You want a site. You don't want to pay for it.
That’s the dream, right? Everyone tells you that if you want to rank on the first page of Google or end up in that coveted Google Discover feed—the one that drives thousands of clicks while people are drinking their morning coffee—you need to shell out $200 a year for hosting and a domain. Honestly, that's not strictly true. You can make a free website today and actually see it move the needle. But here is the catch: most people do it completely wrong and end up with a digital ghost town that Google won't touch with a ten-foot pole.
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If you’re expecting to just click "publish" on a generic subdomain and see the traffic roll in, you're going to be disappointed. Google doesn't hate free sites, but it does hate low-effort junk.
Why most free sites never see the light of day
Google’s Helpful Content Update and subsequent core updates have made one thing very clear. They want "E-E-A-T"—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. When you use a free builder like Wix, Weebly, or GitHub Pages, you're starting behind the 8-ball because your URL looks like yourname.wixsite.com.
It looks temporary. It feels cheap.
But wait. There's a way around this.
Google Discover is a different beast entirely. It’s not about what people are searching for; it’s about what they’re interested in. To get there, you need high-quality visuals and a "hooky" topic. If you're using a free service that plasters giant, ugly banner ads over your header, Google Discover will likely ignore you. The key is choosing a platform that stays out of the way.
The platforms that actually work for free
Don't just pick the first result on Google.
If you're tech-savvy, GitHub Pages is a goldmine. It's free. It’s fast. Since it's hosted on GitHub's infrastructure, the uptime is incredible. You'll need to learn a little bit about Jekyll or just upload basic HTML/CSS, but the "cleanliness" of the code is something Google’s crawlers love.
Google Sites is another underdog. It’s basic. Kinda ugly if you don't know how to design. But guess what? It’s a Google product. Integration with Search Console is seamless. It’s not a "cheat code" for ranking, but the indexing is usually lightning-fast.
For the bloggers, Substack or Medium are the heavy hitters. Technically, they aren't "your" website in the traditional sense, but if the goal is to make a free website that people actually read, these platforms have built-in authority that a brand-new .com won't have for months.
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Making Google Discover notice you without spending a dime
Discover is the holy grail. One minute you have zero visitors, the next you have 5,000 people on your site because a Google algorithm decided your article about "The best way to fix a leaky faucet with a rubber band" was interesting to DIY enthusiasts.
To get there on a free site, you need a "hero image" that is at least 1200 pixels wide. This is a hard requirement. If your free website builder compresses your images until they look like a blurry mess from 2004, you’re out of the running.
- Use Canva (the free version) to create a high-res 1200px wide image.
- Ensure your "Open Graph" tags are set. This is the data that tells social media and Google what your title and image are.
- Write about "entities." Google doesn't just look for keywords anymore. It looks for relationships between things. If you're writing about making coffee, mention the specific beans (Arabica), the temperature (195 degrees), and the brand of the grinder.
Nuance matters. If you're just rehashing what's already on Wikipedia, you're wasting your time. Write something spicy. Disagree with a popular opinion. Google Discover loves "timely" and "unique."
The "Subdomain" trap and how to escape it
Let's talk about the URL. my-cool-blog.wordpress.com is fine for a hobby, but it’s a struggle for SEO.
Why? Because you don't own the "root" domain. You're basically a tenant in someone else’s apartment. If you really want to rank, try to find a way to get a custom domain eventually. However, if you're stuck with the free one, focus heavily on backlinks.
Getting a high-authority site to link to your free subdomain tells Google, "Hey, this isn't just spam; someone important thinks this content is legit." You can do this by answering queries on Connectively (formerly HARO) or participating in niche forums like Reddit—but don't spam. Just be helpful.
Technical SEO for people who hate technical SEO
Even on a free builder, you have some control.
First, look at your Page Speed. Free builders are notorious for being bloated with scripts that slow everything down. If your site takes five seconds to load on a mobile phone, Google will bury you. Use Google's PageSpeed Insights. It’s free. It’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong. Usually, it's the images. Shrink them. Use a tool like TinyPNG before you upload anything.
Next, the Heading Structure.
Don't just bold your text and call it a day. Use the H2 and H3 tags.
It helps the "spiders" understand the hierarchy of your info. If your main topic is how to make a free website, that should be your H1 (the title). Your sub-points, like "Choosing a Platform" or "Writing Content," should be H2s.
It sounds boring. It is boring. But it’s how the internet works.
Content is still the king (as much as I hate that cliché)
You can have the fastest, prettiest free website in the world, but if your writing is robotic, no one will stay.
Write like you speak. Use short sentences for impact.
Like this.
Then, follow up with a longer, more explanatory sentence that provides the "meat" of the argument and gives the reader a reason to keep scrolling down the page. Mix it up. Google tracks "dwell time"—how long someone stays on your site. If they bounce back to the search results in three seconds, Google assumes your site sucks.
Give them a reason to stay. Tell a story. Share a mistake you made. People love a good "I messed up so you don't have to" narrative.
Real-world constraints of the "Free" model
Let's be real for a second. There are limits.
Most free website builders won't let you edit the robots.txt file or your sitemap. This is a bummer for advanced SEO. You also won't have much storage space. If you're trying to host a high-def video gallery for free, you're going to hit a wall fast.
The strategy here is to outsource the heavy lifting.
- Host your videos on YouTube and embed them.
- Host your big files on Google Drive or Dropbox and link to them.
- Keep your actual website "light."
This keeps your free site fast and responsive, which keeps Google happy.
Actionable steps to launch today
Stop overthinking. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.
- Pick your platform based on your skill. If you can't code, go with Google Sites or Wix. If you can, go with GitHub Pages.
- Claim your name. Even if you don't use it yet, grab the subdomain you want before someone else does.
- Set up Google Search Console immediately. You need to "tell" Google your site exists. Don't wait for them to find you. Manually submit your URL for indexing.
- Focus on a "Niche" topic. Don't try to outrank CNN for "World News." Try to rank for "Best vegan cupcakes in North Omaha." Be specific. Specificity wins in the free world.
- Update often. A free site that hasn't been touched in six months looks like abandoned property. Post something once a week. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, just helpful.
Ranking a site you didn't pay for is entirely possible. It just requires more "sweat equity" to make up for the lack of financial investment. Focus on the user, keep the tech clean, and don't try to game the system with weird AI-generated gibberish. Google is getting too smart for that.
Just be a human. That's the best SEO strategy there is.
Your Free Website Checklist
- Platform Selection: Choose GitHub Pages for speed, Google Sites for ease, or Substack for built-in audience.
- Image Optimization: Use 1200px+ images for Discover, but run them through a compressor like TinyPNG first to maintain speed.
- Indexing: Create a Google Search Console account and manually "Request Indexing" for every new page you publish.
- The "Rule of One": Focus on answering one specific question per page to increase your chances of appearing in "People Also Ask" boxes.
- Internal Linking: On every new page you write, link back to at least two other pages on your site to keep users (and crawlers) moving through your content.
You’ve got the tools. Now go build it.