How to Use Google Sites to Build a Company Intranet

The Disorganized Knowledge Problem

You are the HR manager for a growing company of 100 people. When a new employee joins, they need access to the employee handbook, the holiday schedule, the IT support request form, and a directory of everyone’s contact information.

If you handle this poorly, you will email a zip file containing a dozen different PDFs and Google Docs to the new hire. When the holiday schedule changes a month later, you have to email a revised PDF to all 100 employees, causing massive version-control issues and inbox clutter.

To centralize company information, businesses build “intranets”—private, internal websites accessible only to employees. Historically, building an intranet required hiring a web developer and paying for expensive software. Today, you already have a powerful, free intranet builder hidden inside your Google Workspace account: Google Sites. It is a drag-and-drop website builder that seamlessly integrates with your existing Google Drive, allowing you to build a secure, professional company portal in one afternoon without writing a single line of code.

Creating Your First Site

Google Sites is completely free and requires zero web hosting setup.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to sites.google.com.
2. At the top of the screen, click the Blank button (or choose a pre-made template like “Intranet” or “Team”).
3. You will be dropped into the visual editor. Click the large text at the top of the page and name it “Company Hub.”

Building with Drag and Drop

The right side of your screen contains the Insert panel. This is your toolbox.

Google Sites does not use code; it uses “blocks.” If you want to add text, you click the “Text box” button, and a text block appears on your page. You can then drag the edges of the block to resize it or move it around the grid.

The true power of Google Sites is its native integration with your Google Workspace data. Scroll down the Insert panel, and you will see buttons for Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Forms.

• The IT Form: Click the “Forms” button, select your IT Support Google Form, and it will embed directly into the webpage. Employees can fill it out without leaving the intranet.
• The Holiday Schedule: Click the “Sheets” button and select your holiday schedule spreadsheet. It will display as a beautiful, readable grid. If you ever update the original spreadsheet in your Google Drive, the website will automatically update instantly. There are no more version control issues.

Adding Navigation (Multiple Pages)

A good intranet needs multiple pages (e.g., HR, IT, Sales).

1. Look at the right panel and click the Pages tab.
2. Click the small Plus (+) button at the bottom to add a new page. Name it “Human Resources.”

Google Sites will automatically generate a sleek navigation menu at the top of your website, linking your homepage to your new HR page. You do not have to manually build menus or configure hyperlinks.

Publishing Securely to Your Team

The most critical part of an intranet is security. You do not want the public internet to see your employee handbook.

1. Click the blue Publish button in the top right corner.
2. In the “Who can view my site” section, click Manage.
3. Under the “Published site” dropdown, ensure it is set to your specific Google Workspace organization (e.g., “Only people at [Your Company Name] can find and open”). Do not set this to Public.
4. Create a custom web address (like sites.google.com/yourcompany/hub) and click Publish.

Conclusion

Stop emailing updated PDFs and scattered Google Drive links to your team. By utilizing Google Sites, you can drag and drop your existing documents into a centralized, highly secure internal website, ensuring every employee always has access to the most up-to-date company information.

Related posts

1. How to Track Changes and Add Comments in Microsoft Word
2. How to Compare Two Word Documents and Highlight Differences
3. How to Insert and Format a Bibliography in Microsoft Word