Your website might look sharp. It might even win design awards. But if it fails to show up in Google when customers search, none of that matters.
That’s the business problem: visibility. Without it, you lose sales to competitors who may not have a better product, but do have a better-performing website. And when you’re running a business in New Zealand, every lead and conversion counts.
Which brings us to Webflow. You may have heard it’s flexible, fast, and popular among designers. But is it any good for SEO? And more importantly, will it help or hurt your business growth?
This guide cuts through the noise and gives you a clear, practical answer.
Why SEO Matters in Plain Business Terms
Search engine optimisation can feel like a technical rabbit hole. Let’s simplify it.
- Sales: If you’re not visible in search, your competitors will capture customers who were ready to buy.
- Growth: Strong rankings compound over time. Once you’re established, leads and sales flow in without the ongoing ad spend.
- Trust: People trust businesses that appear at the top of search results. If you’re hidden on page two, your credibility suffers.
- Efficiency: SEO delivers qualified traffic. These visitors are actively searching, which makes them more likely to convert.
Your website is an investment. Without SEO, it’s like setting up a store with no signage. Webflow can either be a powerful platform for growth or a costly blind spot depending on how it’s set up.
Key Tip: Webflow itself isn’t the deciding factor for SEO success. Your setup, structure, and ongoing strategy are.
This is good news. It means if you’re on Webflow, you already have the technical capability to succeed in search. But it also means simply moving to Webflow or leaving your site as-is won’t magically improve rankings.
The Webflow SEO Breakdown
Let’s look at how Webflow stacks up in the areas that matter for business growth.
1. Site Speed and Performance
Fast websites convert better. Every extra second of load time costs sales.
The good news:
Webflow sites are hosted on Amazon Web Services and use a content delivery network (CDN). This gives you strong baseline speed and reliability.
Where problems creep in:
- Uploading huge, uncompressed images.
- Overusing animations that slow down loading.
- Adding too many third-party scripts (like chatbots, popups, or trackers).
Business takeaway: Webflow gives you the foundation for fast performance, but it’s still on you or your team to keep it lean.
2. Mobile Experience
In New Zealand, over 70% of browsing is now mobile. Google also uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it judges your site primarily on its mobile version.
Webflow strength: Responsive design is built in. If your site is built properly, it will look and function well on any screen.
Common pitfall: Relying on desktop-first design decisions. For example, a menu that looks great on a big screen but turns into a confusing three-line “hamburger” on mobile.
Business takeaway: Test your site as if you were your own customer on a phone. Mobile experience isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s the standard.
3. SEO Control
A platform needs to give you direct control over the basics: titles, meta descriptions, alt text, sitemaps, and schema.
Webflow advantage: It does. You can edit all these within the Designer or Editor without needing a developer.
Where businesses go wrong:
- Leaving default page titles like “Home” or “New Page.”
- Forgetting meta descriptions entirely, leaving Google to guess.
- Using images without alt text, which hurts both SEO and accessibility.
Business takeaway: The controls are there. Use them deliberately, and they’ll give you an edge.
4. Technical SEO Foundations
Search engines need to crawl and understand your site.
Webflow built-in support:
- Automatic XML sitemaps.
- Clean, crawlable code.
- SSL certificates for security.
Potential issues:
- Poor site structure, like burying key pages deep in subfolders.
- Overcomplicated navigation that confuses both users and Google.
Business takeaway: The foundation is there, but your structure and organisation matter.
5. Content Flexibility
Content drives SEO. If your platform makes publishing hard, you won’t do it consistently.
Webflow’s approach: The CMS lets you create structured content types (blogs, case studies, landing pages) and publish without touching code.
What can hold you back: Not planning your content model up front. For example, lumping all case studies into one page rather than creating individual optimised pages.
Business takeaway: Webflow’s CMS is a strong tool for content marketing, but you need a clear plan for how you’ll use it.
Example: The Local Retailer
Imagine a mid-sized retailer in Auckland selling eco-friendly homewares.
- Their old WordPress site looked dated, was slow on mobile, and ranked poorly.
- They migrated to Webflow, focusing first on a clean structure: a dedicated page for each product category, a blog for tips on sustainable living, and optimised titles and descriptions.
- Within six months, they saw a 40% increase in organic traffic and a measurable lift in sales. All without increasing ad spend.
The key wasn’t Webflow alone. It was using Webflow properly.
Common Misconceptions
“Isn’t Webflow just for designers?”
Designers love it, but that doesn’t mean it’s weak on SEO. In fact, its clean code and customisation options make it stronger than many template-based platforms.
“Can’t we just tweak the SEO later?”
SEO is most effective when baked into your site from the start. Fixing structure or rewriting hundreds of titles after launch is costly and less effective.
“Do we need a developer for every change?”
No. Webflow empowers non-technical teams to update content and SEO settings directly. That efficiency can save you time and money.
Practical Actions for Business Owners
Here’s what you can do to make Webflow work harder for your business.
1. Audit Your Titles and Meta Descriptions
Check that every page has a unique, keyword-focused title and description written for humans, not just search engines.
2. Compress and Optimise Images
Large images are one of the biggest performance killers. Tools like TinyPNG or Webflow’s built-in compression can help.
3. Review Mobile Experience
Browse your site on different devices. Fix menus, text sizes, and buttons that feel awkward.
4. Strengthen Your Content Model
Think long-term. If you plan to publish regular blogs, case studies, or product updates, set up your CMS properly now.
5. Track and Measure
Connect your site to Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Look at what’s working, and use that data to guide improvements.
What to Do Now
Here’s your quick action checklist:
- Run a quick SEO health check: Are your titles, descriptions, and alt text set up?
- Test speed and mobile usability: Use Google PageSpeed Insights and check on your phone.
- Review your site structure: Can customers and Google find your key pages easily?
- Plan your content pipeline: Decide what you’ll publish regularly to keep growing visibility.
- Get expert input if needed: A short consultation can save months of guesswork.
Final Word
Webflow can absolutely support strong SEO and business growth. But it isn’t magic. The results come from how you use it: smart setup, ongoing attention, and a focus on what matters to your customers.
If you’d like an experienced team in New Zealand to review your site or help with a strategy, Skyrocket is always happy to chat. No obligation, just practical advice to help you grow.
