Explainer: Google Sites and Hosting

If you've ever thought about building a website, you know that web hosting is typically a required and recurring cost. Platforms like WordPress and other traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) require you to purchase hosting separately to store your website files.

Google Sites completely bypasses this requirement. It offers a unique, all-inclusive solution where the hosting is built-in, free, and virtually unlimited. This difference stems from its core design and its function within the larger Google ecosystem.

Here is a breakdown of why Google Sites requires no separate hosting, in contrast to competitors like self-hosted WordPress and Wix.

• It's a Google Product: Google Sites is an official, free productivity app, much like Google Docs, Sheets, or Gmail. Because Google already has massive global infrastructure for all its services, hosting a simple, static website is a negligible additional cost that it bundles for free.

• Minimal Storage Requirement: Google Sites are designed to be relatively lightweight and static. Unlike platforms that allow for extensive, complex databases and custom code, Google Sites is limited to basic layouts and content. This minimal footprint makes them incredibly easy and cheap for Google to store and serve.

• Stored on Google Drive Infrastructure: Your Google Site is essentially a file stored within the Google Drive infrastructure (or Google Workspace). By linking the site to its own cloud storage system, Google leverages existing resources, eliminating the need to set up a new, dedicated hosting server for each user.

• Automatic Maintenance and Security: With the hosting handled by Google, you never have to worry about server updates, security patches, or managing bandwidth. All this maintenance is performed automatically by Google, again, at no direct cost to the user.

• Self-Hosted CMS: WordPress is a flexible software package. You, the user, are responsible for finding a physical server (hosting) to install that software and store its files.

• Separate Components: A WordPress site is made up of three main parts, and you pay for two of them:

  1. WordPress Software: Free.

  2. Web Hosting: A paid server rental (e.g., Bluehost, SiteGround) to keep your files and database.

  3. Domain Name: A separate paid registration (e.g., https://www.google.com/search?q=yoursite.com).

• Server Processing Power: WordPress uses databases and programming languages (like PHP) to dynamically generate pages every time a visitor loads the site. This complexity requires a dedicated, always-on web server with enough processing power, which is what you pay a hosting company for.

• Hosting is Included in the Price: When you pay for a premium Wix plan, a portion of that fee covers the cost of hosting your site on Wix's private cloud infrastructure. You don't have to purchase a separate hosting plan.

• Value for Money: Wix's hosting is included to support its robust, feature-rich editor, extensive template library, App Market, and dedicated e-commerce tools—all of which require more powerful, specialized hosting than a simple Google Site.

• Choose Google Sites if: You need a dead-simple, free, and fast website for a portfolio, a temporary project, or a basic internal company site. Your hosting is free, but your customisation and feature options are limited.

• Choose WordPress or a Paid Website Builder if: You need a professional blog, a custom e-commerce store, a complex business site, or full control over your code. You will need to pay for hosting, but you gain unparalleled power and flexibility