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After 25 years building websites, here's why we build on Webflow for SMEs: affordable CRO, faster SEO and a site your team can run. With real case studies.
We've been building websites for more than 25 years. In that time we've worked on almost every kind of platform, from hand-coded sites to WordPress, Magento and today's website builders. For most small and medium-sized businesses, Webflow is the best of them by a distance.
That isn't because it makes a nicer-looking site on launch day, though it does. It's because of what happens afterwards. The websites that win the most work are the ones that keep improving, month after month, and Webflow makes that improvement faster and cheaper than anything else we've used.
Here's why, with real examples, and an honest look at when WordPress or Squarespace would suit you better.
A website is never finished
Most businesses think of a new website as a project with an end date. In our experience, launch is where the real work starts.
Once a site is live, you find out which pages people read, where they drop off and which searches bring in enquiries. The businesses that grow fastest act on that: they test a better layout, add a page for a search they're missing, or rewrite a page that's stopped working.
On many platforms, every one of those changes needs a developer. That makes each improvement slow and expensive, so most businesses simply stop making them. The site is left alone for three or four years until it needs replacing again.
The platform you choose decides how cheaply and quickly you can keep improving. That's the real reason we build on Webflow.
Webflow vs WordPress vs Squarespace at a glance
1. Conversion optimisation you can actually afford
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) means finding out what stops visitors from enquiring, then testing changes to fix it. It's how we've grown enquiries for clients for over 15 years.
The catch has always been cost. On a custom WordPress build, a new page layout or a redesigned form usually means a developer, a test environment and a deployment. Each change can take days, so businesses test far less than they should.
In Webflow, we can build a new layout, a different hero or a shorter form in hours, without writing code. That means more tests for the same budget, and faster answers about what works.
We pair Webflow with testing tools such as Optibase, the same tool some of our larger clients use. It lets us run:
- A/B tests on a single change, such as a headline or button
- Split URL tests comparing two completely different pages
- Multivariate tests on several elements at once
- Heatmaps and session recordings to see where visitors click, scroll and get stuck
- Personalisation by location, device or traffic source, such as showing contractors a different message from homeowners
For smaller businesses, this is enterprise-level testing at a fraction of the usual cost.
2. SEO that keeps moving
Ranking well isn't a one-off job either. Customers' searches change, competitors publish new pages and older content goes out of date.
Webflow makes it quick to keep up:
- New pages, fast. When keyword research finds a search your customers use, we can design, write and publish a page for it in days, not weeks.
- Old pages updated or retired. Pages that no longer help can be rewritten, merged or redirected in minutes, so your site stays useful rather than cluttered.
- SEO built into every page. Titles, descriptions, URLs, redirects and structured data are all set in Webflow, without plugins that need updating.
- Fast, clean pages. Webflow's hosting and tidy code help pages load quickly, which matters to visitors and to Google.
That speed is what lets us run a monthly search marketing programme for clients, adding pages and improving old ones every month rather than once a year.
3. You choose who edits the site
With Webflow, there are two good ways to run your website, and you can switch between them.
- Do it yourself. We train your team to update text and images, add projects and publish news or blog posts. Content is edited right on the page, so there's no hunting through pages, posts and theme settings. Our clients pick it up quickly and enjoy using it.
- Leave it to us. If you're too busy running jobs, we manage the whole site for you: new pages, updates, SEO and reporting each month.
Most clients end up somewhere in between. Their team handles news and projects, and we look after search, testing and anything more involved.
What this looks like in practice
Fettle: from launch to acquisition
Fettle offers bike servicing and repairs. We designed and built its Webflow site in three months, centred on one job: getting visitors to book a service.
- The site went live and Fettle raised £1.1 million within a month, using it as the shop window for its crowdfunding and expansion.
- Conversion rates quadrupled within months of launch, through continuous testing and improvements.
- The site generated most of Fettle's bookings from its PPC campaigns. Because we could change landing pages quickly in Webflow, every pound of ad spend worked harder.
- We supported the team for four years as Fettle expanded nationwide, before it was acquired by Kwik Fit.
Trace Basement Systems: better leads, not just more
Trace designs and installs waterproofing for basements and below-ground structures. It wanted to win more of the larger, higher-value projects it specialises in, and spend less time on enquiries that weren't a good fit.
We rebuilt the site in Webflow and refocused the content on the larger, higher-value projects Trace wanted. Because new pages are quick to publish, we kept adding content around the searches those customers use.
- Higher-value, more relevant leads, with less time wasted on unqualified enquiries
- Top rankings for key basement waterproofing searches
- Pages that are more engaging and easier to follow, with lower bounce rates
McVeigh Offsite: number one through monthly SEO
For McVeigh Offsite, a SIP contractor, we researched the searches its customers use, wrote and built a page for each, then kept adding and improving pages every month. McVeigh now ranks first regionally for "SIP contractor" and "SIP builders". Read the McVeigh case study
When WordPress or Squarespace is the better choice
Webflow isn't right for everyone, and we'll tell you if it isn't right for you.
Squarespace suits a small business that wants to build and run its own simple site on a tight budget. If you need a few pages, a contact form and a gallery, and don't plan to invest in SEO or testing, it does the job well.
WordPress can be the better fit for very large content sites with thousands of articles, or when you need complex custom functionality that relies on its huge range of plugins. It's also worth staying put if your WordPress site is fast, secure and already easy to improve.
Ecommerce is a separate decision. For online shops we usually recommend Shopify or Adobe Commerce, and we work on both.
For most SMEs and growing mid-sized businesses whose website needs to win enquiries, though, Webflow gives the best balance of design quality, ease of editing and the ability to keep improving.
Is Webflow right for your business?
If you're planning a new website, ask yourself three questions:
- Will you want to keep adding pages and improving the site after launch?
- Would testing different layouts help you win more enquiries or sales?
- Do you want your team to be able to update the site without calling a developer?
If the answer to any of these is yes, Webflow is worth a serious look.
We design and build Webflow websites for businesses across the UK, from specialist contractors to SaaS companies. After launch, we can manage the whole site for you, with new pages, SEO, testing and monthly reporting in one search marketing package.
Thinking about a new website, or moving from WordPress? Get in touch and we'll tell you honestly whether Webflow is the right fit.
