Squarespace to Google Sites - How to Connect Your Domain to Google Sites Step by Step

Google Sites needs a live, published site before it will let you attach a custom domain to it, so finish your pages and hit Publish first. Trying to connect a domain to an unpublished or half-built site just adds a variable to troubleshoot later if something doesn't work, so get the site itself in a state you're happy with before moving on to domain settings.

From your published site, open the settings menu and go to Custom domains. This is where Google Sites separates itself from the free `sites.google.com` address — the panel explains plainly that using your own domain means a domain you already own, and that you'll need to verify ownership with your domain provider before it takes effect. There's also a shortcut here to buy a new domain through Google Workspace if you don't already have one, but since the domain already exists on Squarespace, you'll use Connect domain instead.

Clicking Connect domain opens a two-part field — a subdomain prefix like www, and your root domain, for example pmntechfix.nl. The moment you enter it and try to continue, Google shows "This domain is not verified.

Please verify your ownership" with a link straight into that flow. This message is expected at this stage, not an error — no domain passes this screen until you've proven ownership, which happens through a TXT record you add in Squarespace's DNS settings, not anything inside Google Sites itself.

Following the verify-ownership link takes you into Google Search Console's domain verification flow, which generates a TXT record containing a unique token. Copy that token exactly, then add it as a new TXT record in your Squarespace domain's DNS settings — found under Domains > DNS/Advanced in the Squarespace dashboard. Once that record is saved and has propagated, Search Console can confirm you control the domain, which unlocks the rest of the Google Sites connection flow.

With ownership verified, add a CNAME record in Squarespace's DNS settings mapping your www subdomain to ghs.googlehosted.com — this is the record that actually tells browsers where to fetch your Google Site from. For the bare root domain (no www), Google Sites doesn't accept a CNAME the way subdomains do, so the more reliable approach is a 301 redirect from the root to your www address inside Squarespace's domain settings, rather than fighting with apex-record workarounds.

Once the CNAME and any redirect are saved, DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes up to 48 hours depending on your domain's settings and your ISP's caching. If the domain doesn't resolve right away, a DNS lookup tool will show you whether the CNAME has actually taken effect yet rather than leaving you guessing. When it does resolve, visit the domain directly and confirm it loads your Google Site over HTTPS with no certificate warning — Google issues the SSL certificate automatically once the domain mapping is confirmed, but that can lag slightly behind DNS propagation itself.