By Seo Results Pro, 2023
John Mueller from Google reveals surprising insights about Google Sites and SEO. The revelation might not align with many people's assumptions. He shared that leveraging Google Sites for SEO might not be as effective as search engine optimizers hope.
About Google Sites
Google Sites is a free web-building platform available at sites.google.com/new for users logged into their Google account.
This platform allows users to create websites that are hosted under the sites.google.com domain. However, there's an option to use a custom domain name if preferred.
Google Sites Pages Are Not Getting Indexed
The individual posed a query due to their Google Sites pages not appearing in Google's index.
Here's the question that John Mueller vocalized:
Google Sites Pages Are Indexable by Google
John Mueller clarified that Google Sites' URLs are indeed indexable.
Mueller answered:
Google Sites Are Not Ideal For SEO
Delving further into his response, Mueller highlighted some potential limitations of Google Sites in terms of SEO.
He stated:
Subsequently, Mueller recommended the use of a dedicated domain name, explaining the benefits of choosing this over the standard sites.google.com domain.
Google Sites: A Platform Misused by Spammers
Google Sites is often misused by link spammers, employing a method termed “Google Stacking.”
In this technique, spammers create a web of links using Google’s platforms such as Google Sheets and Google Docs, interconnecting them all via Google Sites.
The underlying assumption of Google Stacking is that by leveraging Google subdomains, spammers can gain "authority" and "trust" that they believe is inherently present in these domains, which would then be channeled to their spammy websites through these links.
However, this is a misguided notion.
There's no mechanism in Google that transfers "trust" or "authority" from one website to another simply because of links.
During a recent Office Hours discussion, John Mueller shed some light on the concept of trust:
Even if links are hosted on Google Docs, the idea of a “trust” factor being transferred is a misconception; such a factor is non-existent.
It's somewhat amusing that, despite the widespread use of the “stacking” technique, a representative from Google publicly states that Google Sites are “not ideal for SEO purposes,” suggesting that those serious about SEO should consider other platforms.