Notion, a popular productivity tool, has been allowing its users to make any of their pages public for quite some time. However, the company is now taking this feature a step further with the launch of Notion Sites. This new addition brings several new features to its existing publishing tools, making it easier for users to create professional-looking websites.
A Natural Fit
Many content-centric work already happens within Notion, whether that’s organizing publishing calendars or working on documents. Over the years, Notion users have found creative ways to turn their pages into websites. In fact, some startups were even founded solely on this idea. Given the demand for such features, it makes sense for Notion to expand its publishing capabilities.
Customizing Your Site
One of the best features of Notion has always been the ability to turn a page into a publicly facing website with just one click. However, these pages have always been missing some essential features that you would expect to see on a website. Notion Sites aims to change this by adding customization options such as:
- Customizing favicons and building navigation bars with links
- Using breadcrumb navigation
- Easily publishing under custom domains
- Basic SEO features (title and description) for better visibility and analytics
- Google Analytics integration
Custom Domains and SEO
Notion Sites now allows users to easily publish their sites under custom domains. This feature is essential for businesses and individuals who want to create a professional online presence. Additionally, the basic SEO features included in Notion Sites will help improve visibility and rankings.
Google Analytics Integration
To help users track their site’s performance, Notion has integrated Google Analytics into its publishing tools. This feature provides valuable insights into website traffic, engagement, and other metrics.
Customizing Share Previews
Notion users can now customize their share previews to define how a site is represented on social media. This feature ensures that your online presence is consistent across all platforms.
Search Feature
For finding information on the sites themselves, Notion has added a search feature. This makes it easier for users to locate specific pages or content within their published website.
Limitations and Future Plans
While Notion Sites offers many features, there are some limitations. The team has specifically stayed away from allowing customization in detail, such as visual theming options. However, Piccolella mentioned that the team plans to add more visual theming options over time.
The mission here is to make this the ‘simplest way to publish a beautiful website’ — meaning a lot of choice for the user. The idea is to make it effortless to create professional-looking websites without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
AI Functionality
Like every company, Notion is also thinking about how it can add AI functionality to help users build their Notion Sites and make AI features available to their users. However, Piccolella was not yet ready to share details on what this would look like.
Conclusion
Notion’s expansion of publishing capabilities with Notion Sites is a significant step forward for the company. By providing more customization options and integration with Google Analytics, users can create professional-looking websites without requiring extensive technical knowledge. With its focus on simplicity and ease of use, Notion Sites aims to make it the ‘simplest way to publish a beautiful website.’
