Which site builder is the best for your business?
The most popular website builders are Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, WordPress, Zyro, and so on. The only concern with these platforms (except WordPress) is that you can’t use them with another platform.
In other words, you can’t design your website outside of Squarespace, for example, and host with Hostgator. So what about Webflow? Does it host websites?
Webflow is a content management system (CMS), similar to Squarespace and Wix. Webflow allows you to design a beautiful website (for any purpose, including eCommerce and portfolio sites), and host with unmatched features and functionality.
The only caveat is that you can ONLY host websites designed with Webflow.
This is different from designing a website using WordPress and hosting with Bluehost.
Key features of Webflow
Let’s consider some of the main features of Webflow that makes the platform to stand out from the crowd:
Webflow is a semi-visual site editor
Webflow is a site builder and host with a number of features and services. These can be broken down into three main categories: website design, CMS, and hosting.
Its builder aims to provide maximum flexibility for building websites and is capable of combining many technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The Webflow interface looks more complex than Wix’s, but it is easy to navigate even for beginners. Its dashboard allows you to add new sites and drag containers. There are also premade responsive templates available to choose from.
Webflow also allows you to create dynamic content and publish it on the website in real time. Users can use Webflow to create unique dynamic content, including landing pages, portfolios, and online forms.
Users can select one of two editing modes: Editor and Designer. Each mode offers different tools and levels of complexity. To get started with Webflow, follow these steps:
If you’re looking for a no-code website builder, Webflow may be your best bet. While it’s no drag-and-drop editor, you’ll still need some HTML and CSS knowledge to get started.
But Webflow also offers a CMS that’s easy to use and edit, making it easier to manage your site’s content.
While it’s not as popular as WordPress, Webflow is trusted by over three million designers and major companies like Hellosign. Webflow University is a good place to get started, with excellent lessons for beginners.
Despite the simplicity of Webflow, it doesn’t come without its drawbacks. It doesn’t offer a fully featured e-commerce platform, but its team account plan lets you collaborate across a single dashboard with the help of several team members.
Besides the e-commerce features, Webflow’s editor also offers basic SEO tools. There’s also a free trial site available that offers basic features.
It has a built-in CMS
Webflow has a built-in CMS for a number of uses. It allows web novices to edit content and images and can help a website to rank higher in search engines. It also allows web design agencies to host their website and handle back-end code.
There are some of the common uses of Webflow:
– It allows you to customize and create templates. You can create new websites with the help of the template, or use an existing template. Webflow comes with pre-built snippets and elements that help you design a unique website. Using templates also frees you from the expense of hiring a designer. With a little work, you can create custom templates that reflect your own personal style.
– Webflow offers varying e-commerce plans. These include customisable shops, support for multiple payment gateways, and built-in CMS. They also have integrated marketing features with MailChimp and Google Analytics. While Webflow is a good choice for an e-commerce website, it is not suited for selling subscription-based products or memberships. While Webflow is affordable, its built-in CMS platform is limited and may not be user-friendly for many users.
Webflow offers a free Starter Workspace, but it also offers Paid Site and Workspace plans. The paid plans give you access to more features and increase your account limits. In addition, they also allow you to host your website on your own domain name.
You can also create custom domains and invite collaborators to your website. In addition, Webflow is compatible with many other software applications and can also be used for development and testing purposes.
Can you Webflow outside the U.S.?
If you have a website in China, for example, you’ll need to use a VPN. You won’t be able to use Webflow without a VPN. They host websites with infrastructure that’s optimized for outside China, but not for users in the country. For example, Webflow uses Amazon Cloudfront to load jQuery, but Google Font is banned.
Therefore, your site may take up to 45 seconds to load in China.
Webflow’s UI is known for its stunning designs and has many users in China. Salt Branding uses Webflow for their homepage. Although the interface is convenient for implementing custom codes, it has some limitations in China. For example, the wave on the homepage of Heco design studio does not display correctly when viewed in China. Users in China should consider a different web host if they need to host their website in China.
Another feature of Webflow is its CDN network. This network of proxy servers and data centers relays content from a server nearest to the visitor’s location. This reduces the amount of data traveling over long distances. For this reason, Webflow’s hosting plans are compatible with HTTP/2. This standard replaces multiple server connections by delivering all content at once. Moreover, Webflow offers many performance optimization strategies.
Webflow offers a free trial of its services to test their services. If you’re satisfied with their services, you can then upgrade to a paid plan. You can pay for hosting monthly or annually, depending on the plan you choose.
However, the free plan comes with limited bandwidth and a website builder. Webflow offers a wide variety of hosting plans at affordable prices. You can also purchase a domain name through Google Domains or GoDaddy.
Webflow has native SEO tools
One of the most important factors in maintaining a website’s search engine rankings is having accurate data about how your site is performing.
By collecting accurate data, you can make adjustments to improve your site’s speed. Also, creating content is a major factor in maintaining your SEO strategy, and Webflow’s powerful CMS makes adding new content at scale a breeze.
With just a few clicks, you can create new landing pages, optimize your content, and remain relevant to the search engine results.
Meta descriptions and titles are crucial components of search engine optimization.
If these elements aren’t optimized properly, you won’t rank well and won’t be able to convey the right message to your audience. With Webflow, you can easily update your meta descriptions and title tags.
The visual optimizer lets you see how the changes will affect your website’s ranking on Google. This makes it easier for you to tweak your website’s SEO and increase your traffic.
Webflow includes several features that WordPress doesn’t. You can easily add alt text to images, configure URL slugs, change menus, and more. It can also integrate with Google Analytics, Ads, and Search Console. You can even generate an XML sitemap with Webflow.
Using Schema markup is also a breeze with Webflow. You can even implement complex page redirects. You can easily implement SEO best practices with Webflow, and the resulting results will be visible right away.
When building your site, it’s important to consider your site’s load time. Google penalizes sites that take longer to load.
This is especially important for mobile users, as 80% of them browse on mobile devices.
A Content Delivery Network allows your site to load faster and improves user experience. Webflow has natively integrated Amazon CloudFront CDN. With this CDN, you’ll be able to boost your site’s performance and rank higher in Google.
Webflow has a scalable server fleet
Webflow has a scalable server fleet and offers hosting services in over 100 datacenters around the world. Its content delivery networks are powered by Fastly and Amazon CloudFront. Using Webflow allows website owners to have a realistic preview of the finished product before it is published.
In addition, Webflow has SSL certificates and HTTP/2 compliant infrastructure. Users can also create and manage content, as well as adding media and blogs.
Adding content is easy with Webflow’s CMS and it also supports manual adjustments of content.
The Webflow server fleet is capable of handling millions of visitors, even as the number of clients and sites grows. It is fully HTTP/2 ready and scales to meet the needs of your business.
Webflow’s free plan limits the number of pages to two. You can also buy site plans on a per-project basis.
Its scalable server fleet can scale to handle the traffic and can automatically escalate traffic when needed. In addition, Webflow offers email support and prioritized help for teams.
Webflow also offers a free account plan and an affordable lite plan. In addition to the free account plan, you can also opt for the $35 pro plan.
The Webflow hosting plans come with responsive design software, versioning, backups, and automatic restore points.
You can benefit from the speed of your website and the uptime close to one hundred percent. Its scalable server fleet enables you to grow your business without any worries.
Conclusion
Essentially, Webflow offers web hosting for your websites. But you have to create the website using the Webflow website builder to host with them.
You’ll enjoy the flexible pricing structure, too. Webflow offers a free plan, but it does not offer refunds.
All plans remain active until the end of the billing period. If you cancel your full account, your existing website will be retained, unless you purchase the Enterprise plan.
A canceled full account does not delete your existing websites and will automatically downgrade to a free plan. The paid plans are aimed at individual users with one site, freelancers, and teams.