# How to Make a Website for Free with Google Sites (2026 Guide) > How to make a website for free with Google Sites: plan one page, build it from a template, publish it, add your own domain, and spot when you outgrow it. _Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/how-to-make-a-website-for-free — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_ _Part of: [Build a website with AI](https://professionalstoolkit.com/solutions/build-a-website-with-ai) — the guide, the do-it-yourself version and the tools that do it_ --- The quickest answer to how to make a website for free is Google Sites. Sign in with a Google Account, pick a template, drop in text, images and a button, then click Publish to get a live address on sites.google.com. The method is simple: plan one page with one clear action, build it from content blocks, publish it, and connect your own domain later if you want one. The free route handles a brochure site or a landing page well. It stops when the site has to store visitor data or sign people in. **48 hours** — How long Google says a custom domain change can take to become visible - **4 steps** — Open Sites, pick a template, edit, publish - **5** — Custom domains Google Sites lets you connect to one site - **2** — Sharing choices for a published site: Restricted or Public ## Before you build: how to make a landing page that works Most free websites fail before the first click in the editor. The owner opens a template, fills every block it offers, and ends up with a page that says a lot and asks for nothing. **A landing page is one promise and one action.** Decide what a visitor should do after reading: call you, email you, book a slot, or fill in a short form. Everything on the page either supports that action or goes. Write the plan on paper first. It takes less time than redesigning a finished page. 1. **Write the promise in one sentence.** Who you help, with what, and where. This becomes your headline. 2. **Pick the single action.** One button label, repeated at the top and the bottom of the page. 3. **List three to five sections.** A typical set: what you offer, who it's for, how it works, proof (your own photos, a short client quote you have permission to use), and the contact block. 4. **Gather the material.** Real photos, your logo, opening hours, the service area, the link the button will point to. 5. **Choose the address.** A free address works for testing and sharing. A domain you own is easier to print on a card and remember. If you need more than one page, keep the same logic per page. A home page, a services page and a contact page are enough for most small businesses. Pages that exist only because the template had them make the site harder to scan, not more credible. > 💡 **Write the button label first:** Decide the one action a visitor should take before you open a template. Every section you add should push toward that button. ## How to make a website for free with Google Sites, step by step Learning how to make a website with Google Sites takes a few screens. Google's own help pages describe the whole flow. You edit on a computer; the steps below follow Google's wording for each screen. One condition to know up front: Google Accounts managed by parents can't use Google Sites, though they can see and edit sites that already exist.[1] ### Create the site 1. On your computer, open Google Sites. 2. At the top, under Start a new site, select a template. 3. Edit your site: replace the sample text and images with your own. 4. To publish your changes, click Publish at the top right. ### Add sections and a button 1. On the right, click Insert. 2. Under Content Blocks, drag the layout you want onto your page. 3. Add text, images, docs, or videos to the block. 4. For your call to action, click Insert, then Button. Enter a name, which appears on the button. 5. Paste the URL the button should point to, or choose a page on your site, then click Insert.[2] The button is where your single action lives. Make it obvious. Point it at a booking link, an email address you already use, or a form. To manage several pages, click Pages at the top right of the editor. ### Publish and choose who sees it 1. At the top, click Publish. 2. Enter the web address for your site, then click Publish again. 3. Visit the address to make sure the site is published correctly. 4. Click Share. Next to Published site, choose Restricted or Public, then click Save or Done. **Restricted** lets you share the published site with specific people and groups by name or email. That suits a draft you want a partner to review. Public means anyone on the web can view it. Google also lets a public site request that search engines not display it, but the help page is clear that this is only a request. Search engines may still show it.[3] ## Put your free website on your own domain A sites.google.com address works, but a short domain looks more established. Google Sites can connect a domain you already own. Only the site's owner can do it, and work or school accounts go through their administrator instead. 1. In your site, go to Settings. 2. Click Start setup and enter your domain. 3. If Google asks you to verify ownership, do that first in Google Search Console. Click Add property, follow the instructions for Any DNS Provider, copy the TXT record it gives you into your DNS records, then click Verify. 4. Back in Sites, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions for your domain registrar. 5. Click Done. Changes can take up to 48 hours to become visible on the internet, and one site can have up to five custom domains.[4] The same page lists a few side effects. The site must be shared publicly, or visitors get redirected to the sites.google.com address. Some fonts that work on Google's own domains don't work on a custom URL. Google Groups embedded in the site won't render properly on a custom domain. If you don't own a domain yet, Google's page offers buying one through a Google Workspace plan, which moves you off the free route. > ⚠ **Custom domains change a few things:** Google notes that some fonts licensed for its own domains don't work on a custom URL, and embedded Google Groups won't render properly. The site must also be shared publicly. ## A worked example: a one-page site for a local dog walker This is an illustration with invented details. Maya walks dogs in one neighborhood and wants a page she can put on flyers. Her promise: *Midday walks for busy owners in Elm Park, booked in two minutes.* Her one action is a Book a walk button. She picks a simple template and keeps four sections. The top block holds the headline, one photo of her with a client's dog, and the button. A three-column block lists her services: solo walks, group walks, and drop-in visits. A text block names the streets she covers and her hours. The last block repeats the button next to her phone number. The button points to a short Google Form that asks for the dog's name, the owner's address and the preferred days. She publishes the site, switches sharing to Public, and opens the address on her phone to check that the button works. Later, when the flyers are printed, she connects her own domain and waits for it to go live. The whole site is one page, one promise and one button. That focus is what makes a free page convert, not the template. > 💡 **Test it as a stranger:** After publishing, open the address in a private browser window and on your phone. Click the button and make sure it lands where you expect. ## When a brochure page can't hold the bookings A content-block site is a brochure. It shows information and sends people somewhere else to act. That covers a lot of small businesses for a long time. The limit shows up when the site itself has to do the work. - **Visitor input needs to live somewhere you manage.** Maya's form answers sit in a separate tool. Once she wants each booking to have a status, a reminder and a history per client, the page has nothing behind it. - **People need their own accounts.** Restricted sharing invites specific people by email. It is not a customer sign-in where each person sees only their own bookings. - **The page needs logic.** Pricing calculators, availability that updates, filters on a listing, or a members area are application features, not layout blocks. - **You'd rather describe the site than assemble it.** Writing a paragraph and getting a working first draft is a different method, covered in our guide to [building a website with AI](/articles/build-a-website-with-ai). When two of those four apply, an AI builder that writes a real web app is the next step. These tools still publish on a free address of their own, so the first version can stay free while you test it. Base44 is the closest match to Maya's booking problem. It can [build and publish a landing page on its Free plan](/articles/base44-website-builder), and her requests would arrive as records inside the builder instead of answers in a separate tool. ### Base44 — booking form that keeps every entry Describe the site in chat or start from a landing page, one-page, business site or portfolio template; Base44 publishes it on a free base44.app address with hosting and SSL, and contact or signup form submissions land as database records you can filter and export to CSV. - Where it stops: Free sites carry the Edit with Base44 badge and no custom domain; Base44 says base44.app addresses are treated as staging sites by search engines. - Plan: Custom domain, private visibility and badge removal from Starter - [Base44 domains, SEO and launch](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/base44-website-builder) · [Base44](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/base44) Lovable [writes the site as a real web app and publishes it on every plan](/articles/lovable-website-builder). Look here when the next need on your list is logic, such as a pricing calculator or a filtered listing, rather than one more form. ### Lovable — a real web app when logic comes next Describe the site and Lovable writes it as a real web app, then publishes it on a lovable.app address on every plan; new apps render on the server, and a free SEO and AI search review checks the sitemap, robots.txt, metadata and structured data. - Where it stops: Free keeps the Edit with Lovable badge, and lovable.app subdomains can be reclaimed by Lovable, which advises a custom domain for mission-critical sites. - Plan: Custom domain and badge removal from Pro - [Lovable publishing, domains and SEO](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/lovable-website-builder) · [Lovable](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/lovable) Bolt.new can [publish a page from a prompt or template to a free bolt.host address](/articles/bolt-new-website-builder), which keeps the build, publish and check rhythm you used in Google Sites. On all three, the paid plans matter once you want your own domain and no builder badge. ### Bolt.new — prompt or template straight to a free address Describe the page or open a website template, adjust text and styling in the preview with visual edits, and click Publish to put it on a free bolt.host address. - Where it stops: Free sites are public, carry the Made in Bolt badge and stop serving at an account-wide hosting traffic cap. - Plan: Custom domain, badge removal, private sites and SEO Boosting from Pro - [Bolt.new build, publish and host](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/bolt-new-website-builder) · [Bolt.new](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/bolt-new) Our comparison of [AI website builders](/articles/ai-website-builder) lays out what each one covers, from forms to domains to search. ## FAQ **Can I make a landing page with Google Sites?** Yes. Use one page, a headline block at the top, a few content blocks, and a button that points to your booking link, email or form. Repeat the same button at the bottom. **Will my free Google Sites website show up in Google search?** A public site can be found by search engines, and Google Sites lets you request that search engines not display it. No site builder can promise rankings; a clear headline and useful text on each page are what you control. **Can I use Google Sites with a work Google account?** Yes, but options depend on your organization. Google says that to use a custom domain from a work or school account, you contact your administrator. **Can an AI builder make a website for free?** Several AI app builders publish to a free address on their free plans, usually with a builder badge and no custom domain. Your own domain and badge removal sit on their paid plans. ## Google Sites today, an AI builder when the page must do the work For a free website, Google Sites asks for very little: a template, a few content blocks, one button, and a published address in a single sitting. Plan the page around one promise and one action before you touch the editor, test it on your phone as a stranger would, and add a domain you own once the page is earning its keep. When visitors need accounts, saved data or real logic, a brochure page has done its job. That's the point to move to an AI builder that writes a working web app and still lets you start on a free address. ## Sources [1] Google Sites Help — https://support.google.com/sites/answer/6372878?hl=en (Nov 2026) [2] Google Sites Help — https://support.google.com/sites/answer/90538?hl=en (Nov 2026) [3] Google Sites Help — https://support.google.com/sites/answer/6372880?hl=en (Nov 2026) [4] Google Sites Help — https://support.google.com/sites/answer/9068867?hl=en (Nov 2026)