For a researcher, visibility is important. Prospective students, lab members and collaborators might be interested in knowing who you are, finding out what you are working on or what the overarching theme of your lab’s research is. At Nature Metabolism, we regularly consult lab websites of both junior and senior researchers to identify potential reviewers, suitable authors for commissioned articles or researchers who might be working on projects of interest to our journal. We might also be looking for speakers for an upcoming Nature conference or for people to meet with when planning a potential lab visit. So, if you want to catch the attention of students, collaborators, conference organisers or editors, visibility is crucial.

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You might think that your publications speak for themselves and contain all the relevant information about your work that one would need. However, while publication records are a good place to start, they might not reflect the breadth of scope of a lab and they rarely include recently initiated research projects. Moreover, unless you are the corresponding author, your contact information might not be available to the readers.

The solution is simple: make sure you have an informative, up-to-date website. Creating a website for your lab offers you a unique opportunity to explain, in your own words, what your research interests and passions are. You can describe your expertise more broadly, as well as the bigger research questions you are trying to answer. You can also list newly initiated projects to give readers a sense of the direction your research is taking. This information is invaluable for those trying to figure out if they would be a great fit in your lab, or if you would be a great addition to their conference or a suitable reviewer.

Useful points to include on your lab website could be information about ongoing collaborations, and profiles of yourself and your lab members. Listing your staff members and trainees can help increase their visibility too, thereby supporting their further career development; it also indicates the overall structure and size of the lab. Your lab website is also a platform for you to describe your lab culture and values, which is important information for prospective lab members and collaborators. Including a summary of your employment history, awards or committee seats can help highlight your professional accomplishments.

Although publication records are not everything, it makes sense to list at least your key publications on your lab website. You might also include a link to your ORCID profile in order to direct people straight to your publication record. These features are especially useful if you happen to have a name that could be mistaken for another researcher, which complicates author searches on publication databases.

To increase discoverability in search engines and make it easier for people to find you, it is also helpful to have an entry on your institutional website with a brief description of your research and a link to your lab website. Finally, to reach as many people as possible, your lab website should be available in English, be updated regularly and should include your email as contact information.

Creating and maintaining a website can be time-consuming. However, with the internet being the main source of information today, it is well worth the effort to give yourself, your team and your work a little more visibility.