How to create a Google Site and easily publish your own custom website

• You can create a Google Site for personal or business use simply by heading to the Google Sites website.
• When you create your Google Site, you'll be offered templates to help you bring your site to life, even if you lack web-building skills.
• Before you publish the Google Site, you'll be asked to choose its URL, or input a URL that you already own.

If you're running a business and want to promote your work, need a professional portfolio that people can use to learn more about you, or simply want to share your thoughts, you might consider making your own website.

There are dozens of companies that can help you build and publish a website. But Google Sites makes the process simple, straightforward, and free.

Creating a Google Site doesn't require much technical know-how. Google provides a variety of templates to suit every industry and preference, all of which are customizable, so you can present your content however you want.

The process is so quick, you could have a site up and running in a matter of minutes. Here's how to get started.

How to create a Google Site of your own

1. After you sign into your Google account, go to the Google Sites homepage.

2. Under the "Start a new site" header, pick the template you want to use. Clicking "Template Gallery" will expand your options to show you all templates that Google Sites has available.

3. In the top-left corner of the page, enter the name of your site.

4. Using the toolboxes provided, add content to your site. This can include text, photos, and other media. Add these items by clicking the relevant area on your template, and following the instructions on screen.

• If you get confused, you can find a step-by-step tour by clicking the three horizontally stacked dots in the top-right corner of your screen.

5. When you've added all relevant content to your site, hit "Publish" in the top-right.

6. In the pop-up box that appears, choose the URL you want. However, you should note that by default, every Google Sites URL will begin with "https://sites.google.com/view." In other words, if the URL you wanted was "businessinsider," your URL would be:

• If you happen to own a custom URL already, put it into the "Custom URL" area. You can also set who's allowed to see your site, and if it should appear in Google searches.

7. Once finished, click "Publish" again to set your site live and make it visible to others.

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