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

Feather.so vs. Notion Sites: Which One Is Best for Blogging

21 Best CMS Systems For Building A More Powerful Website

On June 25th, 2024, Notion got a massive upgrade. Your favorite “all-in-one” app became a website builder. Sort of.

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.

Let’s dive in:

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 publically. 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.

In other words, Notion doesn’t use folders. Instead, you can create subpages of your main page and then add more subpages to those first subpages – akin to a collection of Post-it notes.

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.

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DISCLAIMER: For each new domain you connect to Notion, you’ll be charged an additional fee. So, you might be careful if you have multiple blogs you’d like to manage in Notion. For this purpose, you might check out a different tool.

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.

Simplicity is a desired feature for many as the complexity of other web development tools is unnecessary and hinders the launch.

With Notion Sites, such you can access all the tools they need without any confusion brought about by the overabundance of other non-essential features and tools.

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 key points every early-stage startup’s website needs to cover are as follows:

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.

A slick site with a clean, minimalistic design, no more than one landing page, and a few subpages stuffed with information impress potential stakeholders much more with its efficiency.

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Once your startup has started growing, you may need a more expansive and complicated content management tool.

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.

If you feel your portfolio isn’t yet large enough or you believe your entire potential consumer base is concentrated on a particular social media platform, you can use your profile on said platform as your portfolio.

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

Such a website doesn’t need to be anything more complicated than a collection of work examples. You also don’t want the site’s design to be so busy and complicated that it overshadows the actual items in your portfolio.

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.

Say you’re a YouTuber who also has their podcast. Notion Sites allows you to:

Include the link to your socials

Embed your latest YouTube video

Embed your lates Podcast episode

Get people to sign up for your email list not to miss the new work you publish

The flexibility Notion Sites gives you exceeds most of the traditional “link in bio” tools.

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.

They are also quite straightforward design-wise, which makes Notion Sites an excellent choice for such projects.

A one-page landing page isn’t just easy to do – it needs to have a relatively simple design by definition.

The main goal of most landing pages is to capture the potential consumer’s interest and direct them to a particular call to action – an overly complicated page design only interferes with that.

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. As such, announcement websites are usually just made out of a single page, and a few subpages at most, which is the exact format Notion Sites is designed to excel at.

Prosumers’s websites

Prosumers are types of consumers who are themselves professionals and producers. They tend to create various kinds of websites that fall into different categories and sub-categories like the ones above.

Depending on their particular niche and goal, prosumers can have very diverse website needs. This includes blogs, store aggregators with landing pages, portfolios with announcement pages, and so on –

More importantly, many prosumers tend to want to meet these in the most convenient, fast, and budget-friendly way possible. This is another way in which Notion Sites can be of great use.

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.

Of course, Notion Sites launched literally just a few days ago. The team behind the digital tool has already pledged to continue improving it and adding more web development features.

As Notion’s product lead, Matt Piccolella, has confirmed this:

“The hope is that this is just the first launch that allows us to continually get more and more powerful.”

We’re yet to see exactly how much Notion Sites will improve in the future, but as of yet, here are the key Pros and Cons you can expect from this service:

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.

Are Notion Sites lacking in one or more areas that are important to you? These are the main five alternatives we’d recommend checking out as of right now:

Feather.so

Feather.so is great for users who want a balance of simplicity and powerful features.

Unlike Notion Sites, it offers more customization options, allowing you to design your website to match your brand's style.

Feather.so is also good for managing multiple pages and integrates well with various tools for SEO, analytics, and performance tracking.

Feature	Feather.so	Notion Sites
Pricing	Transparent, no hidden fees	Affordable, free plan
Collaboration	Real-time, seamless	Basic collaboration
SEO Optimization	Advanced SEO features	Basic SEO capabilities
Offline Workflows	Full support	Limited
Developer Handoff	Easy browser-based tools	Not designed for this
Customization	Advanced, built-in tools	Limited options
Unique Features	Tailored for blogging	General website features
Subscriptions	Simple, fair models	Flexible pricing, can get pricey if you manage multiple blogs
Transition Ease	Easy import from other platforms	Best within Notion ecosystem
Support	Dedicated support	General support

WordPress

WordPress is the most versatile option. It’s ideal for those needing extensive customization and functionality.

WordPress supports everything from simple blogs to large e-commerce sites.

With thousands of plugins and themes, you can add almost any feature you need. It also allows for deep customization at the code level, giving you full control over your website.

Bullet

Bullet is packed with features that go beyond basic website building. It includes automated sitemaps, redirects, RSS feeds, and schema support.

Bullet also offers membership options, such as email verification and password protection. It provides detailed analytics to track visitor behavior and page performance.

With Zapier integration, you can connect Bullet with over 6000 apps, enhancing its functionality.

Gamma

Gamma.app is a powerful tool designed for creating visually stunning websites and presentations.

It emphasizes ease of use, allowing users to create professional-looking sites without extensive design skills.

Gamma provides a variety of templates and customization options, making it easy to create unique and engaging content. It's especially suitable for users who need to create presentation-style websites with dynamic content and interactive elements.

While all platforms offer unique benefits, the best options for bloggers are:

Feather: If you’re looking for a way to manage all your content in Notion and have a seamless website-building experience

WordPress: If you don’t care about hosting your content in Notion.

Final Thoughts

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

With features like basic Google Analytics support, limited but functional design possibilities, and the ability to connect a custom domain, it serves as an accessible platform for those with minimal web development experience.

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

For you requiring more advanced features or extensive customization, use Feather.so to manage your blog effortlessly without giving up the user-friendliness of Notion.