Introduction
Webflow is a visual web design tool that translates your design decisions into clean, ready-to-use code. It is built to allow designers and developers and generally anyone to create fully responsive and contemporary looking websites.
After studying the variety of website builders available today, you have decided to opt for Webflow.
So, where to start with building your site on this platform?
Create an account
The first step to start using all the opportunities Webflow provides is signing up. The good news is that you can work on your site for free as long as you need, until you decide to launch it publicly.
Prepare content
Plan the structure and the content of your website beforehand. Try to get an understanding of how much written and visual content will this or that section contain. This will make the designing process way easier for you and save you a significant amount of time on unwanted restructures.
Take care of SEO
Make sure your content is SEO optimized. To achieve this, be sure to do your own keyword research. Compile a list of the words and phrases that people are likely to type into a search engine when looking for content related to your business. Don’t forget about the specific language that your audience uses. Studying your competitors’ websites is a great way to get useful insights on this.
Once you have a list of keywords ready, you are all set to prepare the meta titles, meta descriptions, H1 and H2 headings that will help your website improve the search engine rankings.
You can also outsource this SEO preparation job to some agency or freelancer. However, this will be an additional investment, and your resources might be limited at this time.
Choose your template or start with a canvas
With Webflow, you can begin your website creation either with a template or from a blank canvas.
Starting with pre-made templates would be the best option to get familiar with the Webflow toolkit. Templates are highly customisable.
Starting from a blank canvas is recommended to those who already have certain HTML/CSS experience.
Add your content
If you already have the content prepared (remember the recommendation to prepare content beforehand?), you are all set for filling your site.
Use the images and copies you’ve prepared before. Thanks to rich customization opportunities, you can easily adjust the fonts, image sizes, add or remove elements as needed.
You can also create custom content types - blog posts, case studies, user profiles, etc. This can be achieved through the CMS Collections menu.
Apply animations and interactions
One of the key benefits Webflow provides is support for the advanced animations and interactions.
The Interactions 2.0 feature allows the designers to create custom CSS styles and JavaScript animations for different page states and / or user interactions.
It's basically an attempt to significantly reduce the headache of manipulating the DOM tree in JavaScript, and for the most part it works well.
Creating interactions in Webflow is much easier (and faster!) than writing custom JavaScript animations manually.
However, if you've never worked with code before, especially with JavaScript, this feature is likely to be a real pain point as you master Webflow. But once you learn it, you will be able to create amazing animations for your website.
Don’t forget about CTAs
There are plenty of ways to customize your CTA elements. Change colors and fonts of your CTAs, add buttons like “Get in touch” or “Request a quote”, and any additional info you want your website visitors to see.
Integrate with various services
Next, you can take advantage of a variety of integrations available - social media platforms, marketing tools, payment processing providers, shipping services, and many more.
Thanks to integration with services such as Shopify, Ecwid, Zapier, PayPal, MailChimp, Google Analytics and others, advanced service options become available. These are online store creation, CRM, sms and email newsletters, payment systems, and analytics.
Customize customer experience
For online store owners, providing outstanding customer experience is essential. With Webflow, you can customize shopping cart, checkout experience, and the transactional emails. Besides, customers would appreciate the variety of available payment options.
