Webflow SEO: How good is Webflow for SEO?

If you’re looking for a way to quickly build a responsive website and one of your choices is Webflow, you have probably asked a very valid question - is Webflow good for SEO? 

Our team works with Webflow and builds and designs successful websites with its help, so we felt qualified to answer. Answer with this article. Read on then and find out all about Webflow SEO.

Community opinion

Reddit

Webflow is a great tool for building fast, responsive, and modern websites that are also optimized for search engines. Webflow can help you with your SEO efforts and has features that make it ideal for SEO.

Webflow SEO - what to expect

First of all, Webflow is a cloud-based SaaS product that helps you quickly and relatively easily build and launch websites. It is generally marketed toward designers, marketers, and content managers who want flexibility in designing their sites without coding. 

Of course, it will have SEO features. The question is, which ones and how good are they? 

If you checked our previous piece with Webflow inspiration, you might’ve seen all those websites with gorgeous designs. They are all on Webflow and SEO-optimized, all while equipped with conversion-focused elements. 

Does that mean Webflow has the perfect tools for SEO optimization? It depends.

Webflow does offer important SEO features like customizable meta tags, search engine-friendly URLs, or the ability to create an XML sitemap - we listed these and more below. 

Also, if you’re an advanced user, you can add custom code for further optimization. We at Merge do that to create fully optimized web solutions.

Another thing Webflow does well is that its sites are built for speed. They use a fast CDN, lazy-load images, and offer code optimization features to provide fast load times. With this, you meet Google's Core Web Vitals standards and improve your ranking factors.

Here’s what you can expect with built-in Webflow SEO tools:

• Automated sitemaps. Webflow automatically generates sitemaps to make all pages indexed by search engines.
• Meta titles and descriptions. You can easily edit meta titles and descriptions for each page.
• SSL certification. Every Webflow site comes with SSL, which is great for security and search engine rankings.
• Canonical tags. Another feature is setting custom canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.
• 301 redirects. Manage permanent redirects within the Webflow interface to maintain SEO value when pages are moved or deleted. This way, you can easily fix any broken links or URL changes.
• Custom schema data. Webflow’s built-in addition of structured data improves the visibility of content. In turn, you get more engaging rich snippets in the SERPs.
• Robots.txt and XML sitemaps. These are also customizable to control how search engines crawl and index the site.

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Limitations and what to work on

One of the main drawbacks, which we already mentioned as an “advanced feature,” is that Webflow does not automatically generate SEO-friendly code, and users do not have access to the source code. 

Limitation 1: No built-in keyword research tools

Webflow doesn't have any tools to help you find the right keywords to target for your content. This means you'll need to use separate keyword research tools, which is an extra step.

What to do: 

Invest in a good keyword research process, either by using a dedicated SEO tool or working with an SEO expert. Getting the right keywords works wonders in optimizing your content for what your customers are searching for.

Limitation 2: Can't automatically identify site structure issues

Webflow doesn't have a tool that can point out problems like broken links or suggest ways to improve your internal linking. You'll need to manually review your site or use additional tools.

What to do: 

Audit your Webflow site's structure, either by using an SEO tool or working with an expert, to help you uncover and fix any issues that could be hurting your search rankings.

So while Webflow can handle your technical SEO foundations, you may need to supplement it with other SEO tools and services to get the most out of your content and link-building efforts.

Webflow SEO optimization techniques

Community opinion

Reddit

Overall, Webflow is great for SEO and it's more about technique rather than technology. Good SEO is about having a solid page structure, high-quality content, and a strong backlink profile. These are the key factors that truly impact your search engine rankings.

Without further ado, our 10 best Webflow SEO techniques that use the main Webflow SEO features we discussed above and focus on both the technical and content-based aspects of search optimization:

1. Use Webflow's custom fields to set optimized meta titles, descriptions, and keywords for each page.

2. Implement structured data/schema markup to provide search engines with more context about your content.

3. Optimize image alt text and file names to improve image search visibility.

4. Guarantee fast page load times by compressing images, enabling caching, and minimizing code.

5. Create a logical site structure with clear navigation and internal linking.

6. Publish high-quality, keyword-targeted content on a regular basis.

7. Earn authoritative backlinks to your site through guest posting, outreach, and other link-building tactics.

8. Monitor your site's performance in Google Search Console and make data-driven improvements.

9. Use Webflow's built-in SEO audit tool to identify and fix any technical issues.

10. Integrate with third-party SEO tools like Ahrefs for advanced keyword research and rank tracking.

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In addition to the basic “all-encompassing” SEO for Webflow techniques, here are a few more that you can use depending on your goals.

International SEO

When expanding, the next thing you need to do is optimize your site for a global audience. To that end, translate your content, create local versions, use hreflang tags (to target different regions and languages), and, very importantly, offer culturally relevant content.

Local SEO

Use local keywords, create local landing pages, add your business to local directories, and acquire local backlinks. This will improve your visibility in local search results.

E-commerce SEO

First, optimize product descriptions and category pages. Use relevant keywords, add unique tags, including detailed information, and use structured data tags.

Webflow SEO checklist

When designing your website with Webflow (and other tools, to be honest), here’s our trusted checklist to confirm you have the important stuff covered. We have singled out the five items that can sometimes get overlooked.

1. Plan your website structure

To do: set up a logical hierarchy and clear navigation.

2. Crawlability and indexability

To do: use a robots.txt file and avoid excessive JavaScript that might hinder crawling.

3. Consistent domain

To do: decide on using www or non-www and set up proper redirects.

4. Page speed

To do: optimize images, enable browser caching, minify code, and reduce HTTP requests.

5. Mobile-friendly design

To do: implement responsive design principles for better mobile usability.

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Webflow vs WordPress SEO

When comparing Webflow to WordPress, a popular choice for website building, there are some key differences in their approach to SEO.

Ease of use

WordPress requires more manual work when it comes to SEO, with plugins like Yoast guiding users to create SEO-friendly content. 

vs.

Webflow automatically generates much of the SEO performance, which may be preferable for those who don't want to focus on writing meta descriptions and other SEO tasks.

Customization

WordPress has a bit more range of plugins and integrations available, which, on one hand, can be beneficial for SEO optimization and customization, but on the other - can be very annoying if everything has to be done through a plugin. 

vs.

Webflow is more of an all-in-one package, so you don’t have to always roam elsewhere for features.

Content management

WordPress's blogging platform and commenting system made it popular for hosting blogs and content-driven businesses. 

vs.

Webflow's CMS package is nice if you don’t primarily rely only on your blog for traffic.

Verdict: is Webflow good for SEO?

Yes. Provided you know what you’re doing. You'll need to be willing to invest a bit more time and effort to fill in the gaps. The key is finding the right balance between Webflow's strengths and bringing in the right supporting SEO tools and expertise. 

Is your website still on WordPress?

That's so last century. Let's bring it to Webflow finally.

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Webflow gives you a strong technical foundation with features like fast load times, mobile responsiveness, and on-page optimization tools. This provides a solid starting point for your SEO.

A great option is to leave the technicalities and additional SEO tools and processes to the professionals who use Webflow every day and know the ins and outs of how to work with it. 

If you’re fine with that, Webflow can be an excellent platform for building an SEO-friendly website that drives organic traffic and leads for your business.