I've helped develop over 300 websites.
Mainly on Squarespace. Why?
Because it was the easiest to pass off to a client for future maintenance.
Plus, I am a big fan of the DIYer. If you can get a decent site up and running in a weekend, amazing! I'm all for the hyper-freelance model. Be the designer, marketer, and developer. Don't let others hold you back from bringing your ideas to life.
But, enough about that.
Use Notion as your website? What to consider:
- Creating a blog? Somewhat ideal: It can be a great option because all the blocks are predesigned... but also a poor choice because of the ugly URLs. Most of the URL slugs end with something like:
/1180e109a4104c35bf76699eda1f584b.This is not ideal for SEO. I do have a workaround for this. - Creating a small business website for retail? Not ideal: I wouldn't recommend it. It just wouldn't really offer simple items like a mobile menu, contact forms, and a page footer. You would have to use third-party tools and Squarespace would be much better for that!
- Creating a portfolio? Now this is interesting. A portfolio site could be amazing on Notion but will aos include some limitations.
- Creating a sales page? Somewhat ideal: It's amazing to get up and running fast, not so incredible if you are trying to fully customize it to look/feel.
- Creating a product updates/feature site? Very ideal: This is actually one of the most ideal for a Notion website because Notion is simple to use for most everyone and it's easy to give everyone access on your team to quickly update the site, add loom videos, and create new pages. No code needed.
- Creating a support/help/doc/career center? Very ideal: Similar to the point above, a Notion website works because it's easy to disperse with your team and the look is more than acceptable and easy to understand.
- Creating a directory? Somewhat ideal: Overall, using Notion Databases can help you create an amazing directory of people, websites, services, products and more. But, depending on what you are building, it may be difficult to customize the design beyond what Notion offers out of the box with look/feel. This leads to the creator dilemma with any no-code tool: if it's not offered, to make it happen you have to go against the template design.
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Additional resources
Here are some additional resources:
- To add a custom domain to your website (that is relatively SEO friendly) try Super.
- First website build? My number one piece of advice? Keep it simple! This is cool, but it is not about being cool. It's about shipping.
- To learn about the process (video tutorials), watch my series here: Super + Notion 18min SEO Optimization Training
Biggest takeaway: Get started today. Don't want for a developer. You got this.
More about David
I'm David, a search specialist, & beginner YouTuber from Orange County, CA. My motto is: Whatever you do, do it beautifully. I enjoy teaching around website design, tech, productivity, and faith.