Map a new URL to a site in Google Sites

You and your users need to convert sites in classic Sites to new Sites by January 30, 2023. Any remaining sites will be auto-converted sometime after January 30, 2023. For details, go to Transition from classic Sites to new Sites.

As an administrator, you can map a URL to a site in Google Sites and classic Sites to create a short, easy-to-remember address for your public website. You can create up to 2,000 custom site addresses with your Google Workspace account. 

Considerations when mapping a URL

• Users with trial accounts or accounts with a trial status cannot map a site to a URL.
• In new Sites, address mappings automatically supply domain-validated SSL certificates for secure connections. You can't use other certificates.
• In new Sites, you cannot map a site to a URL that's under a different domain name.
• People can only see the mapped URL if the site is shared with anyone outside of your organization. If the site is shared with specific people or only with your organization, everyone sees the original URL, such as sites.google.com/example.com/yoursitename, instead of the mapped URL. For details, go to Set Google Sites sharing options.
• A sub-domain can only be mapped to a primary domain. A sub-domain cannot be mapped to another sub-domain.

Step 1: Turn on site creation for users

Before you begin: Make sure Sites is turned on for your users. For details, go to Control who uses classic and new Sites in your organization.
 
To turn on site creation for new Sites and classic Sites:

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceSites.
3. Click New SitesSite creation and editing.
4. Select Users can edit sites and check the Allow users to create new sites box.
5. Click Save.
6. Next to New Sites, click the Up arrow  to close the New Sites section.
7. Click Sharing settings - classic SitesSite creation.
8. Select Users at your domain can create sites and click Save.

Changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen more quickly. Learn more

Step 2: Add a custom URL

Requires having the Domain Settings administrator privilege

Before you begin: If you’re mapping a URL to a secondary domain, the owner of the site must use the secondary domain for their email address. If the owner uses a different domain, you need to create an account for the user on the secondary domain and transfer ownership of the site to the new account. The user on the secondary domain must then duplicate the site (to change the site path to the secondary domain) and publish the duplicated site.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceSites.
3. Click Custom URL.
4. Click Add New Sites or Classic Sites depending on where the site is published.
5. Click Continue.
6. Enter the current URL for the site. The format of the URL depends on how the site was created:
   • Created with new Sites—The URL will be sites.google.com/domain/sitename.
   • Created with classic Sites and migrated to new Sites—The URL will be sites.google.com/a/domain/sitename.
   • Created with classic Sites—The URL will be sites.google.com/a/domain/sitename.
7. Click Continue.
8. Select a verified domain.
   Note: If you’re mapping from new Sites, only the domain hosting the site is available.
9. Enter a custom URL for the siteclick Continue.
10. Click Add Custom URL.
11. (Optional) To update the CNAME record on your domain host’s website:
    1. Sign in to your domain host’s website.
    2. Go to the DNS management page.
    3. Find the CNAME settings and for the CNAME value or alias, enter your custom URL.
    4. For the CNAME destination, enter ghs.googlehosted.com.
    5. Save the changes.

Changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen more quickly. Learn more

(Optional) Create a naked domain address

For details, go to Set up the naked domain address for your site.

Troubleshooting errors

Issue	Solution
Missing certificate	Delete and re-create the address mapping to supply the domain-validated SSL certificates.
Invalid DNS	This error could be due to:  The CNAME record wasn’t updated on your domain host’s website. For details, go to step 9 in Add a custom URL (above on this page). Your DNS provider lacks proper support for Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA). If this is the case, you can take one or more of the following actions: Add a CAA record to your domain. Contact your DNS provider to fix the CAA support. Change to a DNS provider that provides proper CAA support. Reconfigure a CAA record if it was explicitly configured to prevent issuance by Let’s Encrypt.
Transfer of ownership to new account does not work	This error could be due to: The fact that the site was created on the primary domain and shows the original domain when trying to add the custom URL.  If so: Make a copy of the site using the new domain. This action allows the owner to map the site using the secondary domain.

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}