Calling Web SEO Experts
Discussion
I know there are a few very experienced web dev/digital marketing/SEO people here. So a quick question if you don’t mind, are there any big drawbacks to using Webflow from an SEO point of view?
I have a customer looking to spend a reasonable amount on their website in a pretty competitive B2B market. They want to rank and do well with paid ads. My initial view would be a custom optimised flat site for the brochure pages then a lightweight cms for the industry targeted content pages which will grow over time.
They have engaged a developer who has suggested Webflow for it all. The Webflow developers suggest that it is good from an SEO point of view, with much better code structure compared to other web builders and cms systems. The code looks like it has a better structure than the wix/Squarespace type visual builders and more lightweight and less cluttered than Wordpress.
But the code still seems compromised for SEO.
Anybody with a view? Thanks.
I have a customer looking to spend a reasonable amount on their website in a pretty competitive B2B market. They want to rank and do well with paid ads. My initial view would be a custom optimised flat site for the brochure pages then a lightweight cms for the industry targeted content pages which will grow over time.
They have engaged a developer who has suggested Webflow for it all. The Webflow developers suggest that it is good from an SEO point of view, with much better code structure compared to other web builders and cms systems. The code looks like it has a better structure than the wix/Squarespace type visual builders and more lightweight and less cluttered than Wordpress.
But the code still seems compromised for SEO.
Anybody with a view? Thanks.
If they have engaged a dev why isn’t the dev deving? Is he a crap dev?
SEO - where will the traffic come from?
B2B is either one hit or regular business- which is it?
Do the public need to find this site?
So much crap spoken around websites and online visibility it’s usually what the dev can do is what the client gets not what might suit the client best.
SEO - where will the traffic come from?
B2B is either one hit or regular business- which is it?
Do the public need to find this site?
So much crap spoken around websites and online visibility it’s usually what the dev can do is what the client gets not what might suit the client best.
andyb28 said:
To be honest, I struggle with the fact that there are people out there selling websites "developed" on these no code platforms.
Webflow does actually give you a good amount of control over the code and styling. I'd say it's a good halfway house between the likes of Wix/Squarespace and WordPress.Sorry for neglecting this and thanks for all your replies.
Interesting, thanks.
My thinking is that if they are going to have an in-house web developer why the need for the overhead imposed by a CMS, never mind Shopify.
DSLiverpool said:
If they have engaged a dev why isn’t the dev deving? Is he a crap dev?
They are planning on employing a full time web dev and a full time digital marketer but are having trouble filling the positions so in the meantime have contracted a digital agency to build the site out.DSLiverpool said:
SEO - where will the traffic come from?
B2B is either one hit or regular business- which is it?
Do the public need to find this site?
It's a B2B market with hardware and software, used to be all upfront but now follows more of a free hardware and subscription model. No B2C. They would like natural search traffic but will also be spending on Google Ads and Shopping.B2B is either one hit or regular business- which is it?
Do the public need to find this site?
DSLiverpool said:
So much crap spoken around websites and online visibility it’s usually what the dev can do is what the client gets not what might suit the client best.
That was my concern, as it turns out they are planning to build the site in Shopify (there is a small e-commerce element for consumables for current customers) not Webflow. This makes me even more concerned.jammy-git said:
andyb28 said:
To be honest, I struggle with the fact that there are people out there selling websites "developed" on these no code platforms.
Webflow does actually give you a good amount of control over the code and styling. I'd say it's a good halfway house between the likes of Wix/Squarespace and WordPress.My thinking is that if they are going to have an in-house web developer why the need for the overhead imposed by a CMS, never mind Shopify.
I run an ecommerce dev agency, focusing on Shopify. I have a highly technical team, and yet our website is built in Webflow because it's the platform that allowed us to get our site up and running in the quickest time possible so that we could focus on client projects.
And a CMS is often not an overhead. Unless you're a HUGE company with the budgets and needs to create something completely bespoke, a CMS is often the best option.
As an example, we used to focus on creating bespoke web applications. A build would be a minimum of £25k, and the on-going support and maintenance would be 20% annually of whatever the build cost was. And content or functionality changes would be on top of that. And our client's were pretty much locked in to us, because we were the only guys who knew how the system was built.
With a CMS however, you've usually got a world of plugins you can install at a click of a button and almost instantly increase a sites functionality at relatively low cost. A site built on a CMS should always be built in a way to allow the client to manage, update and add new content when they need, reducing the costs associated in getting devs involved. And despite the bad rep that WordPress has, a well maintained CMS site is usually pretty bomb-proof in terms of security issues. And if you ever have issues with the team of devs that you're working with on the site, with a popular CMS you can quickly just move to another team, knowing they'll have the knowledge to pick up the project without having to start again.
And a CMS is often not an overhead. Unless you're a HUGE company with the budgets and needs to create something completely bespoke, a CMS is often the best option.
As an example, we used to focus on creating bespoke web applications. A build would be a minimum of £25k, and the on-going support and maintenance would be 20% annually of whatever the build cost was. And content or functionality changes would be on top of that. And our client's were pretty much locked in to us, because we were the only guys who knew how the system was built.
With a CMS however, you've usually got a world of plugins you can install at a click of a button and almost instantly increase a sites functionality at relatively low cost. A site built on a CMS should always be built in a way to allow the client to manage, update and add new content when they need, reducing the costs associated in getting devs involved. And despite the bad rep that WordPress has, a well maintained CMS site is usually pretty bomb-proof in terms of security issues. And if you ever have issues with the team of devs that you're working with on the site, with a popular CMS you can quickly just move to another team, knowing they'll have the knowledge to pick up the project without having to start again.
jammy-git said:
A site built on a CMS should always be built in a way to allow the client to manage, update and add new content when they need, reducing the costs associated in getting devs involved. And despite the bad rep that WordPress has, a well maintained CMS site is usually pretty bomb-proof in terms of security issues. And if you ever have issues with the team of devs that you're working with on the site, with a popular CMS you can quickly just move to another team, knowing they'll have the knowledge to pick up the project without having to start again.
Could not agree more with this - Wordpress is only ever an issue when it's been built by someone who doesn't know what they're doing - In any case, I would not go with anything too niche, new or difficult to find real developers or agencies for, it will always come back to bite you down the line if you need to migrate, cut the previous relationship etc etc. You will need a CMS of some form if SEO is the a long term goal you are putting resource into, especially if the client intends to be self sufficient. A big part of a robust long term SEO strategy should be content creation, and marketing in some form so a CMS will almost certainly be required in order to keep on top of that as the site and client grows - Wordpress or Shopify will handle this no problem, as will any other credible CMS.
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