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March 1, 2024

7 Alternatives to Google Business Profile Websites (Compared)

Are you looking for alternatives to a Google Business Profile website?

Google has announced that it will start turning off all the free websites made for Google Business Profile users in March 2024. Unless you migrate to an alternative website, then visitors will see an error message when visiting your site.

In this article, we will share some of the best alternatives to Google Business Profile websites.

Why Do You Need a Google Business Profile Website Alternative?

Creating a Google Business Profile is an easy way to make sure your business appears in local search results. It provides potential customers with your contact information, directions to your locations, and a link to your website.

Previously, Google offered to create free small business websites for Google Business Profile users that included all the information in your profile. 21.7 million business owners took them up on the offer.

However, Google announced that it is shutting down all Business Profile sites from March 2024 onward.

While your actual business profile will remain intact, the associated Google website will stop working. Until June 10, 2024, Google will redirect your website visitors to your profile, but after that, anyone trying to visit your site will see an error message.

To avoid this, you need to find a different solution for your website.

With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the best Google Business Profile website alternatives for small business websites.

1. WordPress

WordPress is the world’s most popular website-building platform and powers over 43% of all websites on the internet. It’s easy to customize and gives you complete control over your site.

Note: Keep in mind that there are two types of WordPress. Here, we are talking about the self-hosted WordPress.org. For more details, you can see our article on the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

While the WordPress software is free, there are costs involved in building a WordPress website such as a domain name and web hosting. This can be as little as a few dollars a month.

If you want your new website to be simple and minimalistic like your Business Profile site, then there are plenty of one-page WordPress themes to choose from, like the one in this screenshot.

However, you might prefer to take the opportunity to add additional important pages such as a contact page, disclaimer page, privacy policy page, terms of service, and more.

You can also add additional features to your site by installing some must-have WordPress plugins for business websites. These let you add business features to your site like contact forms, landing pages, popups, newsletters, automations, and much more.

If you want to rank on local search results pages, then you should also install All in One SEO (AIOSEO), which is the best search engine optimization plugin on the market.

It will let you quickly add business hours, multiple location schema, and a store locator to your WordPress website. These features improve your site’s local SEO and help nearby customers find your business in the search results.

If you want help migrating your site to WordPress, then check this out: How to migrate Google Business Profile Site to WordPress.

Pros:

Complete control over your website
Add the features you need using plugins
Choose a theme with the look and feel you want
Plugins let you rank for local SEO

Cons:

Slight learning curve
You need to manage your own website

Why we chose WordPress: WordPress is used on 43% of the world’s websites and gives you access to SEO plugins that can help your business get found online. You can use WordPress to create a new website that grows with your business.

2. Wix

Wix is a popular, cloud-based website builder. It lets you easily build your website using drag-and-drop and is used by over 3.6% of all websites.

It’s a good solution if you only need a simple website like the one you already have on Google, but you may outgrow its features as your business grows.

When we created a test site on Wix, we discovered that after you choose an initial design, there is no easy way to change templates to give your site a fresh look.

While Wix doesn’t offer the same range of plugins as WordPress, it does have an online market that offers over 300 apps for adding features like booking forms, marketing, and online payments.

It also offers tools that help you optimize your website for search to attract more organic traffic.

There is a free version of Wix, but we found it quite limited in features, and it displays ads. You can also upgrade to a Pro plan to get more features, but this can become quite expensive.

Read our detailed comparison of Wix vs. WordPress for more information.

Pros:

Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to build a website quickly
Web hosting is included

Cons:

You can’t choose a different hosting provider
The free version is quite limited and displays ads on your website
Pro plans can become expensive

Why we chose Wix: Wix is a popular website builder that is a good option for people who prefer a simple business website similar to their Google Business Profiles site.

3. Web.com

Web.com is another popular website builder for small businesses. Its affordable pricing plans make it an attractive alternative to Wix.

Like Wix, it has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder and plenty of templates to choose from. That makes customizing your website design very easy.

Wix’s plans include web hosting, a free domain name, a business email address, website security and backups, SEO and analytics, and other powerful website tools. They also offer affordable custom web design services separately.

Pros:

Easy to use drag-and-drop website builder
Affordable pricing
Pre-made website templates
Web hosting is included

Cons:

You can’t choose a different hosting provider
No free plan

Why we chose Web.com: Web.com is both affordable and easy to use. It’s a great Google Business Profile website alternative for business owners who are looking for a relatively simple website.

4. Squarespace

Squarespace is an easy-to-use premium website builder known for its great designs. Around 2.1% of all websites on the internet are built with Squarespace.

It uses a block editor for content creation similar to the Gutenberg editor in WordPress. When we tested it, we found it easy to add images, videos, and audio files. However, the editor doesn’t save your work automatically, so you will need to remember to do that yourself.

It offers customizable templates that let you get started building your site quickly. You can also add new features to your website using Squarespace extensions, though these are more limited than what is available for WordPress.

You can read our detailed comparison of Squarespace vs. WordPress.

Pros:

Easy to set up and use
Web hosting is included

Cons:

You can’t change to a different hosting provider
Costs more than shared hosting plans
No free plan

Why we chose Squarespace: Squarespace offers a secure hosting platform with an easy-to-use interface that lets you build a website with great design.

5. Weebly

Weebly is a beginner-friendly website builder with loads of great designs. It’s a page builder that lets you create a website without coding skills.

You’ll find built-in support for contact forms, photo galleries, sliders, and more. Weebly also offers different free and paid applications to add additional features to your site, but the selection is more limited than with WordPress.

You can choose from dozens of website designs as a starting point for your website, and edit your content using a live page editor. You can also build and manage your website using a mobile app.

Weebly is particularly suitable for creating beautiful but small websites. It makes it easy to get started with a website, but you may find that over time, your needs outgrow what it offers.

There is a free plan, but it is quite limited and displays ads. Most business users will find their paid plans more suitable.

Read our detailed comparison of WordPress vs. Weebly for more details.

Pros:

Easy to use
Dozens of website designs
Free and paid applications add new features
Web hosting is included

Cons:

You can’t change to a different hosting provider
The free plan is limited and displays ads

Why we chose Weebly: Weebly is a beautiful website builder known for its simplicity. It’s most suitable for small websites such as those you typically find as Google Business Profile websites.

6. Carrd

Carrd provides an easy way to create simple, single-page websites. It’s a great choice if you just want to recreate your Google Business website away from the Google platform.

You choose a template as a starting point, and dozens of business profile templates are included.

You can then customize the template using simple tools and a drag-and-drop interface.

The free plan is all you need to create a business profile website as long as you are happy to display a little Carrd branding. There are also paid plans that remove the branding and allow you to use a custom domain.

Pros:

Very easy to use
Perfect for creating a simple single-page profile website
The free plan is suitable for most users

Cons:

Not suitable for more complex websites

Why we chose Carrd: Carrd is a simple and free way to create a single-page profile website.

7. Google Sites

Google Sites is the best choice if you simply want to recreate your Google Business Profile website and remain in the Google ecosystem.

You can use its block-based editor to add text, images, contact information, business hours, and more. The Google Sites template gallery also offers a handful of small business templates that will help you get started.

However, after testing Google Sites, we only recommend it for the most basic websites. If you wish to customize your new website’s appearance or add new features, then you will be much better off with an alternative like WordPress.

For more details, please read our detailed comparison of WordPress vs. Google Sites.

Pros:

Allows you to remain in the Google ecosystem
Suitable for basic websites

Cons:

Not suitable for more complex websites

Why we chose Google Sites: Google Sites lets you create a basic website while remaining in the Google ecosystem.

What Is the Best Google Business Profile Website Alternative?

For most businesses, the best alternative to a Google Business Profile website is WordPress. This is especially true if you want to build a website that can grow with your business rather than remain a simple profile site.

You can choose from thousands of WordPress themes to create a unique look and feel for your website, including single-page themes, business themes, and corporate themes.

There are also plenty of business plugins that will add the features you need.

Besides that, you can choose a WordPress hosting plan that suits your budget. This can be as little as $1.99 per month.

However, if you want to create a simple website and avoid some of the maintenance involved in hosting your own site, then hosted website builders like Wix, Web.com, and Squarespace are also good choices. These are initially easier to set up, but they won’t grow with your business in the same way that WordPress will.

Finally, if you are looking for a free option to set up a simple business profile site, then Carrd and Google Sites will achieve that, but go no further.

FAQs About Business Profile Websites

Here are answers to the questions we’re asked most often about business profile websites.

When is Google discontinuing its Google Business Profile websites?

Google will turn off all the free websites it created for Business Profile users from March 2024.

Once Google shuts down your website, it will redirect your website visitors to your Google Business Profile until June 10, 2024.

After that date, unless you have migrated to a new website, anyone trying to visit your website will see a ‘404 not found‘ error message.

For more details on what you need to do, please see our guide on how to migrate a Google Business Profile website to WordPress.

What is a business profile website?

A business profile website is an online space where you can showcase your company’s identity, values, and offerings to potential customers and clients.

It is an online hub where you can make a good first impression and provide essential information about your business.

What should a business profile website contain?

A business profile website should clearly state your company name and describe what you do. It should also include contact information so potential clients can get in touch.

You may want to add an About Us page to share your story and mission, and a services section or landing page where you can provide more information about what you offer.

It’s also a good idea to have a clear call to action (CTA) that encourages visitors to take the next step, such as subscribing to your newsletter, asking for a quote, or browsing your portfolio.

How can you further enhance a business profile website?

You can showcase your expertise on your website by adding testimonials from happy customers or building a portfolio of your previous work.

You can also create a blog or news section to share valuable information and establish yourself as an industry expert.

Finally, you can demonstrate credibility by featuring client logos and any industry awards you have received.

Best Guides for Growing a Small Business Website

Now that you have seen the best alternatives for Google Business Profile websites, you may wish to see some other articles related to growing a small business:

We hope this tutorial helped you find the best alternatives for Google Business Profile websites. You may also want to see our guide on how to migrate from a Google Business Profile website to WordPress or our expert pick of the best social media plugins for WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Alternatives to Google Business Profile Websites (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

February 9, 2024

Google Is Shutting Down Business Profile Sites: 5 Things to Do

Google is shutting down more than 21.7 million websites created with Google My Business.

These were free small business websites that Google offered to users when they created a Google Business Profile.

All of these websites will be turned off in March 2024, and users visiting those sites will be redirected to the Google Business Profiles associated with those accounts.

Let’s talk about how this change may affect your business and what you can do to not lose valuable online traffic.

Here is a list of topics we will cover in this article:

What Is a Google Business Profile Site?
Why Migrate Your Google Business Profile Site?
What to Do Before Google Business Profile Site Shutdown
Step 1: Make a Website You Own and Control
Step 2: Set Up Local SEO for Your Business Site
Step 3: Add Your New Website to Google Business Profile
Step 4: Create Landing Pages for Your Google Ads (Optional)
Step 5: Redirect Your Custom Domain
Bonus: Make the Most Out of Your New WordPress Site

What Is a Google Business Profile Site?

A Google Business Profile helps businesses appear in Google’s local search results with detailed information, including directions, business hours, phone numbers, and a link to visit the business’s website.

Local searches have increased almost 500% over the past few years. According to Google, almost 78% of searches for a local business end up in a physical visit within a week. (Source: ThinkwithGoogle)

This makes it essential for businesses to appear in local search results, and the easiest way to do this is by creating a Google Business Profile.

When you create a Google Business Profile, Google gives you the option to add your website. Previously, businesses that didn’t have a website were offered to create a free one instantly using the information in their Google Business Profile.

Many small businesses took advantage of this option and created these free websites. This drove them traffic, leads, and in-store visits from local searches.

Why Migrate Your Google Business Profile Site?

Google Business Profile sites will be shut down in March 2024. These were small, single-page sites that Google offered free to users when they created a Google Business Profile.

Once this service is closed, users will be redirected to the Business Profile page until June 10, 2024. After that, users visiting your site will see a page not found error. This will make your business look less professional and legitimate.

More importantly, it will affect the conversions you get from local searches. If you don’t have another website to replace the Business Profile site, then potential customers may not be able to learn everything they want to know about your company before visiting it. Unfortunately, this could lead to them choosing a competitor instead.

What to Do Before Google Business Profile Site Shutdown

If you are among the millions of businesses who used the option to create a Google Business Profile site, then here is what you need to do before Google shuts down the service.

Step 1: Make a Website You Own and Control

Google has a long history of shutting down services and products. Remember Orkut, Google+, and, more recently, Google Domains? There is a long list of products and services that have been shut down, and you can see Google Graveyard for a full list.

That’s why you need to make a website for your business that you own and control.

You will be able to display your website content in local search results. And since you have full control, you can drive even more traffic to your business.

The best way to do this is by using WordPress. It is the world’s most popular website builder, used by over 43% of all websites.

Note: When we say WordPress, we are talking about WordPress.org, also known as self-hosted WordPress. This is not to be confused with WordPress.com, which is a web hosting service. To understand the difference, just see our guide on WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com.

Why Use WordPress for Your Business Website?

WordPress is the most powerful yet easy-to-use website builder on the market. Here are some of the reasons for choosing WordPress:

It is free and open-source and has been around for 20+ years.
Websites you create using WordPress are fully controlled and owned by you.
It is infinitely extendible. You can use it to make a 1-page website, or you can use it to create a full-fledged online store.
It has thousands of design templates, tools, and plugins to choose from.
Lastly, it is very SEO-friendly and you can use it to get even more traffic from Google search results.

Need more convincing? Take a look at our explainer on why you should use WordPress.

Getting Started With WordPress

WordPress itself is free to download and use, but you’ll need a domain name and web hosting to run it.

These things used to be quite technical for average users, but luckily, they are not anymore.

You simply need to sign up for a web hosting account and purchase a domain name, and they will have a 1-click WordPress installer ready for you.

Web hosting typically costs around $7.99 per month (paid annually), and domain names start at ($16.99/year).

This is a significant investment, especially considering you didn’t pay anything to create your Google Business Profile site.

Luckily, the folks at Bluehost are offering a generous discount on hosting with a free domain name. This deal will help you get started at just $1.99 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies in the world. They are also one of the officially recommended WordPress hosting providers.

Simply go to the Bluehost website and click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.

Next, you’ll be asked to choose a hosting plan.

Basic and Choice Plus plans should be quite enough for a small business website.

Click ‘Select’ to choose your plan and continue.

After that, you will need to pick your domain name, or if you have a domain name already, then you can use that.

A domain name is your website’s name and the address that users will enter in their browser to visit it (e.g. wpbeginner.com or google.com).

💡Tip: Try our free business name generator tool. It will help you quickly generate dozens of ideas for your domain name.

After choosing your domain, you will be asked to fill in your account information and finalize the package.

You will see some additional options on the screen under Package Extras. You can uncheck all of them as they will increase your costs. You can always add them later if needed.

After that, enter your payment information to complete the purchase.

Bluehost will now create your hosting account and send you an email with login details.

Once you log in to your Bluehost hosting account, they will automatically install WordPress for you.

You can just click on the ‘Edit Site’ button to log in to WordPress and start working on your website.

Bluehost will walk you through the initial setup, and you can follow the on-screen instructions to create your website.

For more details, you can see our complete WordPress installation tutorial.

Step 2: Set Up Local SEO for Your Business Site

Local SEO is a set of techniques used to improve a business website’s visibility in local search results.

It sounds a bit technical, but it isn’t. Let us explain a bit.

Basically, you just need to add your business information to your website using Schema.org markup.

This markup is added to your website’s code in a special format, and search engines like Google can then find and use this data. This allows search engines to show your company in the search results to people who are looking for businesses like yours.

Luckily, you don’t even need to write this markup code. There are excellent tools that help you add that data to your website and optimize it for local SEO.

We recommend using All in One SEO for WordPress. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market that allows you to easily optimize your website for local SEO easily.

Note: You’ll need at least the Plus plan of the plugin to unlock the Local SEO features.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO Plugin. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will show you a setup wizard. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.

After finishing the setup, head over to the All in One SEO » Local SEO page in your WordPress dashboard.

You will be asked to ‘Activate Local SEO’ by clicking on the button.

All in One SEO will now download and activate the Local SEO addon.

After that, you will end up in the Locations tab.

Now, if your business has multiple locations, then you can turn the ‘Multiple Location’ toggle to ‘Yes’.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to add multiple locations schema in WordPress.

Scroll down a little to the Business Info section.

Here, you will need to provide general information for your business, including its name, logo image, type of business, complete address, phone number, and more.

Next, switch to the ‘Opening Hours’ tab to enter your business hours.

Ensure that the ‘Show Opening Hours’ toggle is set to ‘Yes’ if you want to display business hours on your website.

Scroll down a little and then add your business hours.

After that, you can switch to the ‘Google Maps’ tab.

You’ll need a Google Maps API key if you want to display your business location in Google Maps on your website.

Just click the ‘Learn More’ link for instructions on how to get the API key.

Finally, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to save your settings.

Displaying Your Business Information on Your Website

All in One SEO will automatically add the schema markup to your website’s code, making it discoverable by search engines.

You can also display your business information on your website to make it visible to visitors and customers.

Simply edit the page where you want to display it and then click on the [+] add block button on the edit screen.

Search for AIOSEO Local and then add the local SEO blocks to your page.

You can then use the WordPress block editor to style or rearrange those items.

Don’t forget to update your page and preview your changes.

For more details, see our guide on how to use the WordPress block editor.

Step 3: Add Your New Website to Google Business Profile

Once you have created your new website, you can add it to your Google Business Profile.

To do that, you need to visit the Google Business Profile website or search Google with your exact business name.

This will bring up a popup with your business information.

Scroll down to the Website section and replace your old website address with the new one.

Now, visitors who click on the ‘Website’ link in your Google Business Profile will be directed to your new WordPress website instead of the old Business Profile website.

Step 4: Create Landing Pages for Your Google Ads (Optional)

Google previously offered free ad credits to businesses when they added their sites to Google Business Profile.

If your ads were bringing users to your old Google Business Profile site, then you may want to send them to your new WordPress website.

Now that you are using an actual website builder, you can also create attractive landing pages for your Google Ads campaigns.

The easiest way to create professional-looking landing pages is by using SeedProd. It is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress.

Note: There is also a free version of SeedProd. However, we recommend upgrading to the paid version to unlock more features.

SeedProd comes with 300+ page templates to use as a starting point. After that, you can use its drag-and-drop interface to design your ad landing page.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to make a Google ad landing page in WordPress.

Step 5: Redirect Your Custom Domain

By default, Google hosted Google Business Profile sites on URLs like:

https://example.business.site

Some businesses started using their own custom domains and simply redirected them to their Google Business Profile sites.

Depending on where you registered your domain name, you will need to sign in to your domain registrar website, undo that redirect, and point it to your new WordPress site.

On the other hand, if you want to start using that domain as the primary domain for your new WordPress site, then you need to point it to your hosting provider’s nameservers.

Simply log in to the domain management area and look for ‘DNS & Nameservers’. We are showing the Domain.com settings in screenshots, but it looks pretty much the same across all domain providers.

Here, you will see nameservers pointing to your domain registrar. You need to remove those entries.

After that, click on the ‘Add Nameserver’ button and add your new hosting provider’s nameservers.

For instance, if your WordPress site is hosted on Bluehost, then your nameserver information will look like this:

ns1.bluehost.com

ns2.bluehost.com

For more details, please see our guide on how to change domain nameservers and point it to a new host.

Once you have changed the nameserver information, it may take some time (between a few hours to two days) for those changes to propagate across the internet.

Bonus: Make the Most Out of Your New WordPress Site

Now that you have set up your WordPress website and added it to your Google Business profile, you can start customizing your site.

Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Choose a WordPress Theme

WordPress gives you access to thousands of themes (website templates). Many of them are free, and you can install one of them to instantly transform the appearance of your website.

See our article on how to choose the perfect theme for your website for more details.

However, it may get quite confusing when you have this much choice. To avoid this, you can take a look at our curated lists of WordPress themes that are hand-picked by our WordPress experts:

Once you’ve picked one, simply follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to install a WordPress theme.

2. Create Important WordPress Pages

WordPress comes with two default content types, posts and pages. While posts belong to a blog, pages are used to create a site’s structure and layout.

You can start adding pages by going to Pages » Add New Page in the WordPress admin area.

For instance, if you run a small plumbing services business, then you may want to add an About page, a Services Page, and a Contact page.

For more information, see our list of essential pages to create on a WordPress website.

We also recommend adding blog posts so that you can get more traffic to your business website. You can see our guide on how to start a WordPress blog for more information.

3. Install Necessary Plugins

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. They allow you to add extra functionality and new features to WordPress.

For a small business website, here are some must-have plugins:

WPForms – You will need it to create forms that users can submit on your website. These include a contact form, booking forms, appointments, and more. Plus, you can also use WPForms to accept online payments.
All in One SEO – We have already mentioned it above, but it’s worth repeating here. This SEO plugin allows you to optimize your website and get free traffic from search engines.
MonsterInsights – It helps you see how many users are coming to your site, where they are visiting from, and what they do on your site. It connects WordPress to Google Analytics and unlocks a treasure trove of data that you can use to make informed decisions for your business’s growth.
Duplicator – It is a powerful WordPress backup plugin that allows you to create automatic backups and store them on the cloud. Most importantly, it helps you easily restore your website from backups.
For more plugin recommendations, just take a look at our list of essential WordPress plugins for business websites.

We hope this article helped you learn what you need to do to protect your business when Google Business Profile sites shut down. Next, you may want to see our guide on how to grow your business online or take a look at our complete WordPress SEO handbook to get more traffic to your new website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Google Is Shutting Down Business Profile Sites: 5 Things to Do first appeared on WPBeginner.

February 6, 2024

WordPress vs Google Sites – Which One Is Better?

Are you looking for a comparison of WordPress vs. Google Sites to help you decide which platform to use for your new website?

WordPress and Google Sites both offer easy ways to create a website. However, they each have pros and cons, so it might be unclear which one best fits your needs.

In this article, we will compare WordPress and Google Sites with their strengths and weaknesses so you can decide which is the better platform for you.

WordPress vs Google Sites - Which One Is Better?

Since we want to create the most detailed WordPress vs. Google Sites comparison, we have broken down the article into multiple in-depth sections. In each section, we will show which platform offers the most benefits to a beginner:

Overview of WordPress and Google Sites
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Hosted vs. Self-Hosted
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Features & Plugins
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Design & Layout
WordPress vs. Google Sites: SEO
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Support
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Monetization
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Cost
WordPress vs. Google Sites: Which Is Better?
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress vs. Google Sites

Overview of WordPress and Google Sites

Let’s start with an overview of what WordPress and Google Sites offer when creating a new website, along with their pros and cons.

What Does WordPress Offer?

WordPress was launched over 20 years ago and has been continually improved. It now powers over 43% of sites on the internet.

That makes it the most popular website builder and content management system (CMS) in the world. Many of the most successful blogs and websites use WordPress, including a lot of big-name brands.

It can be used to create anything from simple blogs to complex business websites, online stores, membership sites, and much more. You can easily add features to your WordPress website using plugins and customize its appearance using themes.

To create a WordPress website, you will need to purchase a domain name and web hosting. Luckily, the best WordPress hosting companies make it easy to set up your website with a 1-click WordPress installation.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using WordPress that we will discover as we compare the two platforms side by side in this article.

Pros:

The WordPress software is free, open-source, and super easy to use.
You can host WordPress on your own website, so you are in full control of your content.
The WordPress block editor is beginner-friendly and allows you to add rich content by inserting blocks into your posts.
You can add more features to your WordPress website using plugins.
You can customize the look and feel of your WordPress website by installing a theme.
There are many ways to make money using a WordPress blog, such as running ads, making affiliate income, and selling products and services.
You can get detailed analytics about your website using tools like Google Analytics.
Powerful SEO plugins can help you increase traffic to your WordPress website.

Cons:

WordPress requires more setup than Google Sites, including purchasing web hosting. However, this can be quite inexpensive.
You will need to install the WordPress software, but many hosting providers do this for you automatically.
You will also need to update and back up the WordPress software. However, this is straightforward, and there are plenty of easy-to-use backup plugins to choose from.

Note: In this article, we are talking about WordPress.org and not the WordPress.com hosting service. For more details, please see our guide on the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

What Does Google Sites Offer?

Google Sites is a free platform for creating websites that was launched in 2008 after Google acquired the JotSpot website-building technology. It was completely rebuilt in 2016 with a simpler and more streamlined design.

While Google’s Blogger product helps you create a blog, Google Sites allows you to create other types of websites, such as a team, event, project, or help center site.

Designed for simplicity and ease of use, Google Sites integrates seamlessly with other Google services like Docs, Sheets, and Slides, making content management easy.

This makes it a convenient platform for Google users to create a basic website and is especially suitable for internal sites for teams that are using Google Workspace. These sites can be viewed by just your team or the general public, depending on your sharing settings.

However, Sites has not been widely adopted and is used by only 0.1% of all websites.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using Google Sites that we will discover as we compare the two platforms side by side in this article.

Pros:

You don’t need to install or update software to use Google Sites. It is available to anyone with a Google ID or Google Workspace.
The Google Sites editor is easy to use. However, it only offers basic features.
Google Sites integrates easily with other Google products, such as Google Docs.
You can also use Google Analytics to track your website visitors.
Google Sites is free to use, though you will need to pay for Google Workspace and a domain name.

Cons:

Google Sites has limited features, and you can’t add more using plugins.
Google Sites offers fewer themes and customization options than WordPress.
Google Sites does not offer built-in monetization tools.

Now that you have a general idea of the pros and cons of WordPress and Google Sites, we can jump into our full review.

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Hosted vs. Self-Hosted

One of the biggest benefits of using WordPress is that you can install it on your own web hosting account. This means that you own 100% of all your content and have full control over how you promote your brand.

That means you will need to organize web hosting where you can install the WordPress software. Luckily, installing WordPress is normally very easy, and the best hosting companies offer 1-click WordPress install.

On the other hand, Google Sites is a hosted service. The software is automatically available to all Google users, and your website content is stored on Google’s servers. You need to follow their terms of service, and they can change the software and pricing plans at any time.

Plus, Google has been known to unexpectedly discontinue its products in the past, leaving the future of your website in doubt.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Features & Plugins

WordPress is designed to be flexible and can be used to create just about any type of website. You can easily add the features you need to create a blog, small business site, online store, portfolio, and more.

That’s because you can add new features to WordPress using plugins. These are apps you can install to add new features to your website, such as image galleries, contact forms, backups, and much more.

You can choose from around 60,000 free plugins in the official WordPress plugin directory or countless premium plugins available from third-party websites.

Google Sites isn’t like this. It is designed to make it easy to create basic websites without coding or design skills. It lets you easily add content from other Google services, but there is no way to add new features.

It is easy for Google users to get started creating a simple website. But as your needs grow over time, you may quickly outgrow the features that Google Sites offers.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Design & Layout

WordPress themes allow you to easily customize the look and feel of your WordPress website. They determine how your site will look and let you personalize it and add unique features.

You can customize your theme using the built-in theme customizer or full site editor, or a page builder plugin that offers a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop interface.

For example, SeedProd is a powerful page builder plugin that makes it easy to create attractive landing pages and even completely custom themes.

SeedProd provides professionally designed themes and page templates that get you up and going with just a few clicks of a mouse. They also offer ready-made site template kits that can create a full website for your niche, including dummy content that is easy to customize.

Google Sites also provides templates to help you get started quickly. However, only 4 basic templates are offered.

You can also customize the appearance of your website using themes. While only 6 themes are offered, there are color and font options for each theme.

You can also create your own theme and import third-party themes. However, the customization you can achieve in Google Sites does not come close to that of WordPress.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: SEO

Most websites get a lot of traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO stands for ‘search engine optimization’ and is all about making your content appear higher in searches so that users will find it easily.

The best way to rank higher in searches is to choose a search engine-friendly platform when building your website.

WordPress is built with SEO best practices in mind, such as permalink settings that create SEO-friendly URLs, categories that organize your content, and much more.

You can improve your SEO using WordPress SEO plugins and tools. For example, All in One SEO lets you add SEO titles and meta descriptions and choose a focus keyword. It also offers recommendations on how to optimize your blog posts.

Google Sites doesn’t offer these SEO benefits. However, if you are just using Google Sites to create resources for your Google Workspace-based team, then SEO will not be important.

But if you are creating public websites and you care about SEO, then Google Sites is not the best platform to use. Google acknowledges that ‘if SEO is your primary consideration, it might be worthwhile to explore other options.’

In any case, you might find our checklist on how to optimize blog posts for SEO helpful, whether you are using Google Sites or WordPress.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Support

There is great support available for WordPress, and you will often find an answer to any WordPress-related questions with a simple Google search.

You will find official documentation and support forums on WordPress.org. And because WordPress is so popular, you will find lots of useful third-party resources available online.

If you need technical support for a WordPress plugin, then you can visit the dedicated support forum on WordPress.org or the plugin’s own website. You can learn more in our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.

And as you know, you will find a large range of free resources at WPBeginner. You can also ask for help on social media platforms, such as our WPBeginner Engage Facebook group, and view video tutorials on our YouTube Channel.

Google Sites also offers a lot of support options to its users.

You can find information on a variety of topics in the Google Sites Help Center and ask specific questions in the Google Sites Community Forum. If you are looking for training materials, then you should visit the Google Sites Training Center.

Besides these resources, Google offers several paid support options for Google Sites. Users can pay for Google Sites Support Premium, which can help you with a variety of tasks, including troubleshooting, configuration, and customization.

You can also pay for Google Sites Developer Support.

Winner: Tie

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Monetization

WordPress gives you complete control over your website, including the ability to monetize it any way you like without restrictions.

Here are just a few ways you can make money online with your WordPress website:

It is more difficult to make money from a website on Google Sites. That’s because it doesn’t include built-in monetization features like advertising integrations, and it is not a suitable platform for creating an online store.

That’s not to say you can’t make any money on Google Sites, just that there are fewer options that will require more effort.

For example, you can manually embed the code needed for Google AdSense or affiliate marketing into your site’s HTML. You could also offer exclusive content to subscribers and include payment buttons using third-party tools like PayPal or Google Forms.

Before deciding on a way to monetize your Google Site, make sure you check Google’s policies and guidelines to make sure you are not breaking any rules.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Cost

Cost is an important consideration when deciding which website platform to choose. Let’s take a look at how much it will cost to create a website on WordPress vs. Google Sites.

The Cost of a WordPress Website

The WordPress software is free of charge, but you will need to pay for a domain name and web hosting to create a new website. You may be concerned about how much this will cost.

Typically, you will pay $14.99 per year for a domain name and $7.99 per month for a hosting plan. This can add up if you are just starting out.

Luckily, it doesn’t have to cost that much. You can save money when you choose Bluehost, a web hosting company recommended by WordPress. They have agreed to give our readers a huge discount on hosting and include the domain name for free.

Besides that, they also include a free SSL certificate that protects your users’ privacy and allows you to accept online payments.

With that in mind, you can get started for as low as $1.99 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

And that’s all you will need to pay if you are happy to get started with free WordPress plugins and themes. As your needs grow, you can invest in premium themes or plugins as needed.

You can find a detailed breakdown in our guide to the cost of building a WordPress site.

The Cost of Google Sites

Google Sites is a free service. Anyone with a Google ID can use it, and it is part of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), which offers productivity and collaboration tools for businesses.

Google Workspace itself costs between $6 and $18 per user per month when paid annually. You also need to pay for a domain name, which is typically $14.99 per year.

This is normally all you will need. Some users may need to pay for third-party tools they wish to integrate with their website or hire a developer to help set up their website.

To compare typical costs for the first year, WordPress may cost you around $33, and Google Sites around $87. Keep in mind that Google Workspace includes more than just Google Sites, but also that you will need to pay extra for each user who accesses it.

Winner: WordPress

WordPress vs. Google Sites: Which Is Better?

Now that we’ve compared WordPress vs. Google Sites, you can see that, in most cases, WordPress is a much better option for starting a new website.

WordPress offers more design options and a much wider variety of themes. It is also easy to add new features to WordPress using plugins. And it offers all of this at a low monthly price.

If you would like to get started with WordPress, then you can see our complete step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress website.

Is there any time that Google Sites would be a better option? Yes.

If you are already using Google Workspace and need to build a basic site where you can share information and resources with your team, then you can do this quickly and easily using Google Sites.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress vs. Google Sites

Do you still have questions about WordPress vs. Google Sites? Here are answers to some of the questions we are asked most often by our readers.

Can I save money using Google Sites instead of WordPress?

In general no, most businesses will find WordPress more affordable than Google Sites. You just need an affordable hosting plan that includes a free domain, such as one offered by Bluehost or Hostinger.

However, if your business is already using Google Workspace with a custom domain, then there is no additional charge for using Google Sites.

Can I use my own domain name with Google Sites?

Yes, it is possible to connect up to 5 custom domains with a single Google Sites website. You can add these in Google Sites settings, and you will be prompted to follow some steps to verify that you own the domain or domains you wish to use.

Which is easier to use, WordPress or Google Sites?

Both WordPress and Google Sites are quite easy to use. Google Sites is designed to be beginner-friendly, so it has a simpler interface but also more limited functionality.

WordPress offers more features and customization. While it is easy to use, beginners may find it more complex. However, it is the platform that will continue to meet your needs as they grow in the future.

Can I easily migrate my content from Google Sites to WordPress?

No, there is no automatic way to move your content over from Google Sites to WordPress. You will need to carefully copy and paste the contents of each page individually.

That means that if you think you may want to change to WordPress in the future, it is best to start with a WordPress website.

We hope this tutorial helped you compare WordPress vs. Google Sites. You may also want to see our guide on important reasons why you should use WordPress for your website or our expert picks for the best WordPress hosting.

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