There’s no shortage of website builders out there, spanning the spectrum of hyper-customization to plug-and-play one-pagers. Do we really need another website builder?
In this case, yes. I’ll break down how Super turns Notion pages into websites, and considerations before choosing to use Super.
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First off, what’s Super?
It’s a tool building simple websites with nothing but Notion. You can use custom domains, themes, password-protection, all without code. You can get a surprisingly customized look and feel with minor HTML/CSS work, or use one of the many templates available in the Super Market.
Who’s it for?
Super is a solid option for virtually anyone, but for Notion (power)users, it may be the best option available, especially for creators or teams who would rather not bother with a CMS (Content Management System) like Wordpress or Webflow.
If your operation or team already manage content, resources, or marketing materials in Notion, creating and launching a site using Notion pages is seamless and fast.
How does it work?
Super acts as a top layer for your Notion page, making the necessary changes for your pages to look and feel like a traditional website. This includes tools to use a custom domain, make stylistic changes to things like font and color, and go more custom via changes to HTML & CSS in Super’s code editor.
Even if you don’t have a domain, Super will create a custom domain anyway, using a your-domain.super.site convention.
Within Super’s site editor, you can change almost everything you’d change in a traditional CMS, like the site icon, sitemap, navigation, and HTML/CSS. The Preview window instantly shows visual changes, which is super convenient when testing out format, layout, and stylistic changes.
The ability to create a header navigation menu goes a long way in making the page feel less like a Notion page, and more like a standard website. You can even create a call to action button, linking to a page, product or service of your choice.
The Three Best Use-Cases
Bloggers
If your site primarily consists of articles, and likely some sort of email newsletter sign up, Super is a great option, especially if you already write or organize content in Notion.
Customizing the reading experience is likely only a few lines of CSS, and there are several blog-centric themes in Super’s marketplace.
When you factor in Notion’s Synced Blocks feature, you can literally make edits that are published in real time.
Creatives
This is a rather generic or broad category, but for anyone who creates visual assets, ie. professionals in branding, marketing, digital design, UX, UI, or illustration, Notion’s gallery view will not only visually organize work, but give you the options to sort by project, type, date, or any other properties you assign to portfolio work.
This is a solid option for creatives, even if you’re new to Notion, as you can create a library of completed work quickly, with any associate information attached in each page.
Coaches & Consultants
If you’ve got a clear offering, and target audience, the return on a custom website is virtually zero. Further, the ability to make copy and content edits on the fly is a huge time-saver, particularly if you’re already a Notion user.
Super also makes it easy to connect analytics systems like Google Analytics or Fathom to your site, allowing you to track traffic and make optimizations to increase conversion.
It probably won’t reach the level of granularity you can get with tools like Wordpress or Webflow, but for the majority of consultants, Super is a solid option.
Should I use it?
There are three main questions to consider, that should help determine which tool to use for creating your website.
1. Do you already have a site that’s live?
In the spirit of efficiency, if you already have a site that’s up and running, even if it’s not perfect, you probably don’t want to scrap it for a new tool. Your time is probably better spent on other aspects of your work.
If you don’t have a site, find the process daunting, or want to quickly convert a Notion page into a website, then Super is a good option.
2. Are there significant pain points with your current site?
You may already have a website, but updates, plugins, and integrations can cause major headaches if not built or maintained appropriately. Specifically for solopreneurs and small teams, managing a website can be an incredible time-sink, with little to no returns.
If you have a live website but it causes headaches on a regular basis, consider Super.
3. Do you already use Notion?
Familiarity with Notion makes use of Super ridiculously easy. If you use Notion to organize content (or find it would be easy to do so), Super can be a solid alternative, even if you already have a live site.
Final Thoughts
Websites can be deep rabbit-holes, huge time-sinks, and great sources of frustration. For individuals versed in HTML & CSS, maybe not so much, but more and more people are launching their own businesses, side hustles, products or services, and often jump into these projects with little to no experience in web design.
In short, if you’ve found a solution that works, and does what you need, it probably makes sense to stick with it; there are plenty of higher ROI tasks than tweaking webpages.
But if you have a project or business venture that’s fresh, and trying to decide which direction to go with your site, hopefully the notes above help you make the right decision!
