for most professional work is mobile responsiveness, limited customization, and SEO constraints. The templates are rigid, and while you can adjust colors and fonts, you can't control code fundamentals that matter for search visibility. The platform doesn't give you granular control over meta tags, structured data, or site architecture in the way WordPress or Webflow does. Google Sites also lacks e-commerce functionality, complex form integrations, and serious security features like SSL certificates (though Google provides basic HTTPS). Performance is adequate for simple sites, but it won't compete with properly optimized alternatives.

For your agency, Google Sites makes sense only for very specific scenarios: quick internal knowledge bases, simple landing pages you're building in 30 minutes, or client emergency sites when their primary site goes down. For anything requiring SEO optimization, conversion tracking, analytics integration, or custom functionality, you should be steering clients toward WordPress, Webflow, or similar platforms. If a client insists on free or wants something instantly live with minimal effort, Google Sites delivers that. Just be transparent about its limitations so you're not overpromising what it can do for their business.