Google Sites: A Cost-Effective Alternative to WordPress

Google Sites is an alternative to WordPress for websites that are simple, organized and easy to manage. Google Sites is a free web-authoring tool from Google, available as part of Google Apps.

Because it’s part of Google Apps, you don’t need a domain name or hosting to set up your site. (You can of course add a domain to Google Sites as well) You can create sites with content stored in Google Drive. Users can access your website on any device and see it how they want by viewing its mobile version.

You can also make this as a private site and invite your team, partners or customers so the site is accessible to authorized individuals only. With such benefits, it isn’t surprising that many businesses have switched over from WordPress to Google Sites instead.

What Is Google Sites?

Google Sites is a free website creation tool that allows you to create a portfolio website, company website, blogging website, or any other type of website by creating a custom website template. Site templates are pre-designed website layouts that contain sample content such as images, text and web links that you can customize to create a website. You can create a site in just a few minutes if you choose a pre-existing site templates.

Why Should You Consider Google Sites Instead of WordPress?

A major reason to consider Google Sites instead of WordPress is cost. WordPress.com is free, but if you want to use self-hosted WordPress software, you’ll need to purchase a domain name and web hosting. Hosting costs can be anywhere from $10 to $3,000 per year, depending on the type of hosting you choose. In contrast, Google Sites is completely free to use. You can also get more out of each Google Site than you can out of each WordPress site. Each Google Site can accommodate highest security, unlimited storage and bandwidth, thanks to Google Drive and Google's data centers globally.

Besides the cost, there are other reasons as well. Here are some of Wordpress' biggest drawbacks.

• Difficult to maintain: It is difficult to design, develop, and maintain WordPress websites if you aren't familiar with coding.
  

• Plugins, Themes: You would need to get design templates for better design and install lots of plugins for certain functionalities. Most of these efficiency-enhancing features and tools have a price. The more of them you use, the higher the cost of using WordPress goes.
  

• Frequent Updates Required: Installing WordPress alone isn't enough. In order for it to work properly, you must install various plugins and themes. The more plugins you use, the more compatibility issues you will have to deal with.
  

• Website Security Vulnerability: It is a challenge to keep WordPress secure, as it is the most popular content management system. It is also difficult because it relies heavily on plugins developed by different people, which increases the likelihood of malicious code infiltrating its functionalities.
  

• Poor SEO: It can be difficult for people with no SEO experience to ensure the SEO friendliness of WordPress. If the content is divided into many categories or excessively tagged in WordPress, Google will flag it as duplicate content. This will significantly affect your site's SERP rankings.
  

Conclusion

Google Sites is a good choice for simple websites that don’t require a lot of functionality. It’s best for businesses that want a simple website that’s easy to manage and costs nothing. WordPress can be a better choice for more advanced websites that require additional functionality or powerful SEO management.