The nature and morphology of titanium dioxide films play a significant role in determining the overall efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs). In this work, the preparation of nanostructured titania particles by sol-gel method (SG-$TiO_2$) and its characterization were investigated for the application of DSSCs. The samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, BET and FT-IR analysis. The energy conversion efficiency of SG-$TiO_2$ was approximately 8.3 % under illumination with AM 1.5 (100 mW/$cm^2$) simulated sunlight. DSSCs made of SG-$TiO_2$ nanocrystalline films as photoanodes achieved better energy conversion efficiency compared to those prepared using commercially available Degussa P25.