What Is Notion Sites? (& Can You Build an Actual Blog with It?)

Notion Sites just arrived and it claims to provide a seamless website building experience. Is it actually true? Let’s see:

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what Notion Site actually is — and what you should take into account before you try it.

What is Notion Sites?

Notion Sites is the natural evolution of Notion’s page-building functionality. Even before Notion Sites, you could use the tool to create simple pages or small “websites” and share them publicly. Doing so required no coding and only used the Notion document-making functionality.

What Notion Sites does, however, is expand upon all this and allow users to create proper websites in minutes and without having to rely on a complicated content management system or the services of web developers.

With Notion Sites, you can use Notion’s various other tools you were already using when creating note pages – embed web content, such as PDFs, social media posts, videos, and more, use Notion’s generative AI to draft content, and more.

Notion Sites allows you to additionally tweak the design of their page, create a custom site domain, and publish the website with the click of a button. Notion Sites also offers a Template Gallery to further ease users into making a website quickly and with minimal effort.

Once the user has picked a template, the next step is to start filling the template with content. Notion and its new Notion Sites feature both arrange content in the form of pages and subpages.

Other aspects of Notion Sites to keep in mind include:

• Notion Sites offers basic Google Analytics support to help you make sure your site’s marketing and SEO are always on point.
• Limited design possibilities that mostly stay in the black-and-white range but also keep things quite simple and straightforward.
• Notion Sites allows you to create online stores and has dedicated templates for this type of website.
• Notion also offers a large assortment of guides, blog articles, and webinars to not only guide you through using Notion Sites but also help you get the most out of your new website.
• Notion Sites’ custom domain feature is available for paying subscribers. Free you can still use Notion Sites too, and can publish their site on one chosen Notion subdomain, the same way most blogging sites work.
• The price for paying you is either $8 per domain per month (if paid yearly) or $10 if paid monthly.
• When using Notion Sites, you can also benefit from Notion’s other established and well-known features, such as Notion’s enhanced calendar app and advanced tools for organizing and searching documents.

This combination of features makes Notion Sites an appealing choice for those looking to create simple, functional websites without diving deep into technical details or extensive customization.

How does Notion Sites Work?

Setting up Notion Sites is as simple as sharing your Notion pages. In fact, the publishing feature hides in the same place:

The only differences are the customization options and the ability to choose your own domain.

Notion Sites: Best Use Cases

Early-stage startups and other prosumers are likely to benefit most from this simplified and easy-to-use tool. If you need small and light websites, Notion Sites offers the most simplicity.

Such simplicity is a genuine feature for many people because the overt complexity of other web development tools is not only unnecessary but an outright hindrance for people who just want a simple and straightforward website.

Let’s go over the main best use cases for Notion Sites:

Early stage startups

Early-stage startups usually need simple, sleek, and to-the-point websites to validate their product idea or get new users to sign up for a free trial.

• The site needs to establish the startup’s credibility.
• The website needs to be exciting and eye-catching enough to help generate interest in the startup.
• Lastly, the site should also provide all the essential information about the startup’s potential consumers and stakeholders who would be interested.

All three of these points are achievable not only with a simpler and smaller website but are achieved better and more efficiently with such a website.

Portfolio websites

Many people feel that social media have partly offset portfolio websites over the last couple of decades. This is only partly true. Many artists, photographers, and creators still use portfolio websites to showcase their work and talent.

When you decide that you need to make a portfolio profile, Notion Sites is one of the best tools to use.

Link In Bio Tool

Another great use for Notion Sites is gathering all the links to your social media profiles, lead magnets, and work examples.

Notion Sites definitely stands out here because it lets you add multiple formats within one page.

One-page landing pages

Landing pages are among the simplest types of websites, as well as some of the most useful ones in various niches, such as online marketing, affiliate marketing, and more.

Announcement websites

Similar to portfolios, catalogs, and landing pages, an announcement website has just one main job – to deliver a particular announcement to the user.

Prosumers’s websites

Prosumers are types of consumers who are themselves professionals and producers.

Notion Sites: Pros and Cons

We’re not here just to sing Notion Sites’ praises, of course, and there is no denying that the service does have a few blindspots.

Strengths:

• Easy to Use: The intuitive interface lets you create and publish websites with minimal effort, making them accessible even to those with little technical expertise.
• Simple SEO Capabilities: Basic SEO features help you improve your site's visibility on search engines.
• Multimedia Support: you can embed videos, images, and audio files, enhancing the site's content and engagement.
• Pre-made Templates: A variety of templates are available to help you get started quickly.

Weaknesses:

• Limited Customization Options: The design possibilities are basic, which might not suit you looking for extensive customization.
• Cannot Handle Multi-Page Websites: Notion Sites is best suited for single-page websites, which limits its use for more complex web structures.
• Clunky Content Management: Managing large amounts of content can become cumbersome due to the limitations of Notion's interface.
• GDPR Issues: You must be cautious about GDPR compliance, especially when handling user data.

Notion Sites: Alternatives

Notion Sites is the new kid on the web development block.

Yet, there are many other well-known tools that have been around for a long time. Some of them can still be seen as a better alternative to Notion Sites in at least some regards.

Final Thoughts

Notion Sites offers a simple, effective solution for creating small websites, particularly suitable for prosumers and early-stage startups.

However, it does have its limitations, such as restricted customization options and difficulty handling multi-page websites.