Introduction
SEO tactics change fast. In 2024, keeping up takes a structured SEO strategy that you follow over time to make your Webflow site visible.
As with any website builder, you first need to understand the SEO features built into the platform, then learn how to get the most visibility out of them. With Webflow, a relevant SEO strategy can really help you outrank your competitors and grow your online presence.
Launching a website is only the first step. This Webflow SEO guide shows you how to use SEO on your Webflow site to drive traffic and revenue, using the SEO tools built into Webflow.
You have designed a beautiful site with Webflow and you are wondering what to do next. Organic search, or SEO, is a marketing channel you should not overlook. In 2024, Webflow connects easily with many digital marketing tools. Your site is well equipped to climb Google's rankings.
Search engine optimization is the work of improving how a site appears and ranks in organic search results. In other words, it is what gets you into Google's top results for the keywords your audience is already searching for.
To rank on the first page of Google for your target keywords, you need genuinely useful content and a quality user experience. There are many "ranking factors". The more you optimize your Webflow site for SEO, the more your rankings improve.
The advantage of organic search is that once your site ranks well, it needs little maintenance. There is no ad spend and no big marketing budget. It is mostly free traffic. SEO is still a competitive activity, though, and an expert can help you get started.
What is Webflow?
Webflow is a no-code website design platform. It lets you create, launch and monetize a website from scratch. In 2024, Webflow combines the simplicity of traditional site builders, the power of an advanced CMS and the flexibility of code, without requiring you to write a single line of code.
Think of it as a blend of a standard website builder like Wix, the advanced CMS features of WordPress and the ability to code some site elements yourself.
This flexibility is what has made Webflow so popular with businesses. With Webflow, building responsive sites that adapt to every screen and device is simple.
Is Webflow good for SEO?
Webflow offers many built-in SEO features to optimize your website. It generates clean, tidy code, which search engines like.
Webflow gives you everything you need to aim for page 1. With a solid SEO strategy, organic traffic can become a major source of revenue for your Webflow site.
SEO is a marketing channel worth prioritizing for your new Webflow site. By applying best practices and creating optimized content, you drive organic traffic and depend less on other channels such as paid search (through Google Ads, for example), which weighs on your ad spend.
WordPress has its own SEO strengths and weaknesses, and so does Webflow. In this guide, we look in detail at how to improve your Webflow site's SEO.
How do you build a Webflow site with optimized SEO?
Before getting into the details of Webflow, let's start with the basics of SEO. To get the most out of your site, you need to configure a few default SEO settings.
Make sure your website is indexable
You can hide your site from search engine crawlers. It is then not indexed and stays invisible in search results. This option is often used to hide sites that are still under construction.
To make sure your site is accessible to search engines, check that indexing is enabled.
To do this, open Webflow Dashboard > All projects. Select your project, then go to Settings > SEO > Indexing.
As long as the "Disable Webflow indexing" toggle is off, your site is accessible and correctly configured.
Install an SSL certificate for your domain
Google aims to show only safe sites in its results, ones that give their users a good experience. An SSL certificate is a security measure that makes browsing much safer for your visitors.
You may have noticed that some sites use the http:// protocol in their address. Sites with a valid SSL certificate use the https:// protocol, like https://www.ouiflow.io.
The extra "s" means you are connected to the site through a secure, encrypted connection. Your data is then much harder for third parties to access.
SSL certificates are a confirmed ranking factor for search engines. It makes sense that Google prefers sites using safer technology and gives them priority in its results.
Webflow provides built-in SSL certificates. If your site does not show https, several SSL certificates may be in conflict.
Set up Google Search Console for Webflow
Google Search Console lets you track your site's search performance and understand how Google handles it.
There you can review your site's "coverage". It lists every page Google knows about, along with the pages that have issues, such as 404 errors or pages considered duplicates.
The Performance report shows your pages' clicks, impressions and click-through rate, as well as your keyword rankings. This data helps you prepare your SEO strategy and spot the most relevant keywords or topics to target.
Add your site to Search Console as a domain property. Then choose a verification method to prove you own the site. Webflow offers a simple way to handle this verification.
In Search Console, select the "HTML tag" verification method. Copy your unique verification code and paste it directly into Webflow under Project > Settings > SEO > Google Site Verification.
Submit a sitemap in Search Console
Once Search Console is up and running, the next step is to submit a sitemap. This is a map of your site that lists the URL of every indexable page. The sitemap is submitted as an XML file that Google processes easily.
A sitemap should only contain live, indexable URLs (no pages returning 404 errors and no redirects). It is the list of pages you want indexed and shown in search engines.
Most website builders generate a sitemap, and so does Webflow. It creates your sitemap automatically. Check that the option is enabled under Project > Settings > SEO > Sitemap by selecting "yes".
Sitemaps usually follow the same URL structure. You will find yours at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.
Once you have found your sitemap, go back to Search Console and submit it to Google under Sitemaps > Add a new sitemap. All that is left is to paste your sitemap URL.
Set up Google Analytics for Webflow
Google Analytics is the reference analytics tool for tracking all the traffic coming into and out of your site. It is very comprehensive and tells you what you need to know to optimize your SEO.
Google Analytics is completely free, and Webflow has a built-in verification tool to make the job easier.
First, go to Google Analytics and create an account with the same email address you used for Search Console. Once the account is created, you get a unique tracking code, which you will find under Admin > Property > Data streams > Measurement ID.
Add this code to your Webflow site from the Webflow dashboard > your project > Integrations > Google Analytics. Enter your unique tracking code and Google will start tracking visits to your site.
Google Analytics does not show historical data. Data appears from the moment the code is in place. To check that your tracking code works, open the "Realtime" report in Analytics and visit your site to see if the visit shows up.
Note that this method only works with Google Universal Analytics. During 2023, sites will have to migrate to GA4. If you already use GA4, you can set up Google Analytics through Google Tag Manager by following this Webflow tutorial.
Setting up technical SEO on your Webflow site
Technical SEO improves how search engines crawl and index your site. Here are the main elements to optimize on a Webflow site.
Build an optimized site structure
Site structure is how the pages and categories of your site are organized. A clear structure helps Google understand, crawl and rank your site.
An optimized structure also makes navigation easier for visitors. Their experience improves, and so does your organic ranking.
Plan this structure when you create the site. The more established your site becomes, the harder and riskier it is to change.
Ideally, you do not want to change your URL paths once your site gets thousands of visitors a month. The slightest mistake can cost you a lot of traffic, and therefore money.
To build an optimized structure from scratch, start by sorting your pages into categories. Main pages, such as the homepage, the "About" page and the "Contact" page, take priority and sit at the top level.
You can then map out the secondary levels of your site. For example, your main services page sits at the heart of the site, and each individual service sits beneath that parent page.
The URL structure might then look like this:
- your-site.com/services
- your-site.com/services/service-one
- your-site.com/services/service-two
The structure is yours to design. Organize everything logically and keep your most important pages close to the homepage. Your site's navigation should reflect this structure.
Do keyword research
Keyword research is a major step in SEO, and you should carry it out while you design your site structure. Keywords are the words or phrases people type into Google.
By ranking on the first page for keywords related to your services or products, you attract new customers and generate sales directly from search.
Use tools like SEMrush or Ubersuggest to identify relevant terms. Then work these keywords into your content, headings and meta descriptions to improve your visibility.
How do you find the best keywords? They often fall into 2 categories.
1. Informational keywords
These are the keywords people type when they are looking for information about a topic, a company or a product. These users are not ready to buy yet. They sit at the top of the sales funnel.
By targeting these keywords with articles and guides, you strengthen your brand's reputation and authority. When users are ready to buy, your brand is the first one they think of.
2. Commercial keywords
Also called "buyer intent keywords", these are typed by people ready to buy a product or service. They often include words like "buy" or "best", for example "buy sneakers online".
These keywords deserve priority, because they bring new customers and extra revenue to your business. They are much more competitive, though, and ranking for them takes more time and investment.
The simplest way to find out which keywords to target is to use a keyword research tool. It suggests keywords based on your current rankings and shows the monthly search volume for each one, so you can judge its value.
SEMrush is a paid SEO tool that handles much of this work. Google's Keyword Planner and Google Trends are free options that also give keyword insights, with less data.
Another good tactic is to analyze your competitors' rankings and traffic. A tool like SEMrush lets you enter any website and see all its current rankings and high-value pages.
You can then see the keywords that bring your competitors the most value, and spot topics you could target too.
Optimize site speed
Site speed is an important ranking factor. With Core Web Vitals, Google puts even more weight on user experience metrics. A fast site with quality content sees its rankings improve significantly.
To measure your site's current speed and spot major issues, we recommend testing it with PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Both page speed tools are free. By analyzing a handful of important pages, you will find the issues to fix.
Common site speed improvements include:
- Optimize your images. Compress them to reduce their file size and use the right dimensions to speed up page loading. A heavy image slows a site down noticeably. Webflow now uses the TinyPNG API, which resizes and compresses images when you upload them to your site. You can also convert them directly to WebP.
- Enable lazy loading. With lazy loading, the browser first loads the images and elements at the top of the page, where the user is. It then moves on to resources further down. The user gets the impression that the page is fully loaded, which improves retention and gives the impression of a quality site. To change this setting (for example, to show an image as soon as the page loads), select the image and choose "Eager" in its settings.
- Optimize your CSS. If you know CSS (the code that handles how pages look), you can fix some common inefficiencies. By using inline CSS and combining files, you sharply reduce the number of requests when a page loads.
Set up an internal linking structure
Backlinks are not the only links that matter for SEO. Internal links connect one page of your site to another. They spread authority across the whole site and tell Google which keywords certain pages should rank for.
The homepage, for example, is the most linked page on your site, which makes it a very powerful asset. You can pass some of that authority to other pages by adding internal links to your product or service pages.
You can also add internal links in your blog posts that point to your site's commercial pages. This way, the authority and relevance your articles have earned support pages that target keywords with higher commercial value. A "related articles" section at the end of a post also keeps users on your site and increases traffic.
Ideally, every page on your Webflow site receives at least one internal link. This avoids orphan pages, which Google's algorithm struggles to find and rank.
On-page optimization for Webflow sites
On-page optimization means working on each page for specific keywords to improve its visibility and traffic. In practice, you change the page itself to improve its ranking.
Optimize your homepage and key pages
With the keyword research covered above, you can now optimize your pages. Decide which page should rank for which keywords, and start with the pages that target the highest-value keyword groups.
To optimize a page, a good starting point is to look at the competitors ranking for your target terms. What tactics do they use? What topics do they cover in their content?
Make sure your page covers the same topics and uses similar content formats. The goal is a well-structured page that gives your users the best possible experience.
You can then add your keywords to the content. Place your target keywords on the page, especially in the title tag, the headings and the body text. Adding variations increases your chances of ranking for several terms.
Focus on the important elements of your content and use several keyword variations to grow your organic traffic. Write for the algorithm, and for the user first.
Be careful not to over-optimize your keywords. Old SEO techniques manipulated Google's rankings by stuffing pages with as many keywords as possible. Google now knows how to spot this and does not promote that kind of page.
Optimize meta titles, meta descriptions and URLs
The meta title, the meta description and the URL are the most important SEO elements of your page. Google shows each of them directly in search results.
The URL is the destination address of a search result, shown at the top of each listing.
The meta title, also called the title tag, is a short description of the page that appears in blue in search results.
The meta description summarizes the page in a little more detail. It appears in search results, under the title tag.
Webflow lets you edit each of these elements for any page, thanks to its built-in SEO features.
The page title is arguably still the most important element of on-page optimization. Google uses the title tag to understand what your page is about and which keyword groups it should rank for.
The meta description is mainly there to draw users in. Write a compelling description of your page and highlight your main selling points. The meta description of a product page might mention free shipping or fast delivery, for example.
To do this well, include your priority keywords in the page title. This title also affects your visibility in the results. An attractive title tag catches the eye, makes people want to visit your page and improves your click-through rate.
The best URLs are clean, simple, short and include your most valuable keyword. Do not overthink it and do not stuff keywords into the URL. A short, simple URL structure has the best chance of ranking well.
Build an editorial calendar
Building and maintaining an editorial calendar keeps your site up to date and regularly adds new informational keywords to your portfolio.
An active blog backed by keyword research gives your audience quality content and draws new prospects into your sales funnel. Remember to optimize every page and offer in-depth, detailed content to outrank your competitors.
Keep an up-to-date content plan that targets informational keywords related to your products or services. You keep adding value to your domain, create internal links to your commercial pages and increase your site's traffic.
To build your editorial calendar, a tool like Notion is very useful. We cover its benefits in a dedicated article.
Off-site optimization for Webflow sites
Off-site optimization covers everything you do outside your site to improve its search engine rankings. It mostly relies on link building and growing your site's authority.
Why link building matters
Link building means earning backlinks, that is, links from external websites to yours. When another site links to you, that is a backlink.
A link is seen as a vote of confidence from one site to another. Google uses links as signals to assess a site's relevance and authority.
If your competitors have more links, or links from higher-quality sources, they get the edge in the rankings.
The number and quality of links to your site are very powerful ranking factors. Not all links carry the same weight. Favor links from high-authority sites, such as .gov sites.
Understanding authority metrics
Authority metrics measure the quality and strength of a site's backlink profile. Google's own authority metrics are built into its algorithm and are no longer publicly available.
SEO tools therefore use other metrics, such as Moz's Domain Authority (DA) or the Domain Rating (DR) from Ahrefs, to assess a site's authority.
As a rule, the higher your authority metrics, the better your rankings. To grow your authority, earn links from relevant, quality sites. Also compare your authority with your competitors' to measure any gap you need to close.
How do you build backlinks to your Webflow site?
There are many ways to earn links to your site. In general, it is best to combine several types of links to build a varied, natural profile.
Guest posting
Guest posting is a common method. Find the sites, blogs and magazines in your industry that accept guest authors, and offer them content.
A quick search for "guest post + your topic" brings up the first opportunities. In your article, add a backlink to your site to strengthen your authority. Cover topics and keywords close to your business to gain relevance.
Broken link building
Web pages are deleted all the time. Sites that linked to these pages now show a broken link, which can hurt their users' experience.
These broken links are an opportunity. You can contact a site hosting a broken link and suggest a page on your site as a replacement.
By pointing out the broken link and offering a suitable replacement, you earn powerful, relevant links to your site.
Directories, profiles and comments
These links are often called foundational links. They are less powerful than tactics like publishing articles, but they are still needed to build a natural backlink profile.
By listing your site in business directories for your region or industry, you quickly earn your first backlinks. You can also comment on relevant articles and pages across the web, citing your site as a resource in the text.
Unlinked mentions
If your brand is already known, its name may be mentioned on the web without a link. Simply contact the sites that mentioned it and ask them to add a backlink.
Produce quality content
Not every link has to be built by hand. Useful content with original formats, data or graphics attracts links without outreach. People find your content on their own and cite it for the value it brings to their audience.
Advanced Webflow SEO strategies
If you already know the basics of SEO and want to go further, here are a few ideas.
Implement Schema markup
Schema markup is a form of structured data (code) added to a site to help search engines return better results. It structures your metadata and tells Google what certain elements on a page are for.
Schema is what lets rich snippets appear in search results, such as ratings, FAQs or blog posts. These elements are added to your listing and can increase your click-through rate.
Adding this markup to your site can give you a competitive edge. Google's documentation on structured data is a good place to start.
Use 301 redirects
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that passes all link equity (ranking power) to the destination page. It is used when a page is removed. With a 301 redirect, all traffic from the old URL is sent to the new page.
If you plan to change the structure of an existing Webflow site, use 301 redirects to map the old URLs to the new structure. That way you lose no SEO value.
Webflow makes 301 redirects simple to set up. In the Webflow dashboard > Project settings > Hosting > 301 redirects, you can see all active redirect rules and add new ones.
Target featured snippets
Featured snippets appear at the top of search results for certain keywords. They give the key information that answers the query. Only one snippet is shown per keyword.
Your site can win this kind of snippet too. Featured snippets can drive a lot of traffic and put you straight into the top position.
To target a featured snippet, adapt the format of your content. Start by spotting the featured snippets already shown for your target keywords.
Some take the form of bullet lists, others of tables, others of plain text.
If a table appears in the results, add a table to your page with similar or more detailed information. If your page is already more complete than the top-ranking competitor's and now has the right format, the top spot is only a matter of time.
Create a custom 404 page
Webflow makes designing 404 pages very simple. This is useful, because you need to keep users who land on a 404 page on your site.
A user who lands on your 404 page has a poor experience. They wanted to learn or do something on a page that no longer exists.
To keep a wrong click from making them leave your site, create a custom 404 page with clear, simple navigation. Users can then easily get back to your content and your sales funnel.
Creating a 404 page in Webflow is simple. Create a page called 404, give it a URL ending in /404 and design it however you like.
Optimize your robots.txt file
Unlike many competitors, Webflow gives you direct access to your robots.txt file. You will find it in the SEO tab of your site settings.
The robots.txt file gives instructions to search engine crawlers and tells them which pages or subfolders they should not access or index. This is handy for internal pages or paid campaign (PPC) pages you do not want to appear in search results.
Your current robots file is at yourwebsite.com/robots.txt.
Conclusion
Webflow is an excellent platform to launch your online business, and its SEO features go beyond those of most competing website builders. By building these strategies into the design and development of your Webflow site, you significantly improve its visibility and ranking in search engines.
Webflow offers the convenience of built-in SEO options and, if you want, access to elements such as the sitemap or robots.txt for custom optimization.
Want to launch an SEO strategy and need help getting started? Talk to our team of Webflow SEO experts today.