Connecting your Squarespace domain to a Google Sites site

If you purchased a domain from Squarespace, you can link it to your Google Sites site

Last updated February 10, 2025

You can connect a Squarespace domain to a published site on Google Sites by adding a new CNAME record to your DNS settings. You may also find Google’s documentation helpful as you work on the connection.

Before you begin

  • To prevent error messages during the connection process, ensure your Squarespace domain is verified by Google Search Console. For directions on verifying ownership of your domain, visit Google's documentation.
  • After you connect your domain to Google Sites, you must leave it registered with Squarespace to keep it connected to your Google Sites site.
  • To transfer a domain to Google Sites, visit Transferring a domain away from Squarespace.

Step 1 - Start the connection

In Google Sites

Log into your Google Sites account dashboard with your username and password. For help with logging in, visit Google's help article.

To connect your domain:

  1. Click your website.
  2. Click the gear icon in the top header to open Settings.
  3. In the Settings window, click Custom domains.
  4. Click Start setup.
  5. Enter your domain in the yourdomain.com text field, and click Next.
  6. The Connect to a third-party domain registrar window will open with the records to add to your DNS settings in Squarespace. Keep this window open for your reference.

In Google Workspace

If you signed up for Google Sites through Google Workspace, you'll need to connect your domain via the Google Workspace admin console:

  1. Log into your Google Workspace admin console.
  2. Follow Step 2 in Google's Documentation.

Step 2 - Log into Squarespace to add a CNAME record and forwarding rule

In this step, you're adding a CNAME record and a forwarding rule to your domain's DNS settings to forward your root domain or subdomain to your Google Sites site.

Tip

A root domain is the part of your site’s URL that comes after the “www”, and it includes the top-level domain (TLD), like ".com". For example, yourdomain.com is a root domain. A subdomain is an extension of the root domain name that forwards to your site, like blog.yoursite.com.

In a new browser tab, log into your Squarespace account.

Adding the CNAME record

To add a CNAME record:

  1. Open your domains dashboard.
  2. Click the domain name. If you have multiple Squarespace domains, you'll manage their DNS records separately.
  3. Click DNS.
  4. Click the red trash can next to Squarespace Defaults.
  5. In the pop-up window, click Delete.
  6. Scroll down to Custom Records and click Add to create the following CNAME record:
    • Type: Select CNAME from the dropdown menu
    • Host: www
    • Data: paste ghs.googlehosted.com
    • Priority: leave at the default setting
  7. Click Save to create the CNAME.

Adding the domain forwarding rule

Adding the CNAME record per the instructions above points the "www" version of your domain to Google Sites. If you want your root domain to point to your Google Sites as well, you'll need to add a domain forwarding rule:

  1. Open your domains dashboard
  2. Click the domain name.
  3. Click Website.
  4. Scroll down to Domain Forwarding Rules, and click Add rule.
  5. In the Forward from field, enter @.
  6. Enter the "www" version" of your URL of your domain in the Forward to field. For example, if your root domain is yourdomain.com, enter www.yourdomain.com.
  7. Under Advanced settings, select if this move will be a Temporary Redirect (302) or a Permanent Redirect (301).
  8. Under Forwarding over SSL, it's recommended to keep SSL On selected. 
  9. Under Path forwarding, select Maintain paths to maintain the URL paths from your original domain. Select Remove paths to have all URLs forward to the new address.
  10. Click Save to complete the process.

Step 3 - Complete the connection in Google Sites

From the browser tab with your Google Sites settings: 

  1. Go to the Connect to a third-party domain registrar window, and click Done.

Now that you've entered the records into your DNS settings, it can take 24 to 72 hours for the connection to start working properly. While you wait, you can watch the connection's progress from your Google Sites dashboard:

  1. Log into the Google Sites dashboard and click your website.
  2. Click the gear icon in the top header to open Settings.
  3. In the Settings window, click Custom domains.
  4. Click Connect domains. When the domain is correctly linked, it will appear under Connected domains

Keep in mind, if you signed up for Google Sites through Google Workspace, you may need to access Google Sites settings from within your Google Workspace admin console.

Getting more help

If you're still having trouble after 72 hours, where to get help depends the the issue.

Contact us for help if:

  • There are error messages in your Squarespace domain’s DNS settings.

Contact Google for help if:

  • There are error messages in your Google Sites dashboard.
  • When you visit your domain, you see a prompt to log in or a page that says You do not have access to Sites. This may be because of a publishing or privacy setting in Google Sites.
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Connecting your Squarespace domain to a Google Sites site