Google Sites is an application that lets you create your own website, free of cost. You can create a personal website, company website or a fan club. It is a collaborative tool allowing multiple users to share information.
The highlight of this tool is that it lets people work together for creating and updating a website. Its collaborative nature allows selected users add information through files, images, attachments or presentations. Those 'selected' users can be members of a project, company, club and even family.
"People can work together on a site to add file attachments, information from other Google applications (like Google Docs, Calender, Picasa and YouTube), and new free-form content. Creating a site together is as easy as editing a document, and you always control who as access, whether its just yourself, your team or your whole organization" explains Google.
Google Sites? Explain Again...
- Google sites allows you to easily create a website without using HTML, therefore any one can attempt web designing...the easy way.
- It allows others to join you in creating and updating this website; selecting administrators is entirely under your control.
- This website can be public or private. Mostly used as intranet, your website can be viewed by either a group of people like your employees, team members, family, project partners, the guy next door or the entire world.
- It offers tons of templates to choose from and allows you to modify it as per your needs, alternatively you can start right from scratch.
- Each account receives up to 10GB of storage.
- Each document uploaded on the site becomes a link rather than being a file.
Is It Meant For You?
If you are small business owner and wish to start your own website without the whole hassle of hiring a web designer, then this is clearly the choice for you. Having said that there are certain points that you must consider before jumping into any conclusions:
- The final website may not look very professional.
- You do not own the site, Google does.
- Design of the website if limited to a vast array of templates provided by Google.
- If you wish to built a website as per particular specifications, then you might face some drawbacks.
How You Can Use It?
- As mentioned earlier, Google Sites is extensively used as intranet, therefore if you wish to share information with a specific group within the company or the entire company then this can be a great home ground for everyone.
- It is very popular among clubs, societies or people with similar concerns or interests. Therefore having a website for such groups can bring in that extra edge, plus its free of cost and amazingly easy to use.
- You can even create a personal profile for yourself and have a website dedicated to you with details that you want to share with the world.
- It has proved to be very useful in schools where teachers can provide updates, tutorials, give assignments and provide regular updates or information.
- Suppose you are starting a campaign and wish to create a web page with all the necessary information and update it as when required, then this just might be a perfect solution.
Check out the video below where Google's Product Manager explains essential features:
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so it's a wiki? awesome innovation