Welcome to the latest instalment of The Cobry Cafetiere of Cloud Knowledge. Most of you will probably know the drill by now. But if not, this is your time of the week to sit back with a coffee and learn about all things cloud with the team at Cobry. This week we're discussing the great tool Google Sites.
What is Google Sites?
Google Sites is a web page creation platform whose tools are designed to allow users to quickly and easily create websites without the need for any web development skills. Such tools include:
- A bank of website templates which you can customise to your own needs.
- Responsive themes which allow you to
- Drag and drop editing which allows users to drag content blocks to create the structure of their web page
In addition, since your site's domain host is attached to your Google Workspace account, you don’t have to pay for a separate domain.
Google Sites Features & Benefits
Workspace integrations
Sites integrates with many of the Google Workspace tools. This includes Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Forms and Maps. This provides users with a seamless experience and allows dynamic content to be hosted on the site in the form of docs, sheets, slides and more. Moreover, it is also possible to add Google Data Studio reports (or dashboards) to a Google Site. This is extremely advantageous as it allows for additional content or information to be placed alongside the dashboard as well as offering those with access the ability to view the dashboard from any device.
Iframe Support
Google Sites also supports iframes (the internet's standard method of embedding web pages). This means you can add many types of content form various sites such as YouTube to your Google Site. Thus, giving its users a more diverse and effortless user experience.
Collaboration
As with all of the other tools included within the Google Workspace offering, Google Sites can be highly collaborative. You can share your site with others and collaborate in real-time in order to build great web pages.
Sharing and permissions are also customisable on each page of your Google Site. This means you have full control over those that can access your site and who can make edits. This makes it a great way to share information internally or externally with clients and partners.
Use Cases
The strength of Google Sites is that its powerful features and ease of use allow you to adapt its use to your requirements and streamline the way that your business works. We've listed some popular use cases.
Employee Onboarding
Using Google Sites to support your employee onboarding process is highly effective as it converts what can be an overwhelming process into an interactive and accessible experience. For example, instead of handing employees extremely large documents, Google Sites allows this important information to be broken down into manageable chunks and, therefore, more easily digested by your new employees.
Information Hub
Google Sites are a great way of quickly and elegantly distributing information to customers, partners or employees. One such way Cobry has seen it used expertly is to provide a board of trustees with a hub where they can find information relating to past and future meetings as well as the link to their next Google Meet call.
A Guide to using Google Sites
To begin creating a Google Site, simply select “create new” or choose a predefined template from the gallery as previously mentioned. Once you have done this, you are ready to start adding to your site. Add content to the site by using the layouts available and uploading from Google Drive or your local device. From this menu, it is also possible to embed YouTube videos, insert content from other Google tools including Docs, Sheets, Slides and Calendar. You can also link to other websites, locations and embed Google Search.
Next, drag and drop your elements to organise your content the way you would like it.
Add collaborators to your Google Site and work together to create something great.
Once your site is ready, hit “publish” to allow others to view it.
If you'd like to find out more about Google Sites and how its tools can help transform your business, Get in touch.