Is Webflow Good for SEO? A Content Manager's Honest Review

As a content manager who has navigated the choppy waters of various content management systems (IFYKYK), switching to Webflow felt like an easy choice.

But when it came to Webflow's SEO capabilities, the initial excitement waned a bit. While it offers a solid foundation, there are hidden depths to explore – both strengths and limitations – that can significantly impact your website's search engine visibility.

Webflow's SEO Strengths

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1. Clean, Semantic Code 

Webflow generates clean, semantic HTML, which can contribute to faster load times and easier crawlability. This clean foundation is a good starting point for SEO, though it's important to remember that it's just one aspect of a comprehensive SEO strategy.

2. Design Flexibility with SEO in Mind

Webflow's visual design capabilities allow for the creation of aesthetically pleasing, responsive websites without sacrificing basic SEO principles. This can be particularly beneficial for brands that prioritize both design and search visibility.

3. On-Page SEO Control 

Webflow provides manual control over crucial on-page SEO elements like title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. This granular control allows for precise optimization of individual pages for smaller to medium-sized sites.

4. Basic Technical SEO Features 

The platform handles some basic technical SEO well, such as generating sitemaps and allowing robots.txt customization. These features provide a solid foundation for search engine crawling and indexing.

Webflow's SEO Challenges

While Webflow offers several SEO advantages, it's important to be aware of its limitations:

1. Content Scalability 

In my experience, Webflow's CMS, while powerful for smaller sites, can become unwieldy for large-scale content operations. Here’s what the platform might lack: 

• Advanced content modeling features, which can make it challenging to create complex content structures or relationships. 

Features like custom post types, taxonomies, and flexible content relationships are either limited or require custom code implementation.

• The number of CMS items, which can force suboptimal workarounds as your site grows.

For instance, Webflow imposes a limit of 100,000 CMS items per project. While this may seem like a large number, it can quickly become a bottleneck for content-heavy websites with frequent updates or large product catalogs. 

Once you reach this limit, you may need to implement workarounds, such as creating multiple projects or utilizing external data sources.

As a result, content teams working on large-scale projects may find themselves constrained by Webflow's CMS limitations, potentially leading to compromises in their content strategy or SEO implementation. 

2. Advanced Technical SEO Implementation

Implementing more complex SEO techniques can be more challenging in Webflow compared to some other platforms:

• JavaScript Rendering: Webflow's reliance on JavaScript for certain functionalities can potentially lead to search engine crawling and indexing issues, especially for more complex, interactive pages.

• Internal Linking Limitations: The platform lacks advanced internal linking tools, so implementing a strategic internal linking structure for larger sites is more challenging.

• Canonical URL Management: While possible, managing canonical URLs for content that appears in multiple locations is not as straightforward as in some other CMS platforms.

• Advanced Redirect Management: Implementing complex redirect strategies, crucial for site migrations or content restructuring, can be more cumbersome in Webflow.

• Schema Markup: Implementing structured data requires custom code injection, which can be daunting for non-technical users and time-consuming for large sites.

• Hreflang Implementation: For multilingual sites, setting up proper hreflang tags is more complicated in Webflow compared to dedicated multilingual CMS solutions.

3. Performance Considerations 

Unlike WordPress, which offers a plethora of caching and optimization plugins to mitigate performance issues, Webflow lacks such a robust ecosystem of third-party performance tools.

As a result, maintaining optimal page speed for large, feature-rich Webflow sites often requires more hands-on effort from developers and designers. 

Careful consideration must be given to code optimization, asset delivery, and limiting excessive use of resource-intensive features like animations.

While Webflow's visual design capabilities are appealing, teams must strike a balance between aesthetics and performance, ensuring that design choices don't come at the cost of unacceptable load times, especially on mobile devices or for users with slower internet connections.

4. The Learning Curve and Team Adoption

One often overlooked aspect of platform choice is team adoption. 

In my experience, while designers often love Webflow's visual interface and intuitive design tools, content teams and SEO specialists sometimes struggle with its unconventional approach, especially if they're accustomed to more traditional CMS environments. 

Furthermore, the manual nature of implementing SEO best practices in Webflow can be daunting for those accustomed to automated SEO analysis and optimization suggestions provided by plugins like Yoast SEO for WordPress. 

This can result in inconsistent application of SEO principles across a site, particularly for larger or rapidly evolving projects.

While Webflow offers comprehensive documentation and training resources, the learning curve can still be significant, especially for teams with diverse skill sets and backgrounds. 

Effective onboarding and ongoing training may be necessary to ensure consistent adoption and adherence to SEO best practices across the entire team.

Alternatives and the Rise of Hybrid Solutions

While Webflow has its strengths, the SEO limitations have led many teams to explore alternatives or hybrid solutions:

1. Headless CMS + Webflow: Some teams are using Webflow as a frontend, coupled with a headless CMS for content management. This approach combines Webflow's design capabilities with more robust content management and SEO tools.

2. Static Site Generators: For teams with technical resources, static site generators like Gatsby or Next.js offer similar design flexibility to Webflow but with improved performance and SEO control.

3. WordPress with Page Builders: The combination of WordPress's robust SEO ecosystem with modern page builders can offer a middle ground, though it comes with its own set of challenges.

4. Emerging Platforms like inblog: New platforms aim to bridge the gap between design flexibility and SEO power. inblog, for instance, offers an intriguing blend of Webflow-like design capabilities with more advanced built-in SEO and content management features.

inblog advantage

inblog allows you to focus on what you do best—creating compelling content, while it tackles SEO, distribution, and lead generation. Here’s how:

1. Built-in SEO Powerhouse

: Forget juggling plugins and technical complexities. Inblog's built-in SEO features ensure content is optimized from the start, handling technical aspects like sitemap generation, robots.txt configuration, and meta tag optimization automatically.

2. Google Search Console integration

: Easily monitor search performance and identify optimization opportunities without leaving the Inblog interface. 

3. Comprehensive Distribution

: Inblog goes beyond just publishing by offering integrated newsletter and social media posting capabilities. This allows you to distribute content efficiently across multiple channels, maximizing reach and engagement.

4. Lead Generation Tools

: Unlike Webflow, Inblog offers built-in lead generation features like customizable forms and CTAs, making it easier to convert readers into leads directly from blog content.

5. Performance Optimization

: With features like global CDN, image optimization, and mobile-friendly responsive design, Inblog ensures content loads quickly and performs well across all devices – crucial factors for both user experience and SEO.

To experience inblog firsthand and see how it compares to Webflow for your specific needs, consider taking their free trial. It might just be the solution you're looking for!