Using Google Sheets as a Database For Your Website : Yeah or Nah?

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If you have ever used Google Sheets for working on numbers or project tracking, chances are you know how powerful it is for data analysis. But here’s an idea - how about using it as a cost-friendly database for your website? Is it that powerful and reliable?

If yes, what are the types of websites you can build using Google Sheets at the backend as a database? Let’s find out!

Google Sheets - An Introduction

When Google launched Google Sheets in 2006, it became a sensational product due to its capacity to allow multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet in real-time. It was like a breath of fresh air for those of us who were bored to hell with standard spreadsheets day-in and day-out.

Here are some of the key features of Google Sheets that made using spreadsheets much easier and interesting than earlier -

  • It is a web-based, free-to-use spreadsheets platform that enables users to access, edit, modify and save their work from anywhere without any chances of redundancy.
  • It allows real-time collaboration for users working on the same spreadsheet. People can comment, edit and view the changes as and when they are made.
  • Google Sheets comes bundled and free with a Gmail account, thus there’s no need to install any API or third party app to use it.
  • Whichever phone or device you use, there is an integrated app on all leading operating systems for Google Sheets. It is a seamless experience to access it and work from anywhere.
  • It works a lot like MS Excel and does not sway away from the UI/UX of excel, allowing users to transition from offline spreadsheets to a cloud platform easily.
  • The numerous plug-ins and add-ons enable users to do much more than just storing, sorting and analyzing data.

Google Sheets is a powerhouse for data analysis. Most users don’t realize that it can be an equally powerful database for your web services and even fully-functional websites.

Before we explain how you can use google sheets as a database, let us understand a database and why you should choose a frugal alternative to expensive database solutions in the market.

Databases - The Storage System for the Web

Have you ever wondered how the internet is so organized when it comes to storing and accessing information? Hint - It has a lot to do with database management.

At first, databases can seem overwhelming, but a closer look reveals that it is just a collection of data in rows and columns. Now that wasn’t that hard, isn’t it?

You see, a database is a systematic storage system for holding all the information about a certain theme in one place. This place is a database management system. It can be thought of as a virtual warehouse that monitors, organizes, manages, and controls the structured information in a way that allows easy access and understandability of a humongous amount of otherwise confusing data sets.

A language used by DBAs (database administrators) called ‘SQL’ ( structured query language) is used for writing and querying data from the database. It means that to interact with your data items in the warehouse directly, you need to be conversant in SQL. But fret not; you don’t need to worry about that as a user of the database.

Some famous and widely used database management systems such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MongoDB (NoSQL database).

We will determine whether a simple tool such as Google Sheets can replace these heavy and expensive databases and work as efficiently as a DBMS?

Google Sheets as a Database -

Just Spreadsheets or Something More?

Google sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet app that lets users work on spreadsheets and collaborate in real-time. It is used mostly for data analysis and project management, but a lesser-known fact is that it can also be used as a database for websites. It comes with advanced features and extra capabilities that add a sheen to otherwise lacklustre spreadsheet software.

What makes Google Sheets usable as a database that it is a cloud-based app and, with some creativity, can be a perfect replacement for smaller web apps and websites. It is also notable that it is not a full-fledged database that can entirely remove big databases from the picture, but light apps and websites which use comparatively smaller data sets can work well with Google Sheets at the backend.

The above knowledge brings us to the question - when should one consider using Google sheets as a database, and what are the best use cases which fit the bill?

Some of the Best Use Cases - Endless Possibilities

While we urge you to rack your brains and try to figure out how you can make the most of this ultimate life-hack, here are some of the examples where people have already implemented Google Sheets as a backend for database for their no-code website.

Quick Prototyping

If you are a product designer or are just playing around with a new idea for your start-up, why not build a quick prototype to test, tweak and showcase to your investors?

Hobby Projects and Portfolio Websites

Several hobby projects that don’t require authentication and user management can be built using Google Sheets as a database. You can use platforms like Github for hosting your page, or you can choose to host it on a separate server. We suggest using Siteoly if you are a beginner and want a free option to test the waters.

Listings Website

If you are a part of a sales or HR team, you can quickly use Siteoly to put out a webpage that displays open positions or a product listings page on your company website. You can also make Stocks and ETF Listings, Affiliate Programs Listings, Marketplace for restaurants, Professional Services Website, and much more. The possibilities are endless, quite literally.

Here are all these awesome ideas for creating a website without coding using Google Sheets. How will you use Siteoly to make your shiny new website from a simple but efficient Google Sheets option? Let us know in the comments below!

More power to you!