5 Signs Google Sites is the Best Asset for Your Small Business’s Website

Google’s latest technological asset for businesses has recently launched, and it’s a game-changer for small businesses that are just starting out. It’s called Google Sites.

For those who have a business but are just figuring out the best way to establish an online presence, Google Sitesmight be the tool for you. This feature, provided by the search engine, allows business owners to build and manage a mini website on their own, all without the help of a programming professional. It’s not a high-tech website, but for those looking to make basic information about their company and services available to the public, Sites can get the job done.

Anyone who runs a Google My Business account—which should be all business owners—can access this feature and create a mini site in as little as ten minutes. Plus, everything is done through Google, so when you make a change to your local listing, such as updating business hours, the changes will automatically be updated on your website, too. For a small business owner, saving valuable time like this adds up.

Sounds pretty great, huh?

Now, you might be thinking, that sounds great, why would anyone pay to have a website designed, developed and marketed when Google will help you for free ? While Google Sites is great for smaller businesses that just want to get a basic site up and running quickly, many businesses would rather have a fully customized website with high-end features and an in-depth marketing plan. Some of the benefits to hiring a professional (like Locallogy) to do this stuff for you include:

• Creating a specified SEO strategy for your business
  
• Getting your business to show up in the exact search results you are aiming for
  
• Running paid advertisement for you
  
• Tracking and explaining results and data
  
• Adjusting your website and marketing plan accordingly
  

It’s probably starting to make sense why Google Sites is a great option for small businesses who just want their name and information out there, but not the ideal choice for someone who wants specific results. It all depends on where your business is at and what role you want your website to play.

But if you’re a small business owner who is just getting started with your website, here’s why Google Sites might be the best option for you.

If your business is just in the beginning stages of getting up and running, you probably don’t have the time or resources to have a full website with complex features. In fact, you might not have a need for anything more than a simple design that highlights your services and gives your phone number. Since Google Sites doesn’t require knowledge of coding, programming or web design in any way, it’s extremely easy to use, cutting down on the time you spend building a site. All that time you save will be time you can put toward running your business instead.

If you don’t already have a website for your business, Google Sites is a quick and easy alternative. When starting from scratch, there’s a lot that goes into formatting, coding, web maintenance, etc. Google Sites takes care of all of that for you with a basic template that you can play around with. This is a good starting point for getting information about your business online, but not investing too much energy into a project you won’t be able to keep up with.

Google Sites is a great starting point for those who don’t have a background in web design and management, which is something most small business owners don’t have. Rather than starting from square one when building a site, you’ll have a basic format to work with, where you can add images, text or other embedded components without learning complicated web maintenance techniques. You’ll save time and money that you can then put back into your business; it’s a win-win situation.

One of the great features of Google Sites is that you can still customize your mini website when creating it. Although you can’t do any crazy coding or sell your products directly on your site, there are still plenty of ways you can play around with your site and personalize your page. You can edit images, move and resize content, change the background, embed media and even format titles and content. For a free website that only took a few minutes to create, that’s a pretty good deal.

Hiring a web designer and team to manage your website and digital marketing strategy is a smart option for many businesses, but not all small businesses have the budget to hire a pro. Particularly in the early stages when you’re just getting your company off the ground, it can be hard to justify spending several hundred (or thousand, depending on your strategy) per month on your website. So if you want to spend less on your website and more on your products or services, this is the place to start.

If you think Google Sites might be a little too basic for your business’s website (or if you have a Google Site and are ready to take your site to the next level), we at Locallogy highly recommend talking to a professional digital marketing strategistto see what the best move is for you.