In this beginner’s guide, we’re going to look at how to make a website on Google – something you may not have even been aware you could do. Google isn’t always the best at publicising the various apps and services it offers, after all, and while Google Sites isn’t the most powerful or sophisticated website editor around, it’s easy to use, and it’s free for anyone with a Google account.
While there are many options geared more towards professionals – as collated in our guide to the best web builders for small businesses – Google Sites uses a block-based editor that requires no coding or design experience of any kind. It’s great for throwing together a quick site for a specific purpose – such as to publicise an event, or host a simple CV. Though, as we’ll see, you can get a bit more complex if you like.
1. Access Google Sites
The first thing to do is head to sites.google.com, where you’ll find Google’s website builder. You will need to sign up for a Google account if you don’t have one already – it’s a quick and simple process.
2. Select a template or create a blank site
Once you’ve got your account, you’ll be presented with the main dashboard to start a new site. It’s worth looking through the selection of templates Google Sites offers, in case there’s one that’ll suit your purposes better. Click ‘Template gallery’ on the right-hand side to expand the list.
For the purposes of this example, I’ll create a photography portfolio website. While there is a dedicated template for this purpose, I’m going to create one from a blank template, so I click the ‘+’ symbol to create a blank site.
Whatever you choose, you’ll be thrown straight into the main site editor. The first thing to do now is name your site, which you can do in the top-left corner.
3. Add pages and sub-pages
A good thing to establish at this point is how many pages you’re going to need on your site, which will depend on what you’re using it for. If you’re providing information for wedding guests, for example, you’ll probably only need one. If you’re opening a site for a restaurant, you’ll probably want a few more – menu, hours, reservations, etc.
For my photography portfolio, I want to split my images into the following categories: colour film, black & white film, and digital. I also want a contact page so people can get in touch to hire me, or to buy prints (keep dreaming, one day it’ll happen).
Click ‘Pages’ in the right-hand menu, then click ‘Add page’ at the bottom for each of the pages you want to add.
You’ll notice that the page titles have been automatically added to the top nav bar of my site. If you need to, you can add sub-pages within pages, meaning they won’t show up in the top menu – click the three dots next to any page name, then select ‘Add subpage’ (here you can also duplicate pages).
The header currently has a generic image – we’ll get to replacing that in a moment, but if you’d like to change the size of the image, or not have one there at all, you can select ‘Header type’ below to change it.
4. Populate with text and images
Now it’s time to add the actual content of our site. As I’m making a photography portfolio, I have plenty of imagery to choose from already. If you don’t, you may want to consider stock imagery – check out our guide to the best stock photo libraries, which includes options for free images.
As mentioned, Google Sites uses a block-based system for populating content which makes things easy. Click ‘Insert’ on the right-hand menu, and you’ll be presented with options of the different types of content blocks you can create. There are singular text and image blocks, as well as pre-made blocks that provide combinations of the two, and you can also embed content from other sites or import it from Google Drive.
The editor allows you to drag and drop content across the grid as you see fit – so experiment with how things look. You can also simply double-click on any blank area of the website to insert something directly.
5. Add other functionality
In the ‘Insert’ menu, Google Sites offers many other functions and blocks you can insert, depending on the information you need to convey. You can use other Google products to embed different functions, such as interactive Google Maps, YouTube videos, Google Calendars, Docs, Sheets, Forms and more.
There’s also the option to insert collapsible text, image carousels, and buttons that can link to specific pages on your site or elsewhere. You can also use the ‘Social links’ function to pull in your social media profiles – simply insert the link and Google Sites will display a button with the relevant logo.
6. Preview, peer review and publish!
Using the preview button in the top right of the editor, you can view how your site will look on mobile, desktop and tablet. Once you’re happy with it, click the ‘Publish’ button – but don’t worry, this won’t just dump your site onto the web for anyone to find. First you’ll be able to specify your domain name. This will take the form of sites.google.com/view/yoursitenamehere, unless you have a domain of your own already, in which case you can link it up in this menu (see our guide to the best web hosting services if you need one).
If you like, you can also specify your site to only be viewable to certain people, or only to people who have the direct link. This can be hugely useful for getting feedback on your site through peer review from people you trust.
And once you’re done, all that’s left to do is hit ‘Publish’!
