SEO on Google Sites

We've developed a comprehensive strategy specifically for Google Sites SEO. We maximize your Google Sites website's potential for page rank on the search engine results page (SERP) with best practices. We will improve potential for visibility in SERPs, which can lead to increased website traffic and conversions. We do all this while taking into account the idiosyncrasies of Google Sites. So let's learn about how to improve the SEO performance of a Google Site.

Is Google Sites Good for SEO?

The first question a business might ask when considering using Google Sites to build a website is: Is Google Sites SEO friendly? Google Sites is just as capable as any other CMS (ex. Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix) to SEO. Google Sites has all the components needed for SEO and can perform well. It is SEO friendly because content can perform well and can potentially rank above competitors.

Google Sites and SEO Advantages

Here are some of the benefits that makes Sites easy to SEO:

Easy Content Management: Google Sites is a simple no-code CMS, so it is very easy to write and structure content correctly.
Quick SEO Tools Set Up: Connect your Google Analytics data stream to start tracking acquisition and engagement across your public Google Site website. Use settings to allow robots.txt to crawl and index your site.
Pass Core Web Vitals, Security and Accessibility: The high quality performance of Google Sites as a lightweight responsive platform benefits search. SSL certification and accessible web options also have a positive impact on page position.

Settings for enabling analytics on Sites

Google Search Console Page Experience Report All Good Marks

Good page experience for core web vitals

SEO Tips for How to Rank a Google Sites Website

Ranking a Google Sites website doesn't have to be difficult. Following the principles of good user experience and content copywriting. Here's our Google Sites SEO checklist to help you out.

Title Titles and Page Titles with Keywords

This is one of the most frequent pain points of Google Sites users: Google Sites not being indexed. This video outlines the important of relevant titles, headings and content structure. Don't skip the basics.

Sign Up for Free SEO Reporting Tools

Google Search Console: Verify your domain and start understanding clicks, queries and impressions for your site.
Free Trial Ahrefs and Semrush Accounts: The cream of the crop for SEO research services. You have plenty to benefit from with even the free tier.

Strategies for Organization

There is a lot to go over here, so let us know if you need help on this stuff.

Internal page links
Logical sitemap and URL slugs
Image Optimization
Competitor Gap Analysis
Meaningful backlinks profile

On-Page SEO for Google Sites

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages to improve their ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). It is a subset of SEO, which is the broader practice of improving a website's visibility in search engines. By optimizing your website's pages for relevant keywords and providing high-quality content, you can improve your website's ranking in the SERPs and attract more visitors.

Keyword research & Related Trending Topics or Queries

Keyword research and planning cross examined with trending keyphrases
Documentation of related queries

Sitemap & Page Structure Headers / Headings

Clear headings tags, page hierarchy and site organization
Accessibility (alt text alt tags) and headings checks

Copywriting, Blogging, Editing, Proofreading

Target audience FAQs & Tutorials research
Recommendations for involvement in web communities, forums or social media groups
Keyword influencer/expert research via YouTube and social media in general

Keyword and keyphrase research investigation

SEO Analysis, Audit and Reporting

SEO auditing is the process of evaluating a website's performance in search engines. It involves identifying errors that can prevent a website from ranking well and opportunities that can help it rank better. SEO audits typically cover areas such as indexing and crawlability, user experience, site architecture, competitor benchmarking, keyword research, on-page SEO, and backlink profile. The goal of an SEO audit is to improve a website's search performance and generate more traffic.

Website Load Speed Audit

Performing audit and addressing issues related to mobile and desktop site performance

Search Console & Analytics Analysis

Installation and configuration of web master tools
Error debugging from audit reports
Installation of site analytics website traffic tracking
Analysis of key metrics like site visitor engagement (bounce rate) and user acquisition.

SEO Tools for Assisted Reporting and Analysis

Registration and study of third party reports for SEO insights
Competitor research and backlink profile investigation

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is a type of SEO that focuses on improving a website's ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) by building links to the website from other websites. Links from other websites are considered to be a valuable ranking signal by Google and other search engines, and they can help to improve a website's ranking for relevant keywords. Off-page SEO is a long-term strategy that takes time to see results. However, it can be a very effective way to improve a website's ranking in SERPs.

Backlinks Building Strategy

Intelligence on press release or reporting opportunities
Guest posting opportunities
Connecting with other experts in field, related services professionals, etc.
Recommendations for registration, directory listing, membership, societies and local community resources

Branding

Registration and customization of all social media profiles for brand name exposure

How Much Does SEO Cost?

As you can see from the above content, SEO is very involved and requires a tremendous amount of analytical thinking. We don't provide cheap, unethical work in this department that show short-term boosts in irrelevant metrics followed by a crash in your web property's domain authority (DA). Our services in SEO are of a long term, steady gains nature and therefore it is a monthly subscription based on client needs and breadth of the client website.

Google Sites SEO Tools & Features

Site Title
Page Title
Request Search Engines not to Crawl or Index the Site
SSL Security on all pages, with or without custom domain
Page URL / Slug Property
Image Alt Tags for Accessibility
Structured content with headings: <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <p>, <small>
Good Performance on Core Web Vitals (Desktop and Mobile)
Google Search Engine Console support
Google Analytics support
Custom Favicon

Not Supported

Sitemaps
301 Redirect Management
Set Canonical content rel="canonical"
Meta Descriptions for Site or Page
Schema Management
Consistent Image Hosting for Indexing
Custom 404 Page
Social Sharing Images Management

Google Sites SEO FAQ

Does Google Sites support site or page meta description tags?

You cannot add a meta tag in New Google Sites. Site meta and page meta data is not available to be inserted into the code of the page. This makes quality content and content organization of utmost importance. Honestly Google Search has become very human in their approach to ranking sites. Does it read the meta tag, yes. Does the meta data matter? The short answer from most experts is no.

Is it true that Google Sites is not ideal for SEO purposes?

That depends. First of all, "Google Sites can and do get indexed in Google Search." That is one quote from John Mueller of Google Search Console's team.

One problem is the two versions of URLs available on Google Sites: the long sites.google.com/... URL, and the custom domain URL like www.domainsample.com . Google Sites content always exists on these two dimensions. Actually Squarespace websites operate in the same fashion. So what is the difference here?

Google Sites lack a true sitemap and canonical tool to indicate to Google Search which site version is the authority. So this may present some confusion if your long sites URL is indexed and competing in page rank. In the long run this should be a moot point because the custom domain will win out. That leads to another truth being, always use a custom domain right from the beginning and avoid a mess. Also, promote that custom domain as the authoritative source of your unique, valuable content. Where there are limitations, there are workarounds. But if SEO is the primary purpose of your site, then I'd have to agree, Sites isn't ideal. That being said, it is absolutely satisfactory for most websites that aren't massive blogs, affiliate link farms or ecommerce giants.

(Updated 9/7/2023)

Do Google Sites rank better than other website builders?

No, Google Sites are on the same fair playing field for page rank. There is no advantage to using Google Sites in regards SEO versus another capable site builder platform.

Can I add a sitemap to my Google Site for Google Search Console (GSC)?

Google Sites does not generate a sitemap for Google Search Console, nor are you able to upload an XML sitemap to your website. This is a commonly requested feature and you can find out here how to submit feedback. In regards to a sitemap's usefulness for SEO, it never hurts. However, Google Search Central has published on their documentation that small sites that handle internal linking well do not necessarily need a sitemap to be crawled, indexed or rank well. (Source)

Read our support article here if you having issues with your Google Sites website not being indexed.

Does Google Sites support 301 Redirects or Custom 404 Pages?

No. You cannot 301 redirect any webpages. There are no settings for dictating these kind of redirects. Therefore, it is imperative you don't change the URLs. If you do change the URLs for these pages, which also means nesting or unnesting pages (subpages), you will effectively break these links and create a 404 error page.

The 404 error broken page can't be customized or modified. You page just says: 404 The page you have entered does not exist. Go to site home. The navigation and search functions are accessible from this page. The footer will not appear.