Now have custom URL (in your domain) for your site created using Google Sites

Now Google Apps domain administrators can map public sites hosted on Google Sites to their own domains. Sites can be mapped individually to a specific URL, like http://www.example.com, and as a group under a specific URL, like http://sites.example.com/[name of site].

So in your company if you have a site each for HR, Marketing, etc you can now have URLs like:

http://hr.example.com
http://marketing.example.com

and these URL will be diverted to site created using Google Sites. However to do this you will need admin access. So only your domains admin can set these URLs from admin control panel.

Read more on Google blog
Google Sites Blog: Google Sites on your domain

Google Page Creator is no longer accepting new sign-ups - What happens to Google Apps Page creator?

Here is what Google says about this:

We are no longer accepting new sign-ups for Page Creator because we have shifted our focus to developing Google Sites, which offers many of the capabilities of Page Creator along with new features like site-level navigation, site-level headers, control over who can see and edit your site, and rich embeddings like calendars, videos, and Google docs.

If you are currently a Page Creator user, you can continue to use Page Creator and your pages will automatically be transitioned to Google Sites later this year. We are committed to making this transition as smooth and easy as possible, and we will post more details as we get closer to the transition time. You can also manually move your web pages from Page Creator to Google Sites or other service providers at any time.

http://pages.google.com/
http://pages.google.com/-/about.html#faq

I do not like Google sites as it does not looks like a website. So what happens to our websites created in Google Page Creator within Google Apps?

How to Submit your site (created using Google sites) to Google Webmaster Tools?

How do I verify my site created using Google Sites to Google Webmaster Tools?

You can verify your site via the meta tag verification in Google Webmaster tools. Follow the instructions (in webmaster tools) and paste the meta tag into the field labeled "Google Webmaster Tools verification" on Site settings -> Other stuff. Please note: your site must be marked as a public site in order for it to be verified.

How do I submit my site created using Google Sites to Google Webmaster Tools?

Once you have verified your site with Google Webmaster tools, Google Sites will auto-generate a sitemap xml file. Your sitemap will be generated at:

* http://sites.google.com/a/(your domain)/(site name)/system/feeds/sitemap for Google Apps.
* http://sites.google.com/site/(site name)/system/feeds/sitemap for sites under sites.google.com/site

Once these Sitemaps have been created, you can submit them to Google using Webmaster Tools.

Please note: your site must be marked as a public site in order for it to be verified.

New features in Google sites released

Yesterday Google has released some new features that will give you some more control over your site as well as enabling you to take advantage of our Webmaster Tools. Here are key improvements"

(1) The first notable release is the ability to change the width of your sidebar and header, or turn them off entirely. You now have complete control over your site's width, including the width of the text boxes.

(2) The second part of this release I would like to point out is the integration with Webmaster Tools. With Google Webmaster tools, it is easier to see how Google indexes your content and if you enable the integration, you can also auto-generate a sitemap to submit to Google.

(3) Google has also made it easier to embed a doc and spreadsheet into Sites.When you want to embed one of your Google Docs documents, spreadsheets or presentations, you can now conveniently select it from a list rather than pasting the URL into the document.

(4) Google has also implemented the ability to "preview" as a vviewer, enabling the owner to see how the site will look before it's published.

How to Measure Site usage statistics for Google Sites

Google Sites now provides a simple way to track site usage, by integrating with Google Analytics. This is available to Standard, Premier, Education and Team Editions using Language US English (New features are first released to US English)

Here is how to access this new feature:

• Sign in to Google Sites
• Open the site which you want to track
• Click 'Site Settings'
• Navigate to the settings page for 'Other stuff'
• Check the box for 'Statistics' and paste your Google Analytics account ID in the box, and click 'Save changes'.
  

To get a Google Analytics account ID you'll need to sign in to your Google Analytics account with the site details.

Google has launched "Google Sites"

Google Sites is a great way to build you "Company Intranet". It is one of the best collaboration tool available for business users. Just imagine if everyone in your company can publish on their own? Wow! Google is giving power in the hands of each individual? Here are some of the reason you should start using Google Sites in your company:

• Easy to use - anyone who can surf internet can use Sites to publish documents, creating sites is as easy as creating a document
  
• Highly Customizable - everyone can chose their own look and feel
• You have some great templates already available
  
• You can directly upload files and content
• High level of security - you can decide who can see your pages and who can edit
• Sites pages can be searched like google
• Access from anywhere on internet
  

Here are some of the applications of sites:

• Use it to create your employee profiles, student profiles, community member profile etc
  
• Working on a project - create a page for project with information for all project members
• Your department page - collaboration to a different level
• Have a football club - share information with club members
• Create a Dashboard
• Running a campaign - share information with stakeholders
• Share project status with calendars (yes Google Calendar can be inserted)
  

Share your views and send us details on what you are using Sites for?