Your Google Sites with "www" and Naked Domain for better SEO

Adding a custom domain for google sites and making both www and naked domain(without www) is one of tedious but important tasks.  This blog guides you to migrate your Google Sites from "www" to the sleek, powerful naked domain, boosting discoverability and user experience.

1. Demystifying the "www" vs. Naked Domain Duality

Imagine two identical houses, one with a fancy gate (www) and one without. Both lead to the same home (your website), but the house with the gate creates an extra step and might confuse visitors. Similarly, the "www" prefix, while historically essential, adds unnecessary complexity to your website's address.

Naked domain: Your domain name in its purest form, like "[invalid URL removed]".

www domain: The same domain with the "www" prefix, like "www.yourwebsite.com".

SEO advantage of naked domain: Search engines often treat "www" and naked versions as separate websites. By consolidating to the naked domain, you concentrate link and search engine signals, boosting your website's ranking potential.

2. Add Custom Domain on New Google Sites

Here's how to add a custom domain to your new Google Sites:

1. Open your Google Sites.

2. Click the Gear icon(Settings) on the top menu bar.

3. Under "Custom Domains", click "Add".

4. Enter your domain name (it requires "www").

5. Click "verify your ownership" 

6. It will go to Google Search Console, enter domain name without www.

7. It will show the popup to verify domain ownership via DNS record. Select record type "CNAME" and enter DNS records on your domain's dns manager.

8. Click "Verify" upon which a DNS record is added.

Now your google site is added with a custom domain starting with www. 

Pro Tip: Propagating DNS changes can take up to 48 hours. Be patient!

3. Setup Naked Domain

Now it's time to add A record for naked domains. 

There are two cases:

1. If your Google Sites has been created under Google Workspace and the owner is google workspace domain user. 

Enter A & AAAA record. Follow this google's official guide for details: https://support.google.com/a/answer/2579934

Pro Tip: Propagating DNS changes can take up to 72 hours. Be patient!

2. If your Google Sites has been created under personal gmail and the owner is a personal gmail user, then use domain provider's forwarding option on DNS manager. Make the naked domain forward to www domain. That way when a visitor enters a domain without www it's forwarded to www domain. 

Pro Tip: Propagating DNS changes can take up to 48 hours. Be patient!

4. SEO Optimization and Beyond

With your naked domain shining bright, it's time to optimize for SEO greatness:

• Update internal links: Ensure all website links point to the naked domain version.

• Submit updated sitemaps: Inform search engines about your new domain structure through updated sitemaps.

• Monitor backlinks: Keep track of backlinks and redirect any pointing to the "www" version.

• Embrace structured data: Implement structured data to enhance search engine understanding of your content.

By following these steps, you've successfully migrated your Google Sites to the powerful naked domain, unlocking SEO potential and a more streamlined user experience. Remember, SEO is a continuous journey, so keep optimizing and enjoy the traffic boost!

Need help?

For professional pages on Google Sites or for any other issues, you can contact us directly or post your question on our websites or visit our Facebook page.