How to create a FREE Google website
Getting Started
1. Go to http://sites.google.com.
2. If you already have a Google account (i.e. a Gmail email account) sign in using your Google account. If you do not have a Google account, click ¡§sign up for sites¡¨ and create an account. This account will also be your Gmail email address.
3. Once you are logged in, click ¡§create new site.¡¨
Create a New Site
1. Decide if you want to use a template. A template gives you a background color, theme, font, etc. for you to use. You can personalize it later. Using a template makes creating your site much easier. Do NOT choose the ¡§NGO¡¨ template ¡V it looks great but is really hard to edit. The ¡§charity¡¨ template is a better option.
2. After you choose your template, enter the name of your website. This is very important! Choose something short and clear. It will be used as the website address.
3. Look at the line below where you typed the website address ¡V this is how people will access your website. Are you happy with this website address? If not, modify it now.
4. If you are not using a template, you can select one of the themes. Skip this step if you are using a template.
5. Click ¡§more options¡¨ and type in a description of your website. Then select whether or not you want everyone in the world to be able to access your site or only people you select.
6. Click the ¡§create site¡¨ button at the bottom of the page.
7. Your website has been created!
Personalize your Home Page
1. You are probably going to want to personalize your page by changing the color, adding your organization¡¦s logo, etc.
2. At the top right of the page, click on ¡§more options¡¨ and then ¡§manage site.¡¨
3. Look at the left hand menu. Go to ¡§colors and fonts.¡¨ You will see your website in the window, and at the top is a menu called ¡§entire page.¡¨ Scroll down the items on the menu and stop at anything you want to change. Change the color, upload a logo, etc. Once you are finished, click ¡§save changes¡¨ at the bottom of the page.
4. You can select a pre-created color/style theme. Under ¡§more options¡¨ and ¡§manage site,¡¨ go to ¡§themes¡¨ and select a theme. At the top of the screen, click ¡§preview.¡¨ If you like how it looks, click ¡§save changes.¡¨
Creating and Modifying Pages
Create
1. At the top right of the homepage, click ¡§create page.¡¨
2. Select the type of page you would like to create. Most likely you want to create a ¡§webpage.¡¨
3. Type in the name of the page. This is what will show on the website (i.e. www.test.com/introduction).
4. If this is the main page, select ¡§home,¡¨ and if it¡¦s a subpage, then select ¡§put page under home.¡¨ If you want to save the page under a different heading, select ¡§choose a different location¡¨ and then select where you would like the page to appear.
5. Click ¡§create page.¡¨
6. Add text to the page. When you are finished, click the ¡§save¡¨ button in the top right corner.
Edit
1. Go to the page you want to edit.
2. At the top right of the page, click ¡§edit.¡¨
3. To change text, edit as you normally would using MS Word.
4. To remove or change the placement of a photo, widget, etc., click on the item and a toolbar will appear. Then delete, move, re-size, etc. the item using the toolbar.
5. Find the menu bar near the top of the page. It has options for ¡§insert,¡¨ ¡§format,¡¨ ¡§table,¡¨ and ¡§layout,¡¨ as well as options underneath to easily change font, add links, bulleted lists, etc.
6. When you are finished, click ¡§save¡¨ in the top right corner.
Format
Go to a page on your website. Select ¡§edit.¡¨
Photo
1. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the image inserted.
2. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and then ¡§image.¡¨
3. Next to ¡§upload an image,¡¨ and click ¡§browse.¡¨ Find the photo on your hard drive that you want to add, select it, and click ¡§ok.¡¨
4. The image will appear on the page. Click on the image and a menu will appear.
5. Select L, R, or C to align it to the left, right, or center. Chose S, M, or L to have a small, medium, or large photo.
Photo album
1. Go to picasaweb.google.com. Sign in using your Google account. In the top middle of the screen, click on ¡§upload.¡¨ Then select ¡§create a new album.¡¨ Add an album title, date, description, and location, and click ¡§continue.¡¨ Then select all the photos you want to upload and when you are finished, click ¡§start upload.¡¨ Large photos will take a long time to upload. Try shrinking down the size of your photos before uploading them. This can easily be done using a program called Irfanview (www.irfanview.com) which is free to download. Once your album is uploaded, copy the website address.
2. Go back to your Google website and open the page where you want to insert the photo album.
3. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the photo album inserted.
4. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and then ¡§PicasaWeb Slideshow.¡¨ Then enter the website address of the album, select how big you want the slideshow to appear, add a title, and press ¡§save.¡¨
Video
1. Go to www.youtube.com or video.google.com and follow the directions to upload a video. Copy the website address for the video.
2. Go back to your Google website and open the page where you want to insert the video.
3. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the video inserted.
4. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and video. Select either YouTube or Google Video. Then enter the website address of the video, add a title, and press ¡§save.¡¨
Gadgets
1. Google has a number of tools that you can insert into your website including Twitter feeds, currency converters, news headlines, weather reports, Google calendars, language translators, etc.
2. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the gadget inserted.
3. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and then ¡§more gadgets.¡¨ Browse the gadgets and select one to insert. Follow the directions on the screen to insert the gadget.
Maps
1. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the map inserted.
2. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and then ¡§map.¡¨
3. At the top of the screen, type in the address you want to show on the map. Once it is selected, click ¡§select.¡¨
Table
1. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want the table inserted.
2. Select ¡§table,¡¨ then ¡§insert table¡¨ and then click on the square which has the number of rows and columns you would like. Then enter table text.
3. Columns and rows can be inserted and removed by selecting options under the ¡§table¡¨ menu.
Text box
1. You may wish to insert a text box within a page.
2. To do this, go to ¡§insert¡¨ and ¡§text box.¡¨
3. Add a title, select a width, add text box text, and then click ¡§save¡¨ and the text box will appear on the page. Click on the text box for a menu that will allow you to modify or remove the text box.
Show new updates
1. On the front page of your site you may wish to have a list of ¡§news.¡¨
2. Put your cursor on the page exactly where you want a list of news items to appear.
3. Go to ¡§insert¡¨ and ¡§recent list items.¡¨
4. Fill out the items in the form and click ¡§save.¡¨
Links
1. To add a link to a website, type in the text you want to appear with the link. Highlight the text and click the ¡§link¡¨ icon on the top menu (with the other formatting options).
2. On the left side of the menu, select ¡§web address,¡¨ then type in the website address, and click ¡§ok.¡¨
Delete
1. Go the page you want to delete.
2. On the top right of the screen go to ¡§more actions¡¨ and then ¡§delete a page.¡¨
Move
1. Go to the page you want to move.
2. On the top right of the screen go to ¡§more actions¡¨ and then ¡§move a page.¡¨
3. On the sitemap, select where you want to move the page.
4. Then select ¡§move.¡¨
Settings
User Settings
1. Find the menu at the top right of the website.
2. Click on ¡§user settings.¡¨
3. Select the language for your website. If you will be creating a website in Arabic or Hebrew, select the box next to ¡§Show right-to-left controls in the editor (for Hebrew and Arabic documents).¡¨
4. Select the time zone where you will primarily be working.
5. Click ¡§save settings.¡¨
My Sites
1. Find the menu at the top right of the website.
2. Click on ¡§my sites.¡¨
3. It will list all the Google websites you have created and will let you know whether or not they are shared with other people.
My Account
1. Find the menu at the top right of the website.
2. Click on ¡§my account.¡¨
3. This is where you can go to change your Google account password and access other Google tools.
Help
1. Find the menu at the top right of the website.
2. Click on ¡§help.¡¨
3. The help section has some excellent resources, including a very helpful ¡§getting started guide.¡¨
Manage
To manage your website, go to ¡§more actions¡¨ and ¡§manage site.¡¨ Browse through all the menu items to familiarize yourself with them.
Domain Names
1. Your website address will be something like this: http://sites.google.com/sites/test
2. You may want to change this to your own personalized URL (i.e. www.test.com).
3. To do this, you first need to buy the domain name (website address). There are many different websites where you can buy domain names. One such website is www.godaddy.com. Go to this website and on the front page, under ¡§start your domain search here¡¨ enter what you would like to name your website (i.e. nationalcampaign) and then select the extension you would like to use (.org). Do NOT add www. Before the domain name. Click ¡§enter¡¨ and the website will list all possible domain names available that are similar to what you are looking for. Select a domain name, and then purchase it online. Ask the domain name company to change the ¡§CNAME¡¨ value/alias to your new website address, and ask them to set the CNAME destination to ¡§ghs.google.com¡¨
4. Go to your Google website. Go to ¡§more actions¡¨ and ¡§manage site.¡¨ Click on ¡§web address.¡¨ Enter your URL and click ¡§add.¡¨
5. It often takes up to 24 hours for your new website address to be activated.
6. More detailed directions are available here: http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99448
Tracking Website Traffic
1. Set up Google Analytics to see how many people are visiting your website, what pages they are visiting, etc.
2. Go to http://analytics.google.com and set up an account. Sign in and go to ¡§add website profile¡¨ at the bottom left of the page. Select ¡§add a profile for a new domain¡¨ and enter your website address. Select ¡§finish.¡¨
3. A tracking code will be displayed.
4. Copy the tracking code.
5. Go to your Google website. Go to ¡§more options¡¨ and ¡§manage site.¡¨ Under site settings, go to ¡§general.¡¨
6. Scroll down to ¡§statistics.¡¨ Select ¡§enable Google analytics for this site¡¨ and enter the tracking ID.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select ¡§save changes.¡¨
8. To regularly check the statistics for your website, go to http://analytics.google.com and then ¡§access analytics.¡¨ Click on ¡§view report¡¨ to see the statistics for your site.
Additional Resources
„h Why use Google sites (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_KnC2EIS5w&feature=PlayList&p=E0EF25072C669FB4&index=1
„h Google sites overview (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD-4FRTzxkI
„h Tutorial (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1B_q_EiVHI
„h Help (text): http://sites.google.com/support/?hl=en
