Should You Use Google’s New Website Builder for SMBs?

You’ve likely heard of Wix, the do-it-for-you website builder. Popular competitors include Weebly, WordPress, Jimdo, and Squarespace, and there’s tons of others too.

The problem with Wix, and many of these (except installing your own version of WordPress), is they aren’t the most SEO-friendly. Sometimes, their templates don’t load the fastest. Some available designs are quite ugly and don’t offer a simple experience. And comparatively speaking, Wix isn’t all the cheap.

People use Wix because it is easy (and advertised heavily), and at just a few bucks per month for their starting package, it appears relatively cheap.

But for the above reasons, it’s not necessarily a good long-term choice.

Now, Google Sites enters the fray. While Google naturally competes with Wix and other similar options, it’s not necessarily designed to do exactly that.

If you’re considering a business website, and need one fast, does Google Sites make sense?

Learn more about the new tool below:  

Who Should Use Google Sites?

The builder is designed to be easy to use. It even automatically populates some of your business information from your Google My Business account.

Google’s really intending their builder for small local businesses who need just a single page. That could be:

• Churches
• Any kind of non-profit
• Restaurants
• Clubs

They actually don’t give you a ton of control over editing the page. They keep what you can do pretty basic.

But with who this tool’s intended for (the 60% of businesses across the world who don’t have websites), that makes sense.

Google Sites Does Good SEO and Ranks Well

This makes sense. Google’s own tool should darn well rank well in its search rankings.

I read some comments from black hat SEOs. They found Google Sites rank fast and well.

However, since Google has direct knowledge of these sites, if you push too hard on getting back links or other borderline SEO tactics, they’ll pull you out of the rankings fast. So, while you can do solid SEO and rank well, make sure you know exactly what you’re doing or that you hire someone who does.

A Few Cons About Google Sites

Google Sites definitely wasn’t made for more advanced web users. And it’s not for you if you like to spend a lot of time learning new things and want to have tight control over your website’s design.

You can’t openly edit the CSS/HTML code. That limits your SEO capability and visual design to a degree. The designs themselves aren’t that pretty or innovative.

You get a fairly barebones system, and especially so when compared to Wix, Weebly, and other similar platforms.  

Conclusion: Google Sites Works Well for Small (Or Non-Existent) Budgets, and SMBs Who Want to Build Their First Web Presence

If you have a budget of a couple thousand dollars per month, you’re much better off hiring a professional SEO or internet marketing contractor or agency. You have much tighter control over your website, which means you can deliver the experience your users want. And you can do more to benefit your rankings and win more customers.

But if you’re new, don’t have a large budget, and simply want to be present online and maybe pull in a few customers, Google Sites makes sense.