Why use Webflow over Wordpress and other CMS tools?
As someone who has a long history in building websites by using plain HTML but also Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress, CMSMS (well, you name it), let me tell you why Webflow is nowadays my go-to platform.
A website is vital for every business but it’s even more important for your early-stage startup. Having a polished website that’s easy to navigate is a representation of your brand. It’s the main way to build trust with your followers and earn new customers, especially as a newer business.
With that being said, you’ve likely already been researching which platforms to use to build your company website. But with all of the tools on the market these days, it’s hard to know which ones are worth investing your time and energy into.
The question remains — should you choose a self-hosted website option like WordPress or opt for a hosted website builder?
Traditionally, hosted sites have been the go-to choice for beginners to easily create personal websites. But, if you ask most design professionals, they’d likely tell you that they wouldn’t step foot near a website builder. That is until they discovered Webflow — the world’s most customizable agency-grade website builder on the market.
What is Webflow?
Webflow is a powerful SaaS tool that allows you to visually build custom dynamic websites using a visual content management system. The cloud-based software came out in 2013 and quickly became known as one of the top tools among designers, editors, and developers around the world.
It’s never been so easy to build a highly functional and customizable website without any coding whatsoever. That’s right, it’s code-free so it allows you to have an aesthetic website up and running — fast.
Think of Webflow as a tool that combines all of the best features of WordPress’s content management system (CMS) with the drag-and-drop benefits of platforms like Squarespace and Wix. The idea behind Webflow is to create a much more pleasant experience for users of varying experience levels and allow them to launch their website without the headache.
Benefits of Using Webflow for Your Startup
Are you curious if Webflow is right for you over other tools such as self-hosted WordPress.org or website builders like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and Wordpress.com? This article will tell you what you need to know about some of the differences between platforms and how Webflow can benefit your busy startup. Discover how your team can save time and money while designing beautiful hassle-free web pages using Webflow over other tools.
While you’re at it, be sure to check out this list of 11 of the best business sites created in Webflow for design inspiration.
Ease of Use
While WordPress has many great features, there’s always been one thing it’s needed a little work on — user-friendliness. While it may be fine for coders to play around with, it’s not so fun for busy startups to take a stab at (or any business owner for that matter).
Webflow’s greatest strength is — hands down — its ease of use. It’s much more intuitive than any other DIY website builder. Users love how simple it is to add new features and to customize the entire website to your liking. It utilizes JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, but the tool does everything intuitively without you ever having to write any code yourself (unless you want to, of course).
With that in mind, you do have access to all of the CSS3 and HTML5 features if you’re experienced in tweaking code, so the capability is there. This is one of the reasons Webflow has taken the web by storm — it can be adapted to suit either a first-time website builder or a professional web developer.
Time Management
It’s not easy to be a startup. Your team is busy building a new company from the ground up, meaning time and money are your most valuable resources. Why complicate things even more by adding web hosting to your plate as well? Webflow is an all-in-one website solution where you never have to worry about hosting — all of your data is stored in one place.
Self-hosted platforms like WordPress automatically take up more of your design team’s time. Unfortunately, when it comes to building a website, it’s not a matter of if something will go wrong — it’s a matter of when. Even the most experienced designers will eventually run into a problem. If you choose the self-hosted route, it’ll be up to your team to determine the error and find the solution.
While your team is in the process of fixing the errors, your website will likely be down. Unfortunately, this usually means a loss of business until you’re up and running again. As we mentioned before, losing time and money is a problem every startup should avoid.
With Webflow, you never have to worry about resolving technical errors on your own. The fully-hosted service comes with tech support whenever you need it as well, should anything go wrong while you’re designing or editing. This is particularly helpful for users who aren’t as tech-savvy or simply don’t have the time to figure out what went wrong.
The good news is, Webflow support staff will have your website back in business quickly. That’s valuable time saved for your team to focus on more important matters.
Webflow CMS
Webflow CMS is one of the software’s greatest strengths because your designers won’t need to rely on web developers. The highly customizable tool makes it easy to design your website visually without fighting with lines of code. Webflow CMS allows you to easily add content and edit right on your live website without navigating a cluttered dashboard, which can’t be said for other self-hosted tools. That means you can see how your page will look as you build it.
Essentially, with Webflow CMS, you get all of the perks of having a database and none of the hassle. You can even filter content so you only see what you’re working on at that moment. Having full visual control is a nice bonus, especially when compared to the other tools on the market right now.
High-Quality Template Bank
Have you ever browsed other website builder platforms and been disappointed with their template selection? That will never be your concern with Webflow. The high-quality template bank is packed full of over 500 designs to choose from to suit your unique startup.
Ranging from business and portfolio to blog templates, most users find the library quite inspiring. There are no cookie-cutter templates that you’re stuck with like when you choose platforms such as Squarespace and Wix. Each design is highly customizable, so your team can build a unique website without having to go through the ups and downs of WordPress.
While other website builders like Weebly and Squarespace also come with a library of templates to choose from, the problem is they’re not as flexible as Webflow’s are. With other tools, you have much less freedom to move things around. So, for the most part, you’d better hope you like the templates as they are.
In addition to that, when it comes to building on Wix, once you choose a template and start building, it’s pretty much permanent. It’s next to impossible to change templates mid-way unless you decide to start from scratch all over again — and nobody wants that.
Fortunately, Webflow makes it easy to switch layouts at any time without losing all of your content. That means you get to keep your progress up to that point.
Excellent eCommerce Capabilities
Does your startup require an online store integrated into your website? Webflow has excellent eCommerce capabilities designed to suit a wide variety of startup businesses. There are several eCommerce templates to choose from that are completely customizable. Plus, you can easily integrate your products and start selling much faster than if you used a tool like WordPress.
With Webflow, the setup guide will take you through the entire process of building your store from design to launch. You can customize every detail of your store, from your product pages to checkout, allowing you to keep your brand message the same throughout your entire website. You can even customize your receipts and product tracking emails to keep your visuals the same as your online store.
The problem with other website builders is that they won’t allow you to customize your checkout page, usually resulting in a website that isn’t synchronistic at all. Ultimately this is less than professional, confusing, and even worse, could cause you to lose customers.
While platforms like Wix also allow you to get an eCommerce store up and running quite easily, one of the biggest complaints is generally the slow-loading product pages. If you plan to have a high-traffic store then this wouldn’t be a suitable option.
Not to worry — you won’t have that problem with Webflow. It’s designed to handle as much traffic as your website can generate. Pages load in mere milliseconds, which means that your customers will have a better experience overall without the frustration that comes with lagging pages. This is all thanks to Webflow’s 100+ data centers and servers around the world.
Never Worry About Privacy
When it comes to Webflow, a user’s privacy is top-notch since you don’t have to worry about it yourself with self-hosted tools such as WordPress. If your customers enter personal information such as credit card details in your eCommerce store, it’s completely secure. All personal information is kept private through the use of firewalls and encrypted security features like secure socket layer technology (SSL).
Easily Connect With Automations
Similar to WordPress, Webflow is easy to hook up with Zapier so you can connect with over 1000 other apps. You can also integrate your website with other automation apps like Shopify, MightyForms, LiveChat, and much more. The difference is, WordPress can become cluttered way too quickly with all of the plugins it requires.
On the other hand, most of the other website builders don’t excel at integrating other apps and automations. Tools like Squarespace and Sitebuilder are extremely limited on apps you can integrate with. While this is fine for users who don’t plan on customizing their site much, we’re guessing that your startup could benefit from having a unique website to showcase your services.
Easy to Optimize
Users love that Webflow’s SEO capabilities are incredibly robust compared to other website builders. Most other tools don’t have features that allow you to customize your site’s meta titles and description, which Webflow does. This allows you to obtain organic website traffic from users who are searching for your particular search terms.
SEO is much more cost-efficient than pay-per-click (PPC) traffic. It takes time but can be done free of cost. Especially as a new startup, it’s always a better idea to obtain free traffic first rather than investing in paid ads.
Free Until Launch
When using applications like WordPress and Squarespace, you have to pay immediately to go live (although Squarespace has a free two-week trial). With Webflow, you don’t pay until you launch your website. That’s right — no matter how long it takes you, you’ll never be asked to pay a cent until you’re ready to go live.
Create a Commanding Online Presence With Webflow
As you know, there’s nothing more important than having a professional-looking and dynamic website to serve your customers. While you’re busy focusing on your startup, your website should be doing the selling for you.
Webflow does all of that and more, trumping every other tool in terms of creativity, functionality, and time management. It’s one of the top website builders on the market because you can customize it more than tools like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and SiteBuilder.
It’s designed to set busy startups like yours up for success without the need for complex code languages. For that reason, it works as an amazing tool for users who have little to no technical knowledge, while at the same time functioning as a complex software for your team of designers and developers. Best of all, you can do it without breaking the bank and spending thousands of dollars on designing a WordPress site.
Webflow is completely free until you’re ready to launch, so you have nothing to lose — and an incredible dynamic website to gain. Sign up with Webflow right now to start designing and building your online presence today.
