What is Webflow?

Webflow is a website builder and visual code editor that lets you design, develop, and manage websites. Learn if this is the right tool for your website and business

September 18, 2024
13 Mins
Webflow

Do you want to create amazing websites? Ditch the tired code and embrace the future of web design with Webflow. Webflow's visual development platform lets you create modern, cutting-edge websites without the limitations of traditional coding. Let's jump in and see what Webflow can do for you.

1. Webflow visual website builder

Webflow hits the sweet spot between being easy to use yet powerful. It's not just drag-and-drop, it's a visual code editor. This means beginners can jump right in and learn as they go, picking up the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript through the building process.

For advanced functionality beyond native features, Webflow integrates custom code.  Webflow has a drag-and-drop component section with many essential elements like headings, and paragraphs.  You can manipulate these elements just like in traditional HTML adding ID tags, assigning attributes, and styling them with CSS.

Webflow University offers a comprehensive collection of free courses to further refine your skills. This doesn't limit you to basic design.  Webflow lets you with complete design control.  Resize elements, tweak colors, and even bring your designs to life with cool CSS animations.

2. Webflow designer is your creative canvas

Webflow designer is your creative canvas

Webflow Designer acts as your central hub for website creation. Here, you can easily add new pages, define the visual style of each section, and finally hit publish to showcase your masterpiece to the world. This interface lets you smoothly integrate any code customizations you've made, ensuring a cohesive and visually stunning website. Unlike traditional design tools, Webflow offers a user interface that feels familiar to creatives who use Photoshop or After Effects. The interface bridges the gap between design and development, but it's important to remember that Webflow still relies on core coding principles.

3. Webflow CMS

Webflow CMS (Content Management System) is a user-friendly system that allows you to manage, update, and modify your website's content. Webflow Designer offers the ultimate control – you can create and customize the underlying data structure (CMS collections) for your content. Webflow Editor, on the other hand, lets you leverage pre-built collections to manage and edit content easily.

Imagine folders on your computer, but these folders can hold different things and automatically create web pages. That's what Webflow CMS Collections are like. You can create a collection for blog articles, another for product listings, and even one for staff profiles. Each collection uses the same basic design layout, but the content inside each item (article, product, profile) can be unique.  These items also get their special web address (URL).

What makes these collections special are Data Fields and Page Visual Design. Data Fields are like fill-in-the-blank forms that let you add details about what's inside each item, like text and images. The Page Visual Design is the pre-designed layout of the collection, and it automatically uses the information you entered in the Data Fields to populate the content when you publish it.

Webflow takes things a step further by letting you connect these collections. Imagine linking a product listing to a staff profile if a specific staff member designed the product. This flexibility, along with the ability to design your data fields, makes Webflow a powerful tool for building websites with dynamic content.

Click here to learn more.

4. Figma to Webflow Plugin a Seamless Collaboration

Figma to Webflow Plugin a Seamless Collaboration

Take your designs from Figma straight to development with the powerful Figma to Webflow plugin. This innovative tool eliminates the need for manual code conversion. While there are some limitations and best practices to follow for optimal results, the plugin has significant time savings and an efficient design-to-development workflow.

Ready to Streamline Your Process? Click here to learn more about Figma to Webflow plugin

5.  Editor is Design Made Easy

This design interface allows you to edit your website directly. While Webflow DEVsigner offers unparalleled design control, Webflow Editor shines for its user-friendliness which allows you to manage your entire website visually. See all your pages at a glance, create new CMS pages (more on that later!), and even update SEO metadata. Just click, edit, publish, and your website is live! 

6. From Blogs to Businesses with Webflow…What Types of Websites Can You Build with Webflow?

SEO experts and beginners can bring their visions to life with Webflow's intuitive tools.

The possibilities are truly limitless.  You can create impactful marketing websites that convert visitors into loyal customers. You can build a site for your B2B SaaS business or establish a strong online presence for your local or international company.  Webflow lets you create thriving online stores, engaging blogs, or niche websites to share your expertise. Create gated content platforms or vibrant community hubs with user-generated content. This is just a taste of what Webflow offers.  

7. Build powerful marketing websites on Webflow

Marketing teams work best on agility Webflow lets them do just that. Webflow allows complete design freedom to craft a website that perfectly embodies your brand and resonates with your target audience. Webflow's intuitive UI lets your marketing team easily make any edits and updates to layouts and content. Webflow's approach eliminates the back-and-forth with developers, allowing you to launch marketing campaigns quickly. You and your team can manage your website,  freeing up IT resources and allowing marketers to focus on their core strengths.

8. Webflow SEO

8. Webflow SEO

Webflow offers significant advantages for marketers in search engine optimization (SEO). 

Webflow's clean code ensures search engines can effortlessly crawl and comprehend your website's content. This means faster indexing and a greater chance of your website ranking higher in search results. Webflow's user-friendly content management system (CMS) allows you to tailor your content to particular search intentions. By matching user queries with relevant content, you can expect to see your rankings climb.

Features like title tags, meta descriptions, automatic sitemap.xml, 301 redirects, and robots.txt eliminate the need for plugins, saving time and resources. Webflow lets you to take control of your website's schema markup, allowing search engines to “view” your content with even more precision. This can lead to richer search results and a higher click-through rate.

Designing a functional internal linking system is simple with Webflow. This system guides users and search engines through your website, boosting your SEO performance.

Webflow's CMS empowers you to create diverse content types with unique designs for each search intent while managing this easily. Connecting your Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or Search Console takes seconds within Webflow. This cool integration allows you to gain valuable insights and helps optimize your marketing efforts.

9. Content beyond the blog

Gone are the days of the blogs for SEO approach, marketers can create unique content that resonates directly with their audience's search intent. Webflow brings a new level of creativity and control for SEO.  Unlike traditional website builders, Webflow's flexible CMS lets you move beyond static blog posts and delve into interactive content formats like quizzes, calculators, or detailed case studies.

This allows you to tailor content to specific search queries, not just keywords.  This increases user engagement and a higher chance of ranking for those targeted searches.

Webflow empowers laser-focused audience targeting through unique design capabilities.  

Webflow's user-friendly CMS allows room for experimentation. Testing new content formats becomes a breeze, you can test and analyze results and then adjust your strategy if needed. This agility will let your content evolve to appeal with your audience and search engines.

Click here to learn more about Webflow SEO.

10. Webflow is a speed demon for marketers

Webflow is a speed demon for marketers

Ditch the frustration of slow loading times! Webflow builds your website on the rock-solid foundation of Amazon Web Services (AWS), giving you a winning combination of performance and user experience.  Webflow uses cutting-edge HTTP/2 technology for secure and fast data transfer.  Content Delivery Network (CDN) ensures your content reaches users with minimal delay, regardless of location. Webflow understands importance og safety of your website. Advanced DDoS protection safeguards your site from malicious attacks, and scalable servers guarantee minimal downtime. Webflow is built with a laser focus on Core Web Vitals, the metrics that define a user's experience on your site.

Webflow generates clean, optimized code that search engines can easily crawl and understand. This means fast loading times for your visitors, leading to a smoother overall experience. Webflow gives you complete control over your website's structure and content. This allows you to quickly address any potential issues within seconds.

11. Webflow Ecommerce, where design freedom meets reality

Unlike other ecommerce builders that limit you to pre-designed templates, Webflow empowers you to design a store that perfectly reflects your brand identity. This gives you’re customers a great shopping experience, setting you apart from the competition. You can meticulously design the flow of your store,  tailoring every interaction point to optimize the buying journey for your customers. This level of control allows you to maximize conversion rates and turn website visitors into loyal customers. 

Webflow shines brightly when it comes to selling digital products.  Courses, ebooks, templates, and more. Webflow makes it easy to set up your online store and deliver digital goods.  Automated email workflows with download links ensure a smooth customer experience. The complete design freedom allows you to create a unique and engaging brand experience, setting your digital products apart from the competition.

It's important to consider Webflow's limitations before diving in.  While it excels in design and UX, Webflow may not be the perfect fit for every ecommerce store.  Currently, it integrates with just two payment gateways: Stripe and PayPal. These are great options for many businesses, but some markets may have specific payment gateway requirements that Webflow can't accommodate. Some advanced ecommerce functionalities may require involvement from a developer to ensure a seamless experience for your customers.  It's important to weigh your design and UX needs against any potential limitations before making your decision.

12. Webflow pricing

Webflow pricing

Understanding Webflow pricing may seem confusign at first, let’s break down the key points to help you choose the right plan for your needs.

Website plans (monthly billing)

  • Free Starter Plan: Great for testing the waters with a Webflow website, though it comes with a Webflow subdomain and limited features.
  • Basic Plan ($18/month): Ideal for simple websites that don't require a CMS (content management system).
  • CMS Plan ($29/month): Perfect for blogs, service pages, or websites needing basic content management functionalities.
  • Business Plan ($49/month): Caters to websites with extensive content needs (up to 10,000 items) and potential team collaboration.
  • Enterprise Plan: For highly complex website requirements, it's recommended to contact Webflow for a customized consultation and pricing.

Ecommerce pricing

  • Ecommerce Plan ($29/month): Ideal for launching a small online store with limited product offerings.
  • Business Plan ($74/month): Suitable for growing stores with up to 5,000 product variations/categories and additional CMS content needs.
  • Enterprise Plan ($212/month): Caters to large-scale online stores with extensive product catalogs.

Workplace pricing (monthly billing)

  • This pricing structure applies if you want to manage multiple websites under one roof (your "workspace"). It ranges from $28-$60 per user per month depending on your chosen plan and features.

For small businesses, the website plan costs will be the primary concern. Webflow offers a competitive pricing structure compared to similar platforms, especially when you factor in the inclusion of hosting and essential features. Remember, yearly plans offer significant cost savings, so consider committing for a longer term if you know Webflow is the right fit for you.

Pricing may vary slightly depending on your region, currency, and the time of purchase.

13. Webflow vs. other platforms

Webflow vs. other platforms

This is a quick comparison of Webflow vs WordPress, Webflow vs Wix, Webflow vs Squarespace, and Webflow vs Shopify, with links to in-depth blogs covering each.

WordPress

Comparing Webflow to WordPress can be tricky. WordPress is free and open-source, but building a website with similar features to Webflow requires paid plugins for hosting, SEO, security, and design – tools that often fall short of Webflow's capabilities. This can lead to a clunky website with limited customization and functionality. Managing and updating a plugin-heavy WordPress site can be complex and time-consuming. Webflow offers a smoother experience, focusing on growth rather than constant maintenance.

Wix

Wix caters to non-technical users with its drag-and-drop interface and template-based approach. This means a quick and easy setup for very small sites. For businesses that need search engine ranking, lead generation, and customer conversion, Webflow offers a more scalable platform compared to Wix. The choice comes down to your technical comfort level and the complexity of your website needs.

Squarespace

Squarespace prioritizes ease of use for non-technical users. While it shares some similarities with Wix, either platform to Webflow's design flexibility and functionality. Squarespace can be a suitable option for showcasing a personal portfolio or a basic website but for business-oriented sites with growth plans, Webflow provides a more powerful foundation in comparison.

Shopify

While Webflow shines in design and user experience, Shopify reigns supreme for stores needing product shipping functionality. You can even connect Webflow to your Shopify store for a winning combination, but for core ecommerce needs, Shopify takes the crown.

14. Partner with an expert

A Webflow enterprise partner brings a distinct advantage like the merging of marketing strategies with in-depth Webflow expertise.  These agencies understand your marketing goals and will deliver real results. By partnering with a Webflow enterprise partner or Webflow agency you focus on what matters most which is running your business.  

Final Thoughts 

Webflow goes beyond simple website creation. You can have a strong marketing site that converts visitors, increases marketing success, and stabilizes your business for future success.

Author

Dusan Nedeljkovic

Frontend Developer/Webflow Expert as a versatile person who is in love with digital development, I have integrated various skills that help me to be successful in my job. I have been involved in Web Development for more than 4 years and until today I worked on over 70 projects. Through my work, i integrated my knowledge from creating custom code pages using programming languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to creating advanced Webflow websites. Experience in the digital field has also given me advanced use of design tools such as Figma and Adobe programs. I'm motivated and always seeking personal and professional growth. Good organization and respect for deadlines and processes give me the fuel to always be on top of all tasks. To take my knowledge to a higher level, I have perfected research for clients and websites, as well as site map creation. Being well-organized, working in a professional and dynamic environment, having good energy, and pushing the limits motivate me to be the best in my job.

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