A web designer has many options to choose which web development platform to go with, and so do brands. Currently, most local brands use WordPress to run their websites, which is an excellent tool. However, with the introduction of Webflow, web designers need to rethink how they design websites. In the past few years, WordPress and Webflow have been competing strongly in the market. WordPress is a popular CMS (Content Management System) and it has millions of users worldwide. On the other hand, Webflow is a fairly new platform (launched around 2014) that allows you to develop custom and beautiful websites without coding knowledge.
Both platforms have strong points and disadvantages but which one should you choose? In this article, we will look at them side by side so that you can decide which solution fits your needs better!
Let’s look at what each platform has to offer:
If you’re using WordPress, you will have to connect with an external provider for hosting. This means that you need to sign up for a service like GoDaddy and pay them each month in order to host your website. Cool, but not ideal.
In contrast, Webflow has the fastest, most scalable hosting technology for your business. You can also use a free plan if your site doesn't require much traffic or storage space such as blog posts or personal websites
Webflow and WordPress have very different approaches to plugins. WordPress has thousands of third-party plugins available for download from the marketplace. However, with more options comes more complexity and potential conflicts with other plugin features. If you're using a lot of different plugins on your site, you may start experiencing slower website load times due to all the code being downloaded at once by your browser whenever someone visits your page.
On top of that, each new plugin you add increases the possibility that one will conflict with the other and cause compatibility issues further down the line.
When it comes to Webflow, It's not uncommon for sites built using only Webflow's native functionality to experience faster loading times since there aren’t plugins and compatibility issues. Brands can use third-party software like Zapier, Memberstack, and Airtable to connect different apps, manage data, and unlock powerful features without slowing down the loading speed, making plugins unnecessary
Ilya, Founder of Studeo, has developed a Wordpress website from scratch, using clean code. He has the following to say,
"I have been with Wordpress pretty much since it's early days! I like that anyone can do it if they go with a template route. And the flexibility/range of available plugins which you can get on a need-basis. Obviously the downfall of using a template is that it can usually come with too much stuff that you don't need and make your site bloated or difficult to work with. Lucky for me, I've found a Wordpress-only developer I work with exclusively now because they are able to convert my designs into pixel perfect Wordpress website. And I get the benefit of both the easy to use Wordpress editor, plugins, etc, AND fast-loading non-bloated site. So I think it ultimately comes down to find the right developer/partner"
Hence, Wordpress can be fast, provided you write clean code on it, with minimal plugins at best. With Webflow, you don't need to worry about that since it already write clean code!
As a content management system (CMS), WordPress has excellent SEO tools. However, it adds to the total weight of your website, thus slowing down page loading times and affecting its performance in search engines.
Webflow is a Content Management System (CMS) based in the cloud. Nothing to download. Just upload your assets and start visually developing on the web. Furthermore, Webflow's greatest strength is its limitless customization capabilities, unlike other CMSs like WordPress.
Watch the video to gain a stronger understanding of the differences between WordPress and Webflow, without any bias
Webflow and WordPress have a number of integrations available. Webflow integrates with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, MailChimp, Facebook Pixel, and more. Moreover, there is much excellent third-party software such as Wized, that allows you to build custom apps on the designer page on Webflow itself!
WordPress offers over 50,000 plugins/integrations for you to add to your website (including SEO plugins). Shopify has more integrations than Webflow and WordPress because it’s specifically built for eCommerce websites. There are over 100 third-party apps available for Shopify users that can make managing an online store easier such as Oberlo (for listing products), AliExpress Shipping (for shipping orders), and Twilio SMS (to send texts).
WordPress is vulnerable to threats. If you build your website with WordPress, you need to be aware that there are many vulnerabilities in the platform and users can be attacked in many ways. For instance, hackers can exploit weak passwords or social engineering tactics to gain access to your site’s backend. Even if you have strong passwords in place, hackers may still find a way into your system by exploiting outdated plugins or even brute-force attacks on your login page using bots that test hundreds of combinations in mere seconds.
But Webflow offers built-in security features such as Password Protection (so only registered users can log into the site), Anti-Spam Filters (to prevent automatic submissions), Malware Scanning (to check uploaded files before they get published), and Full Data Encryption (to ensure that no one can read sensitive information). How awesome is that!
While WordPress has excellent SEO tools, it adds to the total weight of your site. To be fair, all content management systems (CMS) do this in some regard but WordPress is particularly affected because it’s so popular. As a result, when you use WordPress as your CMS, it may be slower than Webflow or other alternatives like Squarespace and Wix (which are not technically considered CMS).
However, with that said, Webflow does have built-in SEO capabilities that can help improve your website’s performance in search engines. These include custom open graphs, meta tags, and descriptions, especially for individual blog articles, news, and published pieces of content. With Webflow, as long as you provide high-quality content regularly and create great headlines/titles for each page, you can improve your SEO performance over time as well as encourage people to link back to you, which further helps your SEO!
If you want to build the website yourself and have full control, Webflow is a great tool. If you want to focus on selling your product and not so much on the design, WordPress might be the right solution for you
We hope this article has helped you decide which web design platform is right for your business. Want to hire a web designer in Kuwait? Look no further! We’d love to chat with you so that we can help find the perfect solution for your web design needs.
.png)
Ali Saeed is a strategy-focused graphic designer and marketer based in Kuwait, with four years of experience in shaping social brands, company profiles, and presentations. His foray into web design and development is driven by a keen understanding of marketing and business principles, enabling him to deliver design solutions that are not only visually compelling but also strategically effective.
Send an email if you'd like to collaborate :)
