Notion Sites are a new and powerful way to quickly launch a simple website with Notion. You can use the same building blocks available to build great internal workspaces to spin up a website and publish it with just a few clicks. You can even connect a custom domain. So whether you’re looking for a personal blog, a company website or an Airbnb Info page, in this article you’ll learn everything you need to know about Notion Sites. Further down the article, you can find 7 sample websites built in Notion for inspiration.
And if you want to use any of the sample Notion Websites yourself, scroll down to the bottom of this article to download them for free.
How To Publish A Notion Page As A Website
In Notion, any page that you create can be published as a website.
To publish a page as a Notion Website, click on the Share button at the top-right section. You’ll see the Publish tab. Go there and click on the Publish button.
And just like that, your Notion page is now published to the web with a unique URL. You can use this to quickly share some content with a person who doesn’t have a Notion account or you can further optimise it to act as a fully functional website.
By default, Notion will provide you with an auto-generated sub-domain. You can change this sub-domain and claim your own Notion domain under Settings & Members > Sites.
Every Notion plan gets one unique free Notion domain. On a paid plan, you can also connect a custom domain (more on that later) or claim up to 5 unique Notion domains.
If you want to share a Notion page with only a few people who all have Notion accounts, you can instead invite them via their email as guests to the page.
Make sure you know how Notion handles content on shared pages so that you don’t accidentally share the wrong information with the wrong person.
To help you quickly identify a published page, Notion will start showing a blue banner at the top of it. And if you have a lot of pages published and need to manage them quickly, you can always go to Settings & Members > Sites.
There, you’ll see all your published Notion sites along with their URLs and custom domains and the person who published it (which is very useful if you’re using Notion as a team).
Pro Tip: When publishing a page in a database, database properties will also be published. You need to nest a page inside to hide the database properties.
Now that your first Notion Website is live, let’s take a closer look at the Publish tab and the multiple options for customising your Notion Website:
How To Customise Your Notion Website
Besides simply publishing a Notion Page to the web, you also have the option to further customise it as a proper Notion website. You can access these in the Publish Modal (that appears when you click on Share in the top right corner of the Notion page).
Site Customization is currently only available on Notion’s paid plans. If you use a free Notion account, you can publish an unlimited amount of pages, but you won’t be able to use any of the features listed below.
Social Media Preview Image
When you share a website on social media, a preview of the website appears. Notion allows you to set the Social Media Preview Image. Simply hover your mouse over the Share Preview section, and you’ll see the Upload image button. Upload the image you want, and you’ll have a beautiful preview image for your website.
Default Theme
You can set the default theme of your website. Choose between Light mode or Dark mode. You can also set it to System to match the theme of the user’s system.
Favicon
A favicon is the icon you see on the browser tab when visiting a website. Notion allows you to change the favicon of your Notion website. Simply upload an image/icon, and your favicon will be set.
By default, Notion will show the icon of a page as the favicon.
Header
In the Header section, Notion gives you powerful settings to further customise the look and functionality of your website. Currently, these are the features available:
- Enable or disable Breadcrumbs
- Enable or disable Search
- Turn on or off the Duplicate as template option
- Show/hide the Notion badge (when using a custom domain)
Additionally, you can add Header Navigation under the Navigation section. Click on the + Add Pages button to add pages.
You can only add child pages of the main page you’re publishing as navigation options. That means it’s currently not possible to link to external pages or to Notion pages of yours that are not child pages in this header section.
The header you set up (including all navigation elements) will be available on the main page and all child pages.
Google Analytics
You can connect Google Analytics to your Notion website without any code. Simply copy your Tracking Tag and paste it in the Measurement ID. And you’re good to go!
How To Connect A Custom Domain To Your Notion Website
If you don’t want to use a unique Notion domain, you can easily connect your own custom domain.
To add a custom domain, go to Settings & Members > Sites and under Domain, click on the New Domain button. The Connect new domain settings page will appear.
This feature is only available on Notion’s paid plans. Connecting a custom domain costs an additional $8 per month.
On this popup, you’ll see three values. A CNAME record, a TXT Record Name and TXT Record Value.
You need to go to your domain host and modify the DNS settings in order to connect your custom domain with Notion. Don’t worry if you’ve never done this before – it’s fairly straightforward and your domain host probably has some great documentation on how to do this.
The first step is to add a CNAME record for the custom domain. Copy the CNAME record from here (i.e. external.notion.site) and go to your DNS provider. Typically, you’ll find the option to set the CNAME target under DNS settings.
You need to change the existing CNAME record to the new value that Notion gives you.
Here are additional instructions for the most common domain hosts:
Once you’re done with the CNAME record, the next step is to add the TXT record for the domain. Generally, you should find this right beneath the CNAME record option (in the DNS settings page).
So, add the TXT Record Name and TXT Record Value (get the value from Notion’s Connect Domain settings). For this step, here are some guides from major DNS providers:
Now go back to Notion and click on Verify. This process might take 5 minutes to 2 hours and you can keep using Notion in the meantime. Once the custom domain has been verified, it will be available as an option in the dropdown of your Publish settings.
7 Use Cases for Notion Websites
Looking for inspiration for your Notion Website? Here are a few great use cases. You can download all of these as free templates at the bottom of this blog post.
Personal Website
Need a website for your personal brand? With Notion, you can create a simple personal website in just 5 minutes that suits your style and purpose. And since you’re using the same blocks that make up any Notion page, you can fully customise it to your liking.
LinkTree Site
Now, you can create a LinkTree-style webpage in Notion. Gather all your social links, blog posts, and products on a single Notion page without the hassle of coding or paying for third-party tools.
Resume / CV
You can also create an online CV or Resume with Notion. In fact, it’s much easier and more interactive than a traditional one.
Add tables, quotes, databases to list your education, qualifications, experiences, contact information, references, and even your academic and professional works.
Personalised Job Application
Stand out in your job applications by creating a personalized application in Notion.
Think of it as combining your CV and cover letter into a website tailored specifically for the job application. Use headings, callouts, tables, and other Notion blocks to showcase your unique experience and how you can contribute to the company.
You could even get a custom domain that includes the company or job you’re applying for.
Company Website
If you’re starting a company or a business, you can create a simple yet effective company website in Notion to communicate your vision, mission, philosophy, and portfolio with the world.
This sample website showcases a Venture Capital fund. Databases are used to store the people working at the company, highlight the portfolio companies and share the latest company news.
Airbnb Guest Info
This one is fun! If you host guests on Airbnb, you can use a Notion website to share essential information about the place, accommodation, rules, and nearby tourist attractions. This is a great way to effectively manage your Airbnb business.
Forum
Want to create a simple forum in Notion? You can do so by creating a database (Gallery view works best) and giving users Edit access. Users can create new topics and add comments (using Notion buttons) to the topics. Interesting, right?
These are just a few examples of what you can achieve with Notion. Of course, your Notion website can be tailored to your specific needs and preferences. It totally depends on what you need and how you want to present content in your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have a quick question about Notion Websites? Here are the most common ones together with the answer.
Can I publish a Notion Website for free?
Yes, Notion’s free plan offers basic publishing features, including one custom Notion domain and unlimited published pages. However, features like custom page headers, custom domains, multiple Notion domains, SEO settings, and Google Analytics require a paid plan.
Can I connect a custom domain?
Yes, you can connect one or several custom domains. Each custom domain will cost $8 per month.
Can I have several Notion domains?
Yes, you can have up to five Notion domains if you’re on a paid plan, and one on the free plan.
Can I add custom code to my Notion Website?
No, you can’t add custom code — HTML, CSS, or JavaScript — at the moment. If you need to use custom code, consider using a third-party tool like Super or Feather.
Is Notion a proper website builder?
No, Notion isn’t a dedicated website builder. However, you can use Notion’s existing blocks and page design options, which are excellent for internal use cases, to quickly create a website without needing a third-party tool. Plus, with Notion’s robust database system, you can have a pretty decent CMS.
Can I use Google Analytics on my Notion website?
Yes, you can use Google Analytics on your Notion website. However, only Google Analytics. No others are supported at the moment.
Get Your Free Notion Website Templates
You can download this Notion Template plus another 21+ other free templates here:
