Businesses that want a simple website builder tool powered by the cloud and that doesn’t require external plugins will want to look at Webflow. Webflow, a San Francisco-based company, has an online visual editor platform as part of its all-in-one package. It comes with a content management system (CMS) built-in and allows web designers to build a site using an internet browser.
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Pros:
- Customize easily without needing to know code
- Templates perfect for content sites and e-commerce
Cons:
- More challenging to use than its competitors
- Plans are more expensive than competitors
- Limited customer service options
What is Webflow?
Webflow is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application. Its websites are responsive to all types of devices, meaning they will visually adjust to visually look good on any type of device whether it’s a desktop, tablet, or mobile device.
The websites on Webflow are hosted on Fastly and powered by Amazon Cloudfront, so those using Webflow will not need to pay for an additional web hosting service. You will also not need to install any hardware or software because you can edit your webpage from any internet browser.
While Webflow can be used by anyone for a webpage, it’s the web designers who build sites for other people who seem drawn to it. That’s because it’s a no-code builder, meaning it’s a user-friendly way to create a site without knowing a thing about HTML, CSS, or the working knowledge of a web developer.
What are the pros and cons of Webflow?
There’s a lot to like about Webflow including its ease of use, positive onboarding process, good tutorials, and an editor that looks a lot like Photoshop.
Pros
- It has lots of ways to customize sites easily without needing to know code. The Webflow site put a lot of effort into its design possibilities so it has many trendy features available as part of its system. Some cool design features include parallax scrolling, micro-interactions, and multi-step animations. It also has great functionality and special features for e-commerce sites like automatic tax calculations, Facebook, and Instagram integration so you can sync all your products and cross-sell on both your social media channels and your website.
- Many templates are perfect for both content sites and e-commerce. Webflow offers more than 100 professional-looking templates for you to use to build your website. Forty of those are free and they are all responsive, clear, well organized, and customizable. You can purchase premium templates if you desire further customization. The price for premium templates ranges from $19 to $149 but most seem to center around either $49 or $79. It is a cost but could be a solid investment if uniqueness and customization are important to your business. All templates can be sorted by price, e-commerce, or industry, making finding one for your business easy. Previews are also allowed so you can see which templates are best for dynamic content and fit your business style.
Cons
- It’s more challenging to use than its competitors. Those who aren’t as familiar with web design may be thrown off by all the options in Webflow’s web builder. The system includes a different way of thinking and many of the tools aren’t obvious. The onboarding tutorial helps, but there is a lot to look at and figure out. Those who know web design will love it and feel like a kid at Christmas.
- Plans are more expensive than competitors. Paid plans start at $12 a month and go up to a couple of hundred dollars for business plans, making Webflow the sports car of the website world.
- Customer service options are limited. Webflow doesn’t have phone support or live chat as part of its customer service, so email is the only real way to contact them if you need serious help.
What are the best features of Webflow?
Box model design
Webflow uses this method for you to build a website. It’s simple once you grasp the concept. With the box model design, each element you create has a box. An image is in a box. A text is in a box and buttons have their own boxes. You overlay them on each other to complete your site’s layout.
This is incredibly similar to Photoshop in building a flyer or picture. Anyone who has used Photoshop will immediately understand how Webflow works.
Advanced SEO management
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important to websites because that is how they get a high Google or Bing ranking, so it leads to how many see your page.
Being able to tweak the content on your site to help get it a higher ranking on the browsers will go a long way to gaining more views, and ultimately, more customers. Webflow does something more than allowing you to create image alt tests, create keywords, and edit metadata.
Webflow has sitemaps that are automatically generated and also offer customized 301 redirects. This ensures you won’t miss a user seeking you out.
High-quality designs
The templates, even the free ones, stand up well against any of Webflow’s competitors and you can create a beautiful website using any of them. The fact they can be customized is a bonus.
What are the benefits of Webflow?
Webflow has several benefits over its competitors and they are listed below.
All website designs are responsive so they will look great on all types of devices
Having a responsive website is important because you want everyone, no matter what they are using, to see your site. Customers will not buy on a site they can’t see well or move around on. Having it simplified provides for a better customer experience
Beautiful templates
Webflow has some of the best and highest-quality templates around. This will allow even small-scale freelancers to look their best.
It’s customizable
Webflow has an amazing amount of customization for being a website-building tool where you don’t have to know any code. The box model concept allows you to create unique content in a style that is truly yours.
Multiple payment options for e-commerce sites
Webflow allows online stores to accept payments using debit and credit cards through Stripe and accepts Apple Pay or PayPal.
What are the disadvantages of Webflow?
A lack of features
Webflow doesn’t have the number of features offered by competitors. For instance, linking to pages on Twitter and Facebook is easy but linking to other social media forms can be complicated.
Advanced features must be integrated
There are several features available, but you will need to integrate them into your site. Webflow doesn’t offer an app store to get more features so you must get apps from third parties.
What is the security of Webflow?
Security is a serious priority with Webflow. It provides automatic backups for all websites. That makes restoring your site to the last backup easy if something goes awry. Every website also has an SSL certificate that inspires trust among your visitors and protects your site.
How much does Webflow cost?
Webflow sets up its pricing based on categories of use. Those using it for blogs or different content types can go with a simpler pricing plan while businesses and e-commerce plans will need to level up to get more features, checkout solutions, and cross-selling solutions.
One thing that makes Webflow different from other platforms is you can start for free. You can play with the webpage, see if you like it, even build your page at no cost. There isn’t a trial period and a credit card is not required.
However, you will need to pay for a plan when you launch it.
There are two categories of pricing structures with each divided between individual use and e-commerce.
Site Plans
Personal, blogs, and business websites
- Basic: $12 a month if paid annually or $15 each month to pay that way.
- Custom domain
- 100 pages allowed
- Up to 25,000 visits monthly
- 100 form submissions allowed monthly
- Bandwidth is 50 GB
- Webflow CMS: This plan is $16 a month if paid annually or $20 a month to pay every month.
- Custom domain
- 100 pages allowed
- Allows 100,000 visitors a month
- 2,000 collection items allowed
- 1,000 form submissions a month allowed
- Bandwidth is 200 GB
- API requests per minute are 60 RPM
- 3 content editors
- Business: The price is $36 a month if paid annually or $45 monthly if paying in 12 installment payments.
- Custom domain name
- 100 pages allowed
- Up to 500,000 visitors allowed
- 10,000 collection items
- 2,000 form submissions a month allowed
- Bandwidth is 400 GB
- API requests per minute are 120 RPM
- 10 Content editors
- Enterprise: The price is negotiated with representatives.
- Custom domain
- 100 pages allowed
- Customized number of monthly visits
- 10,000 collection items allowed
- Unlimited amount of submissions
- Bandwidth is 400 GB plus.
- AOI requests per minute and content editors are customized.
There are three e-commerce packages on the site plans
- Standard: The price is $29 monthly if billed annually and $42 monthly if paying in 12 installments. There are 500 items allowed in this plan. The primary difference between this plan and the other two is the standard plan has a 2 percent transaction fee and will allow three staff accounts. The yearly sales volume is maxed at $50,000.
- Plus: The price is $74 a month if billed annually or $84 each month if billed monthly. This plan allows 1,000 items and has no transaction fee. Webflow users get 10 staff accounts and a maximum of $200,000 in yearly sales volume.
- Advanced: This plan is $212 a month if paying annually or $235 monthly if billed each month. It allows 3,000 items, has no transaction fees, allows 15 staff accounts, and allows unlimited sales.
Account Plans
These come packaged as an individual or as a team plan.
Individual Plans
- Starter: The starter plan is the free plan. You are allowed staging for two projects and client billing for free.
- Lite: This plan is $16 monthly if you pay annually or $24 a month if billed for 12 installments. It allows 10 projects, client billing, enhanced staging, code export, and unlimited project transfers.
- Pro: This plan is $25 a month if paying annually or $42 a month if paying in a monthly billing cycle. It includes unlimited projects, client billing, enhanced staging, code export, and unlimited project transfers. It also includes white labeling and site password protection.
Team Plans
Team plans allow your group to work collectively from a shared dashboard, so they can collaborate on projects or work on their own project at the same time. There are two versions of these types of plans.
- Team: This plan costs $35 monthly per person if paying annually or $42 a month if paying by monthly billing. The number of projects is unlimited.
- Enterprise: This plan is for a customized site and account plan so you will need to speak to a customer service representative about pricing and features.
What kind of customer support can users expect?
The Webflow website is lacking in this department compared to competitors. It does have an excellent online resource center for users to research issues and find guides on using the platform. It is easy to search for different topics.
It also has an active community forum where various issues and challenges can be discussed. The site also offers Webflow University, which is a series of tutorials to help you build a site.
After that, it gets dicey to get customer service support. Webflow doesn’t have a live chat service and it also doesn’t provide any customer service by phone, so you must email them with any issues.
The response team replies personally to every email within 48 hours. It is recommended you send a detailed message and attach files to demonstrate the problem.
FAQs
Can I use Webflow for any kind of business?
Yes, Webflow can be used by bloggers, freelancers, and online businesses. There are more than 100 templates to suit any number of businesses. However, the industry that seems to enjoy the benefits of this design tool the most are web designers who create websites for other businesses.
Do I need to know any coding to use Webflow?
No, you don’t need any coding knowledge to create a webpage using Webflow. Elements are part of a CMS system so you pick and choose what you want to.
Can my entire company staff use Webflow?
Absolutely. There are plans for small businesses, e-commerce, team members, and customized plans are available for larger businesses who want to use it throughout their company.
Webflow is one of the best website builders for those who want more customization and control over their website. It isn’t a good choice for those just entering into website building.
Webflow is also good for those who want to sell online and need a program where they can cross-sell across major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Including other platforms is possible, but can be challenging to integrate.
Webflow is more expensive than other similar platforms, so those who use it need to be serious about their business ambitions and have an understanding of how to use websites in marketing and to generate revenue.
Overall, Webflow is a good website-building tool for those who want to be creative but aren’t looking for a steep learning curve to get started.
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