If you are in the market for a new website, or a looking to update your existing website with a fresh new look, then make sure you take a serious look at Webflow.
WHAT IS WEBFLOW?
Webflow is an online visual website builder. What is really striking about Webflow is the fine control you have over the design of the pages.
I have used many online website builders over the years and not one has made me smile as much as Webflow. That is praise indeed!
DOES WEBFLOW INCLUDE HOSTING?
Yes, if you choose to host with Webflow. When you register with Webflow you can start designing your site free of charge. All projects on the Starter plan come with free staging of your designs. Once you decide to launch you can select from a range of hosting options.
HOW MUCH DOES WEBFLOW COST?
At the time of writing, prices for Webflow website hosting plans range from $12 per month for the Basic plan to $36 per month for the Business plan. Enterprise customers are offered custom pricing.
If you need to add ecommerce facilities to your site then prices range from $29 per month to $212 per month.
However, you can try Webflow for free!
Whilst pricing may typically be more than some competitors, I do not believe you can undervalue the power of the design interface and the amount of control you have over your site design.
WHICH IS BETTER, WORDPRESS OR WEBFLOW?
Both Wordpress and Webflow have their strengths. There are many reviewers who will rave about Wordpress and others who will espouse the virtues of Webflow.
Wordpress can be installed on any hosting platform and there are 1000s of templates available. So, you should ultimately find a design you like.
Wordpress is extremely popular and, hence, there is an extensive list of plugins that can be used. However, these plugins can also be the Achilles heel of Wordpress.
Regular maintenance is required if you use Wordpress. Plugins need to be updated and security patches have to be installed. Some plugins may not be as secure as others and regular security issues are highlighted.
Webflow is a little different in that all code can be maintained on Webflow’s servers. You do not need to be concerned with updates as this is handled for you.
There are templates available for Webflow, both free and paid, but the choice is not as extensive as Wordpress.
IS WEBFLOW EASY TO USE?
The ease of use of Webflow is really dependent on your previous experience with website builders and your knowledge of CSS.
Plenty of control over CSS effects in Webflow.
If you just need a simple design and you know how to stack the different page elements then you should be able to pick things up quite quickly.
Although the interface is drag and drop, to get the most out of the design process you will need to understand a little about CSS or be willing to learn. Fortunately, a comprehensive series of tutorial videos (highly recommend you watch them) is available.
Just some of the drag and drop elements available in Webflow.
I have years of experience working with different development environments and it took me a few hours to understand the finer details of the principles of the Webflow design process and how elements relate to each other. It is a bit of a steeper learning curve than some other options available. However, I believe the effort really is worth it as the amount of control you have beats most other site builders.
As mentioned above, there are some (rather humorous) instructional videos available from what Webflow has affectionately called Webflow University. I strongly recommend you watch the playlists that show you how to build a site from scratch.
It is worth noting that, whilst I found the whole design experience rather refreshing, some users may be intimidated by the interface.
DOES WEBFLOW HAVE A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
Yes, Webflow does have a content management system. It is probably one of the most unique approaches I have seen to content management and it is evident that they have really considered how it should be structured.
You have the ability to specify content types (which they refer to as collections) such as blog posts, recipes, team members etc. The most common ones have predefined templates. Within each content type, or collection, you can define custom fields. You can also define your own collections with custom fields.
The nice thing about the custom fields is that they can then be used as filters in the rather powerful filtering options when adding content to specific pages.
DOES WEBFLOW BACKUP WEBSITES?
Yes. Webflow will automatically create backup copies of your website (or project as they call it).
You can restore any of your project backups. In addition, Webflow will automatically create a backup of your current project before you restore a previous version.
You also have the option of creating a manual backup of your project.
Overall, the backup facility is a very welcome feather in the cap for Webflow. Most other site builders require additional plugins or additional payments. The facility is a simple and effective method of ensuring you do not inadvertently ruin your site!
Webflow creates automated backups of your projects.
DOES WEBFLOW OFFER ECOMMERCE INTEGRATION?
Yes. You can design product pages based from templates and control the look and feel of your ecommerce integration.
As mentioned previously, Webflow works with collections. Your products will be a collection. You can then design a template and your products will automatically be available using your template design.
Product ‘buy now’ buttons and ‘cart’ buttons are also easy to add and style.
The use of various effects and animations within Webflow means you can add a few nice touches to allow customers to preview their cart.
Webflow offers Stripe and PayPal integration. Both of these are easy to set up.
DOES WEBFLOW OFFER TEAM ACCOUNTS?
Yes. These are great if you work within a team environment. Pricing starts from $35 per person.
You can easily add collaborators to any project or provide view only access to a project. This is useful if you are working with a client and still need to maintain access after the site goes live or when receiving feedback during the design process.
IS WEBFLOW BETTER THAN SQUARESPACE?
In my opinion and for my needs, YES.
I think it is fair to say that once you understand how Webflow works then you will not want to go back to any other editor.
Squarespace offers a comprehensive suite of free templates. However, many of these are based around using lots of images (take a look at some). Once you strip away the images there is little left.
I do not believe Squarespace comes close to what is achievable with Webflow.
Control over styling and element positions using Squarespace is also quite restrictive with many options hidden under layers of menus and sub-menus.
Webflow has nearly everything available from the one interface with updates occurring on the fly and fine granular control available.
CAN I TRANSFER MY WORDPRESS SITE TO WEBFLOW?
Yes. You can use one of the export Wordpress plugins to export your Wordpress site to CSV. You can then import the CSV file to a collection and and map your fields from the CSV or create new fields.
All that is left to do is design your page template for your collection.
FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT WEBFLOW
It takes a lot to impress me when it comes to website builders. However, I can honestly say that the last couple of days getting to know the Webflow workflow have been quite enjoyable.
Using Webflow reminds me of the old PC and Apple adverts. Wordpress would be the PC and Webflow would be the equivalent of Apple - sleek, well-designed, and (relatively) easy to use.
If you want to give Webflow a try then head on over and give it a whirl. It is free to register and you can try almost all of the features.
