Google Web Hosting – The Truth About Google Sites

If you have been looking for Google web hosting, you are probably running around in circles! It used to be called Google Pages, and now it is called Google Sites. With Google Sites you get Google web hosting by default and there are many different levels of storage requirements. Let’s talk about what you really get with Google Sites and see if this is really the solution your are looking for, odds are if you are looking for a web host, this is not for you. Let’s talk about the basics here, like how you create a site, understand how you modify your website and what types of storage is available for free.

Creating your site using Google Sites is simple and if you have a Gmail account already, you can simply Google the term and it will take you to the homepage where you can sign up for free. This website is based on web templates which are pre-build pages with design, structure, and content for a specific purpose. There is a gallery available with many themes to choose from. You will also pick a URL that you will send people to your website with. Now that your site is using Google Sites and your template is chosen, it is time to fill it up with content and build pages using the user interface.

The user interface is a really simple, point and click type of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) type of editor. You add pages and content with a standard word processing feel, so it is a familiar experience even if building your first website. Add pages, images, text and more elements by just clicking on the icons and setting parameters. My personal experience with this is that you still need some HTML chops to modify the code to really get your pages looking right, but if you are an amatuer and not looking to make an award winning website, this is an easy and fun way to build a website.

As you add pages and pictures, you will be using up your free Google web hosting storage available to you. The site quota for these type of free sites is 100 megabytes of storage and the maximum attachment size is 20 megabytes. This is a lot of space for a simple, basic website. Not the right solution if you need something more serious like FTP, more space, databases, etc. I would recommend this method to my Grandma for making a website about her book club, other than that, I would recommend something more robust than Google web hosting.


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