When it comes to website building platforms, WordPress (WP) remains to be popular and it is not hard to fathom why. For one, you can create a good website for free on this platform.

Moreover:

“…it’s very user-friendly, making them ideal for first-time website owners… Its versatility is another reason why many prefer to use it. You can use it for any purpose; be it for a blog or an ecommerce site, WordPress provides numerous extensions and features to help you create what you need.”

Aside from allowing people to create affordable but professional-looking sites, it is also customisable and easy to manage.

More importantly, it is SEO-friendly – fast loading sites, responsive designs, numerous plugins that enhance site functionality and SEO capabilities, etc. Basically, along with the help of an expert, having a WP website can be beneficial for your optimisation efforts.

Let’s be clear though:

When it comes to ranking well on search engine results pages (SERPs), WordPress is not just the only platform that can help you with this endeavour. Some say that Google Sites can also do the same thing.

What Is Google Sites?

Owned by the world’s top search engine, Google Sites is a website building platform. Just like WordPress, it is designed to make website creation easy and intuitive. The idea behind this platform is to make it possible for people to build a site even without knowing how to code.

Sites created on this platform have a responsive design which is essential since most users browse on mobile devices than on desktops these days. Google Sites also features customisable themes as well as gadgets like spreadsheets and calendars which you can all add to your website.

One of its noteworthy features is that it allows multiple users to edit the site together real time. What’s more is that every change made is visible to everyone who’s designing the site.

SEO & Google Sites – Is There a Connection?

There are claims that websites hosted on Google Sites rank higher than those created on other platforms.

But:

Google maintains that the hosting platform is a non-factor in the ranking of websites on SERPs. The tech giant further reiterated that websites, whether they are on Google Sites or WordPress, will rank high on SERPs for as long as they provide relevant content and are optimised properly. 

However, this statement from Google does not match what was discovered in a certain research – Googles Sites having better rankings than sites hosted on other platforms. The report showed that, for the search query the researcher used, a site hosted on Google Sites occupied the number one spot on the organic search result list.

It is still unclear why this site hosted on Google Sites claimed the top spot. Some say that one possible explanation for this is the site’s URL.

In this platform, you can insert your preferred keyword phrase in the site’s URL. For example, if you own a painting company, your URL can be https://sites.google.com/view/paintingcontractordublin/.

The presence of the keyword in the URL may be one of the reasons why the said site ranked high on the specific query.

Here’s the thing:

It is still too soon to say whether or not websites on Google Sites have an advantage over others when it comes to SEO.

For one, there are not enough studies on this matter. To add, there is also that statement from Google saying there is no truth to this claim.

On the other hand, it would not hurt if you set up a website that is hosted on Google Sites. This way you can find out for yourself if the claims are true. Think of it as an “experiment”. After all, it wouldn’t take a lot of work to create one. In fact, in as short as 10 minutes, you can have a professional-looking website.

Moreover, the site does not have to be very comprehensive. You can just create 2 to 3 pages – perhaps, a home page and a contact page. You can even just rewrite content from your existing website and use it on Google Sites.

Suffice to say, you won’t lose anything if you do this “experiment”. In case you find out that the hosting platform doesn’t influence rankings on SERPs, you’d at least have a secondary site where you can place links going to your primary website.

We have SEO specialists who can help your website land on the front page of SERPs whatever your hosting platform is. Visit our website or call us on 019609023 for a free consultation.