How Do I Use a Custom Domain With Google Sites?

Yes: open your new Google Sites site's Settings, click Custom domains, and follow the setup flow, which verifies you own the domain through Google Search Console before it connects. The whole process runs inside Sites and Search Console — no separate purchase is required if you already own a domain. This guide covers the exact steps, the domain limits Google states, the "www" requirement that trips people up, and how to read the specific error messages Google's own help page documents.

How do I connect a custom domain to a new Google Site?

Google's help center gives the steps directly:

1. In your site, click Settings.
2. Click Custom domains.
3. Click Start setup and enter your domain.
4. If prompted, verify that you own the domain.
5. Click Next and follow the instructions for your domain registrar.
6. Click Done.

(Google Sites Help, "Use a custom domain for your site", checked September 2026)

Google states plainly that "only the owner of a site can connect it to a domain" — a collaborator with edit access on the site can't add a domain unless they're also the owner. The instructions in step 5 depend on your registrar, since Google is walking you through DNS changes on a system it doesn't control.

How does domain verification work?

Verification runs through Google Search Console, not through Sites itself. You add a TXT record to your domain's DNS settings, matching the value Search Console gives you, so Google can confirm you control the domain before letting a Sites project claim it. Google's guidance for this step directs you to "follow the instructions for 'Any DNS Provider'" when adding that TXT record — the process is registrar-agnostic by design, since Search Console doesn't need you to use a specific host. Do this verification step before you expect the domain connection to complete; a site can't finish connecting to a domain it hasn't confirmed you own.

What DNS records does Google Sites need, and how long does it take?

Beyond the verification TXT record, connecting the domain itself needs a DNS entry pointing traffic at Google's Sites infrastructure — Google's help page specifically calls out a CNAME entry in its troubleshooting section (see below). Once your DNS is updated, Google states plainly: "It may take up to 48 hours for changes to your domain to become visible on the Internet." That's a real range, not a worst case to ignore — if the domain isn't resolving after a few minutes, that's expected, not necessarily a sign something's wrong.

There's also a rate limit worth knowing before you experiment: Google states "there is a limit of 20 mappings made per week for your URL." If you're testing domain connections repeatedly — adding, removing, and re-adding the same or different domains — you can hit that ceiling and have to wait out the week.

How many custom domains can one Google Site have?

Google's help page states you can "connect up to five custom domains to one site."

Does Google Sites support a bare (root) domain, or do I need "www"?

This is the specific limitation worth knowing before you plan your domain setup: Google's error-message documentation states, "Your URL must include a subdomain, like 'www'" — meaning the straightforward, self-serve Google Sites custom-domain flow described above expects a domain with a subdomain such as www.yourdomain.com, not a bare yourdomain.com on its own.

Separately, Google Workspace documents a bare ("naked") domain setup for Sites managed through a Workspace admin console — a different, admin-level flow, not the individual Sites Settings panel covered above. That guidance is explicit about a prerequisite: "For your naked domain address to work, you must already host your Google Site at www.example.com," and it adds a real constraint if your site needs HTTPS: "Address mapping is supported only by HTTP and not HTTPS" for that admin-console naked-domain redirect (Google Workspace Admin Help, "Set up the naked domain address for your site", checked September 2026). If your site needs to run on HTTPS — and most sites should — that particular naked-domain redirect isn't a fit; plan around www.yourdomain.com as your primary address instead, and set up a bare-domain redirect through your DNS provider or registrar if they offer one, rather than through this specific Google feature.

What do Google's own error messages mean?

Google's help page documents these specific messages and fixes:

(Google Sites Help, "Use a custom domain for your site," checked September 2026)

What should I check before I start?

• Confirm you're the site owner, not just an editor — only the owner can add a domain.
• Have registrar access ready. You'll need to add DNS records at whatever service manages your domain's DNS, so know your registrar login before you start.
• Plan on "www," not a bare domain, unless you're specifically working through the separate Workspace admin-console flow above and have read its HTTPS limitation.
• Budget up to 48 hours after your DNS changes before troubleshooting further — an "Invalid DNS" message right after you save a record is often just propagation delay, not a real error.
• Don't burn your weekly mapping limit testing and retesting the same domain; Google caps this at 20 mappings per week per URL.

What if it still won't connect?

Re-check the exact DNS record type and value Google's setup flow showed you — a CNAME with an extra character, a missing verification TXT record, or a record added at the wrong subdomain are the most common causes behind an "Invalid DNS" message that doesn't clear after 48 hours. If the address is already mapped to another Google service, Google's fix is to delete that existing mapping first; if the mapping isn't yours to delete, use a different subdomain.

If you're moving off Google Sites entirely rather than just adding a domain to one, that's a different, larger project. Check what Google Sites actually lets you export first — our export capability matrix covers Google Sites. Keep a copy of the domain's current DNS records until the new site is verified working, and read redirects when changing website builders before you point the domain elsewhere.

Where does Figment fit here?

Figment doesn't compete with Google Sites directly — Google Sites is a standalone, all-in-one site builder, while Figment publishes a website from a Figma design file through a plugin. If you're moving a hand-built Google Site to a Figma-designed one, the domain steps above still apply on the new side: connect the same domain to wherever the new site is hosted once it's ready, verify it resolves, and only then remove the old connection in Google Sites. Figment's own domain setup is a separate flow from the one documented here, since it isn't a Google product.