As the digital marketing landscape continues to change and evolve, experts and specialists must explore new opportunities for growth. Without adjusting and considering different approaches, businesses eventually fall out of touch with the best practices for their digital marketing campaigns.
That being said, the SEO world is one area of digital marketing that’s been changing a ton these days, with new Core Algorithm updates from Google, the rise of rich snippets, and so much more. As a result of these changes, many web designers and digital marketers are slowly starting to move away from traditional platforms like WordPress. Now, more than ever, a large number of people is migrating to platforms like Webflow.
Is the shift worth the switching costs though? Does it make sense for marketers to choose a newer, more modern platform for websites rather than the long-standing, proven incumbent? Read for the SEO benefits of Webflow and the differences between Webflow and WordPress.
Key Webflow SEO Considerations
SITE SPEED
Webflow is a platform that prides itself on simplicity and ease of functionality. It doesn’t come with hundreds of thousands of plugins, builders, menus, or buttons to turn on and off. Inside their Site Editor, you’ll find an intuitive design section with little to no code needed, because Webflow is all about the actual design of each page. Note the Webflow also requires little to no coding or website development experience, since their built-in elements are efficient, clean, and minimal.
Meanwhile, the Technical Settings section of the Site Editor is dialed back and simple. Because Webflow doesn’t require extras like plugins, custom HTML/CSS, etc., the sites built there are void of the historical annoyance of code bloat. Code bloat is caused by “unnecessarily long, slow, or otherwise wasteful code. and it slows down site load time and negatively impacts page experience for each user.
Site speed is a very important factor that search engines like Google consider when deciding where a site ranks for certain relevant queries. As Google shifts its Search Algorithm in favor of quick, efficient websites, which they’ve already begun to do, sites built on WordPress will be more scrutinized than they were in years past. This doesn’t guarantee that they’ll see rankings drop, because every website is different. However, these sites could leave themselves vulnerable to possible ranking declines and decreases in organic search traffic over the next 5 years.
TITLES & META DESCRIPTIONS
According to Benzinga, “WebFlow provides a more consistent SEO experience [for website admins] than WordPress does. That’s because to update things like page titles and meta descriptions within WordPress, you’ll need a plugin to power that capability.” One problem with WordPress is its reliance on paid, third-party plugins for the execution of simple SEO.
WordPress requires that you use a plugin like Yoast or RankMath to get page titles, meta descriptions, meta keywords, and more inscribed for each page. With Webflow, all of these things can be done natively inside of the Site Editor. This benefit eliminates any risk of losing titles and descriptions because of plugin issues or required updates.
TECHNICAL SEO
One of the main benefits of Webflow for SEO is that Webflow offers nearly all of the standard capabilities historically offered by WordPress. Through their native site builder and integrations, anyone can very easily add alt texts to images, configure URL slugs, update the site’s menus, and connect with Google Search Console, Analytics, and Ads. Webflow is even able to generate an up-to-date XML sitemap for your site so that you can very easily get the pages in your site crawled. Schema markup is no problem for Webflow sites, plus they also make complex page redirects simpler than ever to implement.
No matter which element of your SEO campaign you consider, Webflow has nearly all the capabilities that WordPress has. From technical SEO elements to heading structure, URLs, and metadata, Webflow has all of your important pieces of the puzzle covered. With so much handled by their native, modern CMS, you and your digital marketing team could get more time and space to focus more on user experience, business leads, and the brand your business seeks to build.
Outsource Webflow SEO with Geek Powered Studios
At the end of the day, Webflow has a wide range of tools and resources that make it attractive to digital marketers and businesses looking to improve their site’s load time while also avoiding complicated plugin hassles. While Webflow has nearly all of the same capabilities as WordPress, it does come with a simpler CMS interface that makes optimizing pages a piece of cake.
WordPress is still the most robust platform for SEO on the market, with its customizable elements and proven backend, so it’s unlikely that it’ll stop being a contender any time soon. Still, with all of its effectiveness, Webflow is a rising star in the space that could also be the difference maker businesses need to improve their Google search rankings and bring in more interested leads and customers. To learn more about Webflow SEO as well as our comprehensive SEO services, contact our team ASAP.
