Among the platforms to create free internet sites without using HTML code, I also named Google Sites, a not too well-known Google application that can be used for free or that is included in the Google Works business solutions package. The difference is:
- If you create a site for free with Sites, you get a web address like sites.google.com/site/pomhey and you can create a personal website (also possibly with your own domain if purchased from external services.
- If you want to create a commercial corporate website with G Suite, you pay the subscription and also use the Google web applications that can be integrated into the site.
The advantage of Google Sites is precisely Google which, in fact, is the absolute master of the web.
Even if there is no evidence and no announcement in this regard, it is likely that opening a site on Google may give some advantage to be found in internet searches or, at least, you can be more relaxed on the promotional side of your site.
In addition, Google Sites can be integrated with other Google services and applications such as Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Adsense (to earn money with advertising ), Google Analytics (for statistics) and several others.
The end result can easily be a personal web page with all the information and the ability to interact with visitors.
I have already talked about the G Suite corporate dashboard to manage an organization, but now let's see how to create a website, static or dynamic, with Google Sites .
UPDATE: Open a free site complete with the new Google Sites
Let's start by saying that Sites is not the best of the platforms with a wizard that allows you to create a site from scratch, without having to know something about html or other programming codes.
Sites, however, in addition to being in Italian, has the great advantage of being fully integrated with Google Apps, that is, in particular: the Email service , the Calendar and Google Drive .
The theoretical result, if you manage a business or a project, is that, from the online portal, all the people involved can collaborate and participate.
To get started, go to Google Sites and, after finishing the preliminary configuration by following the guided procedures, you can open the new website by giving it a name and, above all, choosing a graphic model among those available.
The site models proposed by the gallery are functional to the type of organization to be established: activities and events, school, family environment, non-profit organization and, above all, those relating to the business environment where there are proposals to immediately create the web pages of a small organization, a shop, a hotel or restaurant, a project or a corporate portal.
Optionally you can decide on a background graphic theme among the many proposed by the gallery of templates, write a description of the site and decide whether the new website should be public (visible to anyone) or private (visible only to users selected and registered in their own dashboard G Apps).
If you have chosen a predefined non-empty template, the website will start from an example page to be modified (button at the top right) with its own text and images.
If you like the model, you just need to modify the facsimiles with your own content; otherwise new additions of pages or elements can be made.
When creating a new web page within the site, Google Sites provides some basic templates to get you started: web page, ads (like a mini blog), filing cabinet, list; you must then choose where this new page is connected from, that is the link to get there from the home page.
For each web page you can add free text boxes or drop-down menus with the fields to choose from as if you were using a database.
Under a menu column, there is the Edit Sidebar button to decide the links and the launch panel of the web pages.
At the top left you can add preconfigured elements, change the writing style, add tables or change the layout by adding columns and rows to the web page.
The best feature of Google Sites is that it is configured as a content management system ( CMS ), so that when you press edit page, only the content area changes. If you want to make changes to the model of the site itself, you can click on More actions -> Manage site, you can change the page tree.
From the site map you can press below where Manage pages is written and from here you can edit:
- the appearance of the site: Layout, Colors, fonts and themes;
- Site settings: general, sharing, for advertising, web address;
- Site content: Pages, Attachments, page templates, deleted items.
For example, from the Layout options it is easy to add or remove elements of the navigation sidebar as well as add or remove pages, include text and widgets and also add a logo or whatever you want.
In General, in addition to the basic settings including name and description, you can also enable the mobile version, automatically created automatically by Google Sites to optimize the viewing of the website on mobile phones .
Goole Sites is much easier in configuration mode than other similar tools and, above all, it is complete with everything and you can add any application and work tool for free .
On a google Sites web page you can in fact add many Google applications, from the menu at the top left " Insert ": Adsense to earn from advertisements, The Calendar, an integrated Document, a Powerpoint presentation, an Excel sheet, a slideshow of photos from Picasaweb, a google maps map, a YouTube or Google Video video and many other objects that can be browsed by clicking on " Additional Gadgets ".
So practically there is no need to waste time developing the dashboard, it is already fully available and the only thing to think about and what to integrate.
Potentially, a dynamic site can be created where all registered members can upload files, edit existing ones and work collaboratively, without confusion and without ever changing tools.
Integration with Google Calendar is optimal and it is from here that you can interact with members of the project or company organization, by sending automatic notifications.
Being able to integrate Office documents and work collaboratively with multiple people is another of the strengths.
The system keeps track of all changes made and previous revisions and versions of documents.
You can also create folders to organize your files (you have to press the Move key and then New Folder).
Of course Sites also has its flaws, for example, I had to ascertain the impossibility of creating commands consequent to the choice of a value in a form to be filled out.
It would have been excellent, on a problem management web page, if it had been possible to send an automatic email to the person assigned a job or selected from a list.
Personally, however, even if I have a blog where I can write, I intend to create my own page to promote my profession and collect the work done in a modern way.
I think I will use Google Sites for this purpose, because it is free and because, if one day I had to have a partner for a business or for a single project, I would already have an organization management portal.
With Google Sites it is also very easy to set up a custom domain by choosing the web address and following the additional information provided by the guide.
