Did you know that Mailchimp can host a website for your campaign or business?
Neither did we! Just kidding, odds are I am the last person to discover this new mailchimp feature but hey, better late than never right?
As a summary, the mailchimp website feature - hosted at yoursite.mailchimpsites.com - starts you off with a basic template and page builder. By default you will start with a single page type of lander that is great for promoting your products, services, contact information and more. Perhaps most importantly, the price is right - this feature is free to anyone with a mailchimp account including the free plan.
To get started, you can find the new Website feature in the main menu:
On the Website landing page you will be provided with metrics on visitors and list signups as well as a list of your pages to start working with:
One thing to keep in mind with pages is that, as the site is initially set up to be a single page experience, when you create a new page it is not automatically included on your website menu. In fact, you may have noticed, there is no website menu. You will need to turn on the menu - "navigation" - luckily it is very easy. Simply navigate to the main Pages link at the top of the website, and then click on the Edit Style link under neath the Pages heading in the right hand pane.
Mail Chimp Site Features
Mail Chimp Site Negatives
Mailchimp sites are a great option for some but there are a few downsides worth pointing out. In general, mail chimp sites are a great option for quickly deploying a basic site. People looking for bells and whistles are likely better off sticking with their CMS of choice like wordpress.
After playing around with Mailchimp sites for a day I can say that it is a fairly powerful page builder that is just right for a new business that simply needs to get their web presence up and running. The site will integrate seemlessly with a mailchimp list (obvious right?), allow a user to get page sections fleshed out quickly by providing a template with all of the essential site sections to start. For experienced users, I think Mailchimp Sites will be found to be a bit feature lacking. The price however, is right.
Check out our demo site here: https://twenty9north.mailchimpsites.com/
