I have been running education programs, contract web development, and a community centered on Webflow since 2020. In this article, I’ll explain Webflow in detail from a specialist’s perspective.
No‑Code Tool: Webflow
Webflow is a tool for building websites. Because it’s a no‑code tool, you can create sites without writing the HTML/CSS/JavaScript typically used on the web.
Webflow provides a unique Graphical User Interface (GUI). While it supports drag‑and‑drop, it also lets you fine‑tune settings that are close to actual coding. Thanks to this, Webflow enables higher‑quality websites than many other no‑code tools.
Beyond the technical side, Webflow is drawing attention in business. Founded in the U.S. in 2013, it received backing from the well‑known venture capital firm Y Combinator, raised roughly ¥7 billion in Series A (2019) and ¥15 billion in Series B (2022), and by 2023 reached a valuation exceeding ¥400 billion—a true unicorn.
Comparison with Other Tools
Among no‑code website builders, Webflow is unique. Many tools are template‑based and either don’t allow fine‑grained customization, require you to write code for advanced needs, or are constrained by narrow limits.
Webflow, on the other hand, takes a Visual Development approach—bringing coding‑level concepts into a GUI so you can work visually. This approach strikes an ideal balance between ease of use and capability.
Who Is Webflow For?
There are many no‑code tools, but people who will benefit most from Webflow include:
- Beginners who are about to learn web development
- Designers who can design but don’t code
- Companies that want to run internal sites flexibly
1) Beginners in IT
If you’re new to programming and web production, Webflow is highly recommended. Traditional site building with HTML/CSS/JavaScript is difficult for beginners and often leads to frustration. With Webflow, you construct sites visually with clicks—no code needed. Traditional coding requires switching between editor and preview, making it hard to grasp what your changes are doing. In Webflow you build in real time, so even concepts often considered tough at first—like CSS—become easier to understand. After grasping concepts in Webflow, you can move on to learning programming languages or pursue work as a Webflow web designer.
2) Designers Who Don’t Code
Webflow is an excellent choice for designers. In the traditional workflow, a designer creates polished visuals and a coder implements them—a process that takes time and can yield results that don’t fully match the designer’s intention. Because two specialists are involved, mismatches are hard to avoid.
By using Webflow, designers can implement the website themselves, greatly reducing time and cost and minimizing human error. You can of course design in Figma or XD and then implement in Webflow, or even build directly in Webflow to slash development costs.
There is now an official tool to copy designs from Figma into Webflow.
3) Companies That Want Flexible In‑House Operations
Operating your site on Webflow is beneficial for growth‑oriented web marketing. You’ll enjoy easy updates, rapid PDCA, robust governance, and strong security. The next sections highlight the advantages companies see after adopting Webflow.
The Right Sidebar
You can access a variety of tools from the right sidebar.
There are icons for a pen, a gear, a raindrop, and lightning. The pen is the Style panel (for applying CSS), the gear is the Settings panel, the raindrop is the Style Manager (lists classes in use), and the lightning icon is the Interactions panel (for animations).
Applying CSS in the Right Panel
Webflow’s designer has sidebars on both edges; you apply CSS from the Style panel on the right.
Familiar properties are grouped into sections such as Flex Child, Spacing (margin/padding), Size, Position, Typography, and Background. In Typography, for example, you can set font‑size, font‑weight, color, alignment, and style. Orange indicators show properties inherited from a parent; blue indicates properties newly applied on the current class. In this way, Webflow’s Style panel lets you build using the HTML/CSS concept of assigning defined properties to classes.
Adoption by Large Enterprises
Dell
Quoted from Webflow
Dell Technologies is a U.S. multinational computer technology company with more than 165,000 employees worldwide. By building front‑end states—from hover to transitions—directly in Webflow instead of prototyping solely in tools like Figma, Dell’s design team reduced back‑and‑forth between design and engineering.
Rakuten SL
Quoted from Webflow
Rakuten Super Logistics also built its website with Webflow. By migrating from WordPress to Webflow, they achieved a 12.7% increase in page views, a 9.5% increase in new users, and a 27.9% decrease in bounce rate. Their marketing operations manager reports saving thousands of dollars within months, and changes that used to take programmers 4–5 hours can now be done in about 20 minutes.
Dropbox Sign
Quoted from Webflow
Dropbox Sign used Webflow to design a visually engaging, user‑friendly website. After migrating to Webflow, time‑to‑market became four times faster, and both content creation and downloads more than doubled.
- Rakuten SL
- Use concrete numbers and note where Webflow beats WordPress.
- Examples of adoption by large Japanese companies
Adoption in Japan
RICOH360 Blog
A project for listed company Ricoh, handled by our team. Multiple sites were consolidated on Webflow during the migration from WordPress, with multilingual support (Japanese, English, French).
TGVP — Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
A website for Toppan’s venture capital business in California, delivered by our team.
Booko
A site for MINGAKO, a company driving DX in publishing. We support this project in a lab‑style model. With Booko, users can generate book designs from templates by simply entering text and swapping images, then publish as a physical book and sell on Amazon.
Backups and Version History
Every Webflow project can take unlimited backups—an advantage over tools like WordPress or STUDIO. There are three ways to create backups:
Automatic Backups
Webflow creates a backup every 50 autosaves. If a major issue occurs, you can safely restore to that point.
Manual Backups
You can create backups whenever you like:
- Press Command + Shift + S (Mac) or Control + Shift + S (Windows)
- Add a description
- Click Save
Automatic Backup on Restore
When restoring to a previous version, Webflow automatically creates a backup of the current state first.
E‑commerce Features
“E‑commerce” (electronic commerce) refers to transactions conducted over the internet—think Amazon or Rakuten. Webflow has built‑in e‑commerce, so you can sell products with excellent design and on‑brand experiences.
How Strong Is Webflow for SEO?
Webflow offers robust SEO features, letting you easily handle key tasks:
- Set page titles, URLs, and meta descriptions
- Add alt tags to images
- Create 301 redirects
- Edit schema markup
- Edit robots.txt
- Design fully responsive pages
For sitemaps, you can use Webflow’s auto‑generated XML sitemap or provide your own custom XML sitemap.
Page Speed
Fast pages rank better. Testing templates with Google PageSpeed Insights often yields scores above 90. One major cause of slow pages is oversized images. Webflow mitigates this by generating multiple versions of uploaded images and serving the appropriate size per device resolution. You can also choose image loading behavior—Lazy (loads on scroll), Eager (loads immediately), or Auto (browser default).
Webflow supports the lightweight WebP format. JPEG and PNG assets placed in Webflow can be bulk‑converted to WebP within the platform.
Reliable Support
You can contact Webflow Customer Support. I’ve reached out regarding billing, plan changes, and refunds; I received courteous replies within 24 hours. Support is in English, but tools like DeepL make communication smooth.
Conclusion
This article introduced what Webflow is and why it stands out among tools like WordPress, Elementor, and STUDIO. Thanks to its flexibility and ease of post‑launch operations, Webflow has become a powerful vehicle for business growth in modern web marketing. If you’re struggling to operate a WordPress site, migrating to Webflow can solve many problems. Please consider consulting a Webflow specialist—you can book a free consultation below.
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