DNS Nightmare

Why Was Connecting My Domain to Google Sites So Hard?

Let me just start by saying: I’ve done this before.

I’ve connected Google Sites to custom domains more than a few times- and I still nearly lost my mind doing it again this week.

So here’s what happened, and more importantly, what you should know if you’re about to connect a domain from Squarespace to a site you built with Google Sites.

What Should Happen (in a rational world)

If you’re like me, you might expect something like this:

Buy a domain (originally via Google Domains, now hosted by Squarespace).
Build a site in Google Sites.
Connect them with a couple of clicks.

I mean… it’s all Google, right?

Wrong.

Thanks to Google Domains being absorbed into Squarespace, the whole process got more complicated—and more opaque.

Here’s What Actually Happens

When you set up a domain forward from your root domain (like project-invent.com) to the “www” version (www.project-invent.com), Squarespace automatically dumps in four A records.

These records look like they’re for hosting a Squarespace site, but in reality, they’re required for the domain forwarding to function.

Meanwhile, your Google Site needs a CNAME record for the www subdomain to point to ghs.googlehosted.com.

You can’t have both A records and a CNAME on the same exact host in DNS. So you have to keep them separate:

A records go on @ (your root domain)

CNAME goes on www

Simple, right? Sigh.

The DNS Panel Drama

There’s no “delete” button for those A records in Squarespace. You click “Manage Rules,” and instead of giving you editing tools, it says:

"We’ve identified a problem with this domain..."

Not helpful.

You’ll get a mix of red ❌s and green ✅s in your DNS checker, and if you didn’t know what you were looking at, it would feel like something’s seriously wrong.

Spoiler: Nothing is wrong.

It’s just... the most convoluted path imaginable to achieve a very simple goal.

What I Finally Learned (Thanks, Support Agent!)

A real human at Squarespace finally confirmed:

✅ The A records are required for domain forwarding

✅ They won’t interfere with your Google Site

✅ You don’t need to add any Squarespace "default" settings

✅ If your www CNAME is pointing to ghs.googlehosted.com and verified with Google, you’re golden

Once I let Google do its thing, and left those odd-looking A records alone, my site finally came online just as it was supposed to.

TL;DR Tips for Your Sanity

If you're trying this yourself, here’s what to do:

Set up domain forwarding in Squarespace:

- From yourdomain.com → www.yourdomain.com
- (Permanent redirect, SSL on)
- Keep the four A records Squarespace creates. They’re ugly, but they make the forwarding work.
- Add a CNAME record for www → ghs.googlehosted.com

Make your Google Site:

- Verify your domain inside your Google Site (or via your Google Admin Console).

Ignore the red ❌s from Squarespace DNS warnings if everything is working.

Final Thoughts

I don’t usually blog about DNS.

But this process was so unnecessarily frustrating that I had to document it—if only to spare someone else the same pain.

And if you're ever wondering, "Wait, didn't this used to be easier?" The answer is yes. It did.

RIP Google Domains. We miss your simplicity. 😢

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