As a web designer, you probably know that there is a wide range of tools and software programs out there that can help you maximise your efficiency. Some of these require quite technical skills, but many of them are actually beginner friendly, designed to make your life as a designer easier.
Once such software program is Webflow, which has grown in popularity over the last few years to become a favourite among the web design community. For me, Webflow is a great tool, and you should at least be aware of it and what it does so that you can take advantage of its powers where possible.
What is Webflow?
To put it simply, Webflow is a web design program that comes complete with a range of tools to streamline the design process. In many ways, it actually works in a similar way to website builders like Wix and Weebly.
However, Webflow is so much more than just a website builder. It uses a “code-first” design interface that will allow you to build your own website from scratch.
But, it also makes use of a comprehensive drag and drop visual builder that allows designers to put together a website visually. Whenever you drop a new element somewhere on your design template, the relevant HTML and CSS code will be created in the linked code files.
Why Should I Use Webflow?
As you can imagine, a powerful tool like this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the web development and design community. People use Webflow for a range of different reasons, including:
It will help you become more efficient – As you probably know, writing front-end website code from scratch is a time-consuming and largely outdated process. Webflow significantly speeds up code compilation, as it provides a skeleton structure that you can then edit and tidy up as needed.
It uses a great WYSIWYG editor – One of the main draws of using Webflow is its interactive editing face. Due to its WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) nature, it remains quite beginner friendly and easy to use.
It offers great content management features – Webflow is so much more than just website design software. It also comes with a visual content management system that’s designed to be more beginner friendly than WordPress’s.
It includes hosting solutions – If you want to build a simple website with Webflow and launch it as fast as possible, you might decide to make use of its native hosting features. Although you can export your site code and host it somewhere else, I’ve always found Webflow hosting a good option.
There are plenty of other benefits associated with Webflow, so make sure that you do your own research before deciding whether or not to use it.
Conclusion
In short, you should absolutely be using Webflow if you’re a web designer – in either the professional or amateur sense. Although it’s not the perfect system, it’s pretty good, and I’m sure that you will find it useful to help streamline some of your workplace processes.