How To Create a Free Website with Google Sites [2023]

What Are Google Sites?

Google Sites is an easy-to-use website builder offered by Google.

By learning how to use Google Sites, you can create a free website without coding and in a few clicks.

All you need is an internet connection to build a stunning free website in minutes (One of our favourite website builders for non-techies).

Google Sites allows you to:

• Make a website from scratch

• Use templates and customize them to your liking

• Connect a professional domain or use a free domain.

• Integrate other Google products like a Google forms to create a custom online form.

• Collaborate with your entire team.

How to Make a Free Website with Google Sites?

We will create a website using a pre-made template in this Google Sites tutorial.

Hence, this tutorial is suitable for non-techies who want to understand how to make a free website using the Google Sites website builder.

1.       Get Started with Google Sites

To access Google Sites, you need to have a free Google account.

Now, to get started with the Google Sites website builder:

• Type in “Google Sites” or just go to sites.google.com in Google chrome 

• Alternatively, you can access Google sites using Google Drive. Click on New > More > Google Sites inside your drive.

Read more: How To Create a ONE PAGE Website for FREE

2.      Visit Google Sites Home

• Click on ‘Sites home’ (top-left corner)

• Head over to the Template gallery (right-hand side). This action will generate dozens of website templates.

3.      Select a Premade Template

To build a website from scratch, click on ‘Blank’.

However, we recommend selecting a premade template to build your free website if it’s the first time you have made a website.

This is because you can learn how your website should be structured.

It’s much easier and quicker than building from scratch.

Depending on your business and industry, go ahead and pick a Google Sites template.

4.     Modify Sites Settings

We’ll now walk you through the features and tools offered by Google Sites so that you can create your own unique website.

• Tap on the gear icon (settings)

• Select ‘Brand images’

• Hit ‘Upload’ to upload your business’s logo to Google Sites

If you currently don’t have a business logo, we recommend using Canva to create one.

Watch this beginner’s tutorial to learn how.

It’s a free and easy-to-use design tool with 400k+ premade templates in its library.

Now, proceed with the steps below:

• Add your business’s name/website name under ‘Alt text’

• Click on ‘Use logo color for your theme’. When you do this, the color of your website’s theme will match the logo color. This helps maintain brand consistency.

• Navigate over to ‘Favicon’. Click on ‘Upload’ to upload a favicon. This is the icon that every visitor will see when they open your website in their browser. Again, this is crucial for branding and you can use Canva to create a favicon for free.

• Head over to the ‘Announcement banner’. Click on ‘Show banner’ (If you would like to show a banner on your website).

• Fill out the details, including the message, button label, and link

• Choose either ‘All pages’ or ‘Home page only’

• Exit out of settings

Read more: Canva Free Logo Maker

5.      Learn How to Customize Pages

In this part of our Google Sites tutorial 2022, we’ll explain how to customize an existing Google Sites template.

• Delete the default site name (top-left corner). The logo shall suffice.

• In place of the default header, add your business’s name

• Notice that when you click on each text element, it will generate some formatting options above (refer to the screengrab)

• Go ahead and change the font, style, color, alignment, etc.

• Expand the title element if needed so that it covers only a single line. You can do so by dragging the element.

• Add a tagline below the header and customize it as well.

• Redo or undo any action by clicking on the suitable arrow (top-right)

By clicking the preview button, you can see what your new website will look like on both mobile devices and desktops.

Each web page on the Google Sites website builder consists of sections.

• You can change the section color (Style 1, Style 2, Style 3, or Image). (Refer to the screengrab).

• You can duplicate each section.

• You can delete each section.

All changes are automatically saved in Drive.

Let’s explore more customization options below:

• Click on ‘Insert’ (right-hand side)

• Incorporate a suitable layout by clicking on one

• Embed the text box and images

• Drag and reposition the text box as required.

• Once you insert a layout, you can upload images and add title text

• Scroll past the layouts to find other elements like buttons, divider, placeholder, etc.

• Notice the other Google products like Slides, Docs, Map, and Calendar that you can embed on your website. Doing so will add extensive features to your website.

• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Edit footer’.

• Add your business’s address, phone number, and email. The footer will display on every web page.

• Change the font and style of the footer using the formatting options provided.

• Using the same process, you can customize the other pages like Contact Us.

• If you tap on ‘Contact Us’, you can embed the Google Map on this page. To do so, click on the map element > enter your business address > click select. Adding Google Map will allow users to find the address without ever leaving your site.

• If the selected Google Sites template does not have a Map element, you can always embed it from the right-hand side menu.

• Next to ‘Insert’ (right-hand side menu), we have ‘Pages’. This is where you’ll find all your website pages and subpages.

• You have the option to add a new page, the new link to the primary menu, or a new menu section. Refer to the screengrab.

• To add a new web page, for instance, click on ‘New page’, enter the page name, and select ‘Done’. For this Google Sites tutorial, we’ve named it ‘Reservations’. The same name will appear on the primary menu.

• You can change the order in which these pages appear on the primary menu. All you’d need to do is drag the said web page and reposition it on your right-hand side. (Refer to the screengrab).

• To create a subpage, click on ‘New menu section’ > name the page > click on the three dots > select ‘Add subpage’. Using this process, we’ve added two subpages ‘Dine in Bookings’ and ‘Take away orders’ for this Google Sites tutorial 2022.

• The two subpages can be seen on the primary menu. Next to ‘Reservations’, a drop-down arrow has appeared which if you click, shows both the subpages.

• Each of these subpages can be customized similarly as explained before.

Read more: How To Create a Google My Business Website for free

6.      Add Forms

If you want to allow people to book reservations, meetings, or get in touch with you on your site, you can simply create and embed a Google Form: 

• Click on ‘Insert’ and choose ‘Forms’

• Select a Google Form and hit ‘Insert’

• Drag the form towards the middle of the page

• Customize the Reservations page to make it more appealing

If you wish to learn how to create Google Forms, we suggest watching this tutorial.

Read more: How To Make A Premium Small Business Website

7.      Change the Website Theme

• Next to ‘Pages’, we have ‘Themes’. Click on it. As the name suggests, this is where you can change the Google Sites themes.

• You can change the colors and font style of the current theme as well. However, for this Google Sites tutorial , we’ll leave the theme as is.

Read more: Best WordPress Theme for Beginners

8.     Preview Your Website

You’ll find the preview button at the top.

Click on it to check what your newly created website would look like across different devices.

9.      Add Collaborators

Next to the attachment icon, we have the ‘Share with others’ button.

From here you can add more people to collaborate with on Google Sites.

10.   Update Published Website

• When you’re ready to launch your website, hit ‘Publish’.

• Add your business name in the field ‘Web address’. If the name has been taken, use a variation instead.

• Under ‘Who can view my site’, make sure ‘Anyone’ is selected.

• Do not check the box under the ‘Search settings’ header. If you select it, Google will no longer display your website.

• Click on ‘Publish’

Your website is live!

To view it:

• Hit the drop-down adjacent to ‘Publish’.

• Choose ‘View published site’ from the list.

Read more: How to Make a FREE WEBSITE in 10 – 30 Minutes

You can also Unpublish Your Website

If you make any changes to your website, they won’t be live until you hit Publish again.

You will notice the side-by-side comparison of the currently published website and the draft – even if the change is as small as adding a full stop.

However, to unpublish a website:

• Next to ‘Publish’, tap the downward arrow

• Choose ‘Unpublish’

It’s pretty simple!

You can republish it anytime.

That covers everything you need to learn how to create a free website with Google Sites.

Google Sites Tutorial for Beginners (Video Tutorial)

By following this Google Sites tutorial for beginners, you can make the most out of this free website builder.

Building a website has never been easier, thanks to website builders like Google sites.

Check out our video walkthrough down below for a visual guide of creating a website with Google Sites.

Enjoy!