Does Google Domain Host Websites

Check Out And Purchase Your Domain Name

Once youve added your domain name to your cart, open your cart to check out.

Google Domains will show you a summary of your cart, along with two options, both of which are enabled by default:

• Privacy protection: this 100% free service keeps your personal information private. We recommend leaving this on.
• Auto-renew: auto-renew ensures you dont accidentally forget to renew and lose your domain. This is totally up to you, but we recommend leaving it on if you have long-term plans for your domain name.

Once youve made your choices, click the Check out button:

On the checkout page, youll need to enter your contact information. But remember: as long as you left the free privacy protection feature enabled, this information wont be public.

Then, enter your payment information to finalize your purchase:

Seamless Access To Website Builders And Google Products

Since Google doesnt sell web hosting, Google Domains has partnered with website builders like Shopify and Squarespace. The built-in integrations streamline most of the website setup process its convenient for even non-tech-savvy users.

Alternatively, you can connect your domain with a third-party hosting provider or and Blogger Googles own free website building solutions.

Another helpful feature is the built-in integration with other Google products, like Google Workspace, , and .

For example, you can enable reports on your Google Domains account to automatically link your domain with the . You wont need to verify your domain with DNS records when connecting your site to it.

Google Domains supports seamless integration with Google Workspace for $6-$18/month/user if you need a custom email address. Connecting your custom domain name to Workspace will also give you access to other Google apps, such as Gmail, , and . At Hostinger, we partner with Google to sell Workspace, available to be managed directly from your hPanel.

Is Googles Hosting Compatible With WordPress

Yes, you can use Google Compute Engine to host WordPress sites. They have a 1-click installation option that can help you at the beginning. The g1-small VM instance with 1 shared vCPU + 1.7 GB RAM costs $13.61 per month.

. Its not a managed WordPress hosting solution. You can get a managed WordPress hosting plan at Copahost. Youll get a control panel, 24/7 live tech support, and more. For WordPress hosting, Pricing at Copahost starts at 1,99 per month.

Read Also: Does Shopify Provide Free Domain

Search Google Images Or Youtube Directly From The Interface

Adding documents and such from your personal Google Drive is useful, but not really unexpected: Google likes to connect all of its products. What really impressed me as in, I said, This is so cool! out loud is the ability to directly search Google Images and YouTube from the Google Sites interface .

In other words, if you want to embed a YouTube video, you dont have to use a separate tab in your web browser. Youll search from a pop-up box and place the video wherever you like on your page.

You can do a Google Image Search in the same way. This search box filters images to bring up those labeled for commercial reuse, which means you can legally use them without paying fees. Just be sure to verify that commercial reuse is actually allowed , and give credit to the original source if the owner requires it.

The cherry on top of the built-in Google Image Search is the ability to filter results by their dominant color. Ive tested a lot of website builders and I havent seen this feature on any other platform. Its extremely helpful when searching for images to match your designs color scheme.

The Google Name Sets High Expectations Does Google Sites Meet Them

You would think a website builder with the Google name behind it would be powerful, intuitive, and user friendly, right? I hadnt heard of Google Sites before Website Planet asked me to review it, but I was excited to give it a try since I love Google Docs and other Google products.

Did it meet my expectations? Sort of.

If youre looking for a simple, free way to present information online and dont need fancy features, it can be a useful tool. However, if you want to build a fully functioning website to establish your businesss online presence, Google Sites wont cut it. Youll get far more templates, design options, and freedom with Squarespace or another more robust website builder.

Save up to 30 % on your Squarespace plan today!

Plus get a free domain for one year!

The user experience of Google Sites is on par with any other Google product. Its a clean and simple interface that doesnt get too complicated, and it seamlessly connects to every other Google product, like Google Analytics and AdSense a must for nearly every website these days.

But Google Sites hits its limitations very quickly. It started out as a tool for creating project wikis , internal company sites, and other internal projects. And while the companys improved it in recent updates, it still doesnt go much further than the original.

In this review, Ill highlight elements that demonstrate exactly how you can use Google Sites effectively and where it falls short.

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Lack Of Customer Service

Google Domains interface & product is focused on eliminating any possible need for customer support. That said stuff happens. And when stuff happens, you need support.

Ive only had to use Google Domains support a few times, however, their support options are not best in the industry. They are plainly just fine. Their contact forms are buried and their phone support options are limited to US business hours. They do offer off-hours chat , email, and call-backs.

Support isnt necessarily a con but its not really a reason to choose Google Domains.

Automatic Verification With Other Google Products

If you run a website, youll almost certainly need to verify your website with some Google products.

The most popular scenario is , but there are also other properties like Google App Engine, Cloud Run, etc.

When you register your domain with Google Domains, though, Google can automatically verify your domain with those properties, which saves you some time and effort.

Also Check: Can You Use A Godaddy Domain With Wix

Is Integration With The Google Suite Enough To Add A Wow Factor

I was hoping that Google Sites would have a few innovative features that would really impress me, but unfortunately, the main attraction is its seamless connection with all other Google products. Noticeably missing are many standard website builder features, like SEO tools or the ability to add third-party apps, which often had me thinking, This would be a great tool if only it had

There are a few really wonderful features, but these alone dont make Google Sites a powerful enough website builder to compete with the major players in this space, like Squarespace or Wix.

Google Hosting Plans List

This is a table of the standard cloud server offers from Google Cloud Compute Engine. The pricing model is monthly. There are more plans to choose from. These are mostly used for website hosting at Google.

You should browse through Googles GCP pages to find all their hosting plans. Youll get more details for server resources and pricing.

And these are the Copahost VPS plans.

If the predefined plans at Copahost dont meet your needs, you can customize a plan. Youll get to choose specifically how much RAM, Disk Space, vCPUs, and IPs your server will have.

Recommended Reading: How To Make My Domain Visible On Google

You Can Still Find Cheaper Alternatives

While Google Domains transparent pricing is quite competitive, you can still find cheaper alternatives for some domain extensions. This really does depend on the extension, though. For example, Google Domains is one of the most affordable options for .org domains, but pretty pricey for .io domains.

Lets look at some examples so you can see how Google Domains stacks up:

.com domains:

• Namecheap $32.88
• GoDaddy $59.99
• Domain.com $49.99

Are Google Domains Used For Website Hosting

Not directly. Google Domains is only a domain registrar. You can buy a from any other provider. The pricing for .com domains at Google Domains is $12 per year. At Copahost, domain registrations are cheap. If you get a .com domain at Copahost, the pricing is $9 per year. You can also get it for free under certain conditions.

You dont have to use Google Domains to use their website hosting .

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Less Affordable Compared To Other Registrars

Even with access to the additional features, Google Domains pricing is higher than what its competition offers.

The cost of a .com domain extension at Google Domains is $12/year. The prices of domains with other extensions start at $7/year. Google applies a fixed renewal fee, but theres no discount for long-term registrations.

Whats more, Google Domains doesnt sell web hosting, so you will have to buy it from a third party. In the long run, this will cost more money.

Comparing Googles Cloud Hosting With Copahost

As a comparison, well use Googles and Copahosts cheapest VPS offers.

At Copahost, you can get a VPS with 1GB of RAM, 1 vCPU and 20GB Disk Space for 3,59 per month. As opposed to Googles $24+ per month pricing for their cheapest server. All of Copahosts plans include a basic server management package, whereas Googles plans dont.

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What If Google Already Got Those Links

First, be sure to do everything mentioned above.

Second, you need to disable the primarydomain.com/subfolder and subdomain.primarydomain.com names on your server. There are a couple ways to accomplish this.

You only need to choose one of these options:

• Do you have another already registered domain name that you can use? Change your primary domain name this is the simplest solution as it fixes all links in Google involving the bad names. This makes the unwanted names go away. If you have any coding that uses the old primary domain, you must update it.
• Are you an expert coder? Create redirects or rewrite rules to convert the bad names to the addon domain name. This can be tricky, as you need to be sure the conversion works for all the links found by Google. You can search “site:primarydomain.com” in Google to see all the links they have .
• A robots.txt file will not help at this point.

HostGator Website Transfers

HostGator is committed to making it easy to transfer your site to your new hosting account. We can transfer website files, databases, scripts, and one free domain registration transfer.

What qualifies me for a free transfer?

HostGator provides free transfers for new accounts within 30 days of sign-up, and to newly upgraded accounts. For upgraded accounts it must be an inter-server upgrade to qualify. Please note that downgraded accounts do not qualify for free transfers.

Full cPanel Transfers is the number of cPanel to cPanel transfers that are included.

Google Domains For Seo Reasons

Before looking at the next steps, I have to touch on one bit of SEO mythology. In the SEO world, there are 3 camps on Google products.

The first camp says that Google is inherently untrustworthy. They say you should never use their products because they just spy on you and are out to punish you. Its all about tricking and outsmarting Google.

The second camp says that Google is SEO. They say you should use all their products and do everything they say. Google will always prefer their own products and will reward everyone that uses them. Its all about cooperating and sucking up to Google.

The third camp says that neither of the first two camps relies on evidence or testing. The answer to all things SEO is it depends. Use Google products that suit your business dont use Google products that dont work for you. Either way, focus on testing and doing the right things for your customers.

I have never seen any evidence that Google Domains helps with SEO.

Dont buy into SEO snake oil when you are looking for a domain name registrar. The only tested SEO truth is that the internet is made up of domain names. And you do need a custom domain to build a long-term project around.

The registrar you choose should be based on pricing, convenience, usability, and support.

• are just looking to register a few generic domains for your business
• value simplicity and transparency
• dont need a wide product selection
• dont need a super-competitive price point
• trust Google as a company

Also Check: How To Point A Website To Another Domain

How Much Does Google Domains Charge

The following is the price breakdown for registering a .com domain for a year at Google Domains:

• New domain name registration fee $12/year
• WHOIS protection free

The price will remain the same for the following years should you renew the contract.

Lets compare it to the cost of registering the same domain extension at Hostinger:

• New domain name registration fee $8.99/year
• WHOIS protection $5/year

Hostinger charges $8.99/year for a .com domain name, excluding taxes. It will renew at the regular rate of $11/year. If you want to get the domain privacy protection add-on, the total cost would be $13.99 for the first year.

That said, keep in mind that the prices of domains at our registrar start from as low as $0.99/year, such as .online domain. If youre looking for a domain with an extension other than .com, you can secure one along with WHOIS protection for $5.99/year.

Not As Many Smaller Extensions

Google Domains supports 100+ domain extensions, including all of the popular options. However, other domain registrars support even more.

For example, Namecheap offers 400+ extensions.

Does this difference matter? Not for most people because the majority of people will purchase a mainstream domain extension .

But if youre in the market for something out there like a .vodka domain name, you might need to go outside Google Domains.

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How To Register A Domain Name With Google Domains

Googles got us used to a certain standard when it comes to its tools and services. Most of what it gives us is simple and intuitive, yet functional. Google Domains is kind of that, but not entirely.

First off, Google Domains isnt available worldwide, and probably wont ever be.

To use it, you have to have a billing address in one of these countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States or Vietnam.

The main welcomes you with a neat search field and some additional features. The search will show you whats available in relation to your input, and also let you add more extensions in case the one youre interested in isnt on the main list.

To see all available TLDs, click on the All Endings tab . The list is alphabetical, so it may take you a while to scroll through it all. Still, you can find some gems there.

If theres anything on the list you like, you can add it to the cart, and, when youre done, proceed to checkout.

To complete the purchase, Google Domains will ask for some personal information thats required by ICANN, and, of course, your payment method.

Google Domains will also suggest you enable auto-renewal for your new domain name. If you agree, youll be billed automatically every year.

Google Domains Compared To Other Registrars

Registering your domain name with Google Domains will be beneficial if you use Googles other services. The built-in integrations contribute to the platforms scalability.

Linking a domain to the Google Search Console or other Google services is easier if you purchase it from Google Domains. You wont need to verify its ownership or update any DNS records something youd have to do with a different domain registrar.

However, even with the streamlined integration, Google Domains lags behind other domain registrars in terms of domain availability and ease of use. Below, well compare it to Hostinger.

Hostingers domain registrar services are available in 178 countries. Likewise, Hostinger offers more country-specific top-level domains than Google Domains. Popular extensions like .net and .org domains, as well as new gTLDs, are also available.

Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Domain Name For My Website

Google Sites Is Free Whats The Catch

Google Sites is completely free and comes with your Google account. Every feature and function is available for free on personal accounts . Your Google Site will also include unlimited storage and the ability to add up to five custom URLs to your site. You also wont see any Google ads or branding on the published site.

If theres a catch, its that you get what you pay for. Google Sites is more of a collaboration and presentation tool than a fully functioning website builder. In fact, in some ways, its even more limited than the free versions of more well-known website builders. For example, there are no blogging tools or e-commerce features. And while you could set up a site that looks somewhat like a blog or online store, youll still lack the management features that you get with Squarespace.

Differences Between Google Drive And Google Website Hosting

Google Drive and the Google Cloud Platform are two completely different products. With Google Drive, you can host your personnel files and photos and share them with other people. With GPC you can host websites, run apps, spin up virtual machines, host databases, and more. The main similarity between the two products is that they are both a Google product.

If you get web hosting from Google or Copahost, you can use Nextcloud. Its a self-hosted alternative to Google Drive. Youll be hosting your data and youll get all of Google Drives features on your server.

There are workarounds where you can use Google Drive to host a static website. Its in no way an ideal solution and its not what Google Drive was intended for.

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