Webflow blogging: Is Webflow a good platform for blogging? 🚀

You're intrigued about creating a blog - perhaps you're a business or perhaps your an individual - but where do you start? In the vast universe of digital content creation, the quest for the perfect blogging platform is unending. Amidst this search, Webflow emerges as a compelling contender, blending design flexibility with user-friendly functionality.

Let's cut to the chase - Webflow is excellent for bloggers who aspire to craft and publish content that resonates. Whether you're a seasoned blogger looking to migrate to a new platform or a fledgling writer taking your first steps into the digital world, understanding the intricacies of Webflow's blogging capabilities is crucial. Join us as we unravel the potential of Webflow for blogging, from its intuitive design tools to its SEO management features, to determine if it truly stands as a robust platform for your blogging needs.
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What is Webflow?

Webflow is a powerful web design tool that allows users to design, build, and launch responsive websites visually, without needing to write code. It combines design, animation, content management, and eCommerce capabilities into a single, user-friendly platform.

Check out our article entitled "What Is Webflow? Everything You Need To Know In 2024," if you want more context here.

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How does Webflow relate to blogging?

Webflow's CMS feature (Content Management System) allows bloggers to easily create, manage, and publish blog posts with a level of design flexibility not commonly found in other blogging platforms.

Each blog post can be uniquely designed or follow a consistent template, empowering bloggers to bring their content to life in a visually appealing manner without the need for coding knowledge.

This seamless integration of design and content creation tools makes Webflow a compelling choice for bloggers who prioritize both aesthetics and functionality in their blogging endeavors.

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What are the benefits of blogging?

Blogging offers numerous advantages that can cater to both personal and professional growth. Here’s a closer look at some of these benefits:

Enhanced Visibility and Reach: According to Statista, "The number of bloggers in the U.S. is expected to reach 31.7 million by 2020." This statistic underscores the growing popularity of blogging as a means to reach a wide audience. Through consistent blogging, individuals and businesses alike can establish a broader online presence, attracting more visitors to their sites.
Establish Authority in Your Niche: HubSpot reports that "60% of consumers feel engaged/positive with a brand or company after reading custom content on their blog." This outlines the potential of blogging to position oneself or one’s company as an authority in their field, thereby building trust with the audience.
Improved SEO: "Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages." - TechClient. By regularly updating a blog with fresh content, websites signal to search engines that they are active, which can lead to better search rankings and increased traffic.
Networking Opportunities: Blogging opens up avenues for networking by connecting individuals with like-minded readers, other bloggers, and industry experts. These connections can lead to collaborative opportunities, mentorship, and even new business ventures.
Monetization Potential: For many, blogging evolves from a hobby to a source of income. Whether through sponsored posts, advertisements, or selling digital products, the potential for monetization is significant. Income from blogging varies widely, but the top earners demonstrate that it's possible to generate a substantial income from a well-maintained blog.

By leveraging these benefits, bloggers can not only share their passion and expertise with the world but also grow their personal or brand's visibility, authority, and potentially even earn income through their efforts.

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Is blogging still worth it?

Yes. The majority of organic listings (not paid) on search engines are blog posts. Although it's high effort, writing blog posts around key words relevant to your business means you can grow traffic to your website.

Statistics show that 60 percent of all internet users read blogs more than once per week
There are approximately 5.6 billion searches on Google per day, and 94 percent of those searches go to organic results. And if you observe most search results, the majority of organic listings are blog posts.
A lot of bloggers earn anywhere between $500 to $2,500 per month during their first year. With the right monetization strategies, established blogs can drive up their revenue to five figures or more.

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How does blogging work?

This video from exposure ninja is insanely powerful to explain all the ins and outs on how to create a killer blog post.

Let's look at Boston Consulting group who have a killer blog to explain how blogging works clearly:

1) Blogs support services

BCG are a healthcare consultant. They offer a variety of services.

Boston Consulting Group is a global consulting firm that partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. Our success depends on a spirit of deep collaboration and a global community of diverse individuals determined to make the world and each other better every day.

Instead of just having their service pages an hoping someone finds them, they have content around what people are searching for on Google.

These articles then link to their service pages.

They have a killer blog which covers a variety of sectors.

It's called their "latest thinking," and solidifies their place as thought leaders in the space.

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2) Keywords are searched for

They seem to have got some articles which are timely pieces that are less keyword focussed and more opinion pieces, but then they seem to be targeting some specific keywords.

The mountain of content they have interlinks with other articles creating a nexus for google to crawl and gives them great authority in the space.

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3) Articles link to services & collect emails

While every article needs to be written intentionally to be found on search, it also needs to have a purpose. Note how the primary CTA on this article is to collect emails - this is likely to trigger an email sequence to educate you further about BCG's consulting services and how you can work together.

All the interlinking words (in green) will also help to keep you on the site an educate you further about the ins and outs of the services on offer.

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Successful blogs

Individual bloggers

Matthew Kepnes of Nomadic Matt once made over $750,000 in a single year

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner make a nice $100,000 per month with her website Making Sense of Cents

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Companies with powerful blogs

Semrush needs a killer blog considering they are an SEO tool but incredible to see the amount of content and impressive articles

Buzzsprout's blog is split in to different categorization and articles are hugely informative making you want to use Buzzsprouts product.

B&Q educates users by targeting regular search terms like "How to plant tulip bulbs," which links to their product pages.

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How does Webflow compare to other platforms?

When comparing Webflow to traditional blogging platforms like WordPress and Blogger, several key distinctions emerge.

Firstly, Webflow's visual editor allows for a more intuitive design process, enabling bloggers to create and customize their site's appearance without the need for coding—a stark contrast to WordPress, where such customization often requires at least some familiarity with HTML, CSS, or the use of third-party themes and builders.

Secondly, while Blogger offers ease of use for beginners, it significantly lacks the level of design flexibility and functionality provided by Webflow, making it less appealing for those looking to create a more professional or sophisticated blog presence.

Furthermore, WordPress, being an open-source platform, has a vast repository of plugins for extended functionality. However, this can be a double-edged sword, as reliance on multiple plugins can lead to compatibility issues and potentially compromise site security.

Webflow, on the other hand, offers many built-in tools and features for SEO, dynamic content creation, and site security without the need for additional plugins, offering a more streamlined and secure experience.

In terms of performance and hosting, Webflow's hosting solution is optimized for speed and security, offering features like automatic backups and SSL certificates, which are not always straightforward or included in WordPress or Blogger without additional setup or cost.

This makes Webflow a compelling option for bloggers who prioritize site performance and security without wanting to manage the technical details involved in traditional web hosting services.

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Advantages of Blogging with Webflow

Customization and Design Flexibility: How Webflow excels in offering creative freedom
Integrated SEO Tools: Discussion on Webflow's built-in SEO tools and their importance for bloggers
Responsiveness and Mobile Optimization: The significance of mobile responsiveness and how Webflow handles it

Potential Drawbacks

Learning Curve: The complexity of Webflow compared to more straightforward blogging platforms
Cost Implications: Analysis of Webflow's pricing structure in contrast to free or cheaper alternatives
Community and Support: Exploring the level of community support and resources available for Webflow bloggers

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Understanding Webflow

Key Features of Webflow Relevant to Bloggers

Visual CMS: Webflow provides a visually intuitive CMS platform, allowing bloggers to create and manage their content without the need to write code. This feature is especially useful for those who wish to design unique and engaging blog posts.

Responsive Design: With Webflow, creating responsive designs that adapt seamlessly across various devices is straightforward. This ensures that blogs look great and function well on desktops, tablets, and smartphones alike.

SEO Tools: Built-in SEO tools make it easier for bloggers to optimize their posts for search engines right from within Webflow. This includes editing meta titles and descriptions, alt tags for images, and more, which are crucial for improving blog visibility and reach.

Dynamic Content: Bloggers can use Webflow to create dynamic content such as sliders, tabs, and filters without any coding. This can enhance the interactivity and engagement of blog posts.

Customizable Templates: Although users can start from scratch, Webflow offers a variety of customizable templates specifically designed for blogging. These templates provide a solid foundation that can be personalized to match the blogger's branding and style preferences.

Hosting & Security: Webflow also offers hosting services, ensuring that blogs load quickly and remain secure from potential threats. This includes automatic backups and SSL certificates at no additional cost.

Integration Capabilities: The platform supports integration with various third-party tools, including analytics, email marketing, and social media platforms, allowing bloggers to enhance their content strategy and outreach efforts.

These features collectively make Webflow a powerful and versatile tool for bloggers seeking control over both the appearance and functionality of their blog, without compromising on either.

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How to use the Webflow CMS

The different steps we will go through are:

Signing up to a Webflow plan
Create a CMS collection
Adding data to that collection
Styling a static page
Connecting that CMS information
Styling an individual CMS page
On page SEO and checks
Hitting publish

For this example, we'll be using the Macu agency website. This is what we actually do on the website so you can see a real Webflow example.

We have collections for case studies, blogs, press features, Webflow templates, service pages, tools and more. As you can see, there are tonnes of different things you can do with the CMS.

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1) Sign up to a Webflow CMS plan

So how the hell do you set this up? Well, first step is actually to get a Webflow CMS plan. This is $23 a month if billed yearly or $29 a month if billed monthly. If you're obviously having it for more than a year, you'll save a little bit of money if you do it yearly. So that's a basic minimum starter.

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2) Head to the CMS & add a collection

You won't see all the different collections that you see in the panel so you will need to create a new collection.

A collection is just a set group of fields that make up the same type of data sets eg. blogs, team members etc.

What you need to do is you click this icon here, then click this little icon up in the top right when the panel opens.

Create New Collection.

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3) Add a collection

You will be shown all of these different options, blog post, authors, categories. Maybe there are things that you need that aren't here, so all you need to do is you can just put in whatever collection name you want and then add your custom fields from here.

Let's say though that you actually want to add blog posts as well. What that means is that you have all these custom fields that are automatically added. So post body, post summary, main image, thumbnail image, et cetera, et cetera.

Now, let's just assume that this is gooing to be done by you.

So you name it whatever you want. I'm just gonna make it very clear that this is different from the actual content that we normally have on our website. And we click Create Collection to get that collection made.

So we have collection and then we have the fields that make up whatever content is going to be put in those collection items.

So we can either input new content, if you already have a blog post with images and authors, et cetera, then you can obviously put that in by clicking this blue button here.

If you don't have any content, I'm going to just add 20 new items.

Now, these are all being added. Great. We have 20 new blog posts, 20 myths about web design, et cetera, et cetera. If we click into one of these, we'll see all of these different fields that have been automatically added.

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4) Create a static page

Head back to the designer and create a new static page.

Then, you can stylise a new page within Webflow to create a directory of your different team members.

You will then be able to link all the CMS collection information.

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5) Connecting that CMS information

Copy the basic page styling from another website page on you site. This should give you the basic to input the CMS inormaton.

Grab a CMS element by clicking the add elements button in the top left of the designer - it's a plus icon.

Drag that in to your designer and click the purple button in the top left. This means you will be able to connet it up to the authors CMS collecton.

After doing this, you will be able to see all the CMS items linked - it's magic!

Then, add an image element and connect by clicking the purple button that shows up in a modal above your CMS item.

Continue this process with all the elements you want to add. Then put a link block in the CMS item and link that to the individual CMS item page (current author)

Now, you have a static "Blog," page which shows all the different blogs on your website. If you click on one of the blog image thumbnails, it will link to the individual blog article itself on the CMS item page.

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6) Styling an individual CMS page

Repeat the process of copying basic styling elements and then drag a CMS collection element on the age.

Drag in a rich text element to connect to the author biography (or whatever log for content you wan to connect).

Verify that every element on the page is appropriately connected to the CMS. This includes ensuring that any dynamic content or interactive elements are fully linked to the CMS to guarantee seamless functionality. They turn purple when they are linked. Missing connections can lead to broken functionality when the live site is up and running!

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7) On page SEO & Checks

Don't you dare publish the site without checking off the on-page SEO elements!

These include:

Title tags
Metadescription
Open graph settings

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8) Publish!

When completely satisfied that the page is responsive, all the CMS information is there that's meant to be there, all CMS connections are made correctly and page is ready, hit publish!

Congratulations - your CMS collection is live.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, Webflow emerges as a robust and user-friendly platform for bloggers who seek a balance between ease of use and the capability to create a professional-looking blog without deep technical expertise. While platforms like WordPress offer extensive customization through plugins, and Blogger appeals to beginners for its simplicity, Webflow uniquely bridges the gap between these two, providing both simplicity and advanced functionalities.

Its integrated approach to design, performance, and security – without the heavy reliance on plugins – positions Webflow as a highly attractive option for bloggers. Whether you're a novice looking to dip your toes into the blogging world or a seasoned blogger aiming for a more refined and secure web presence, Webflow offers the tools and flexibility needed to realize your vision effectively.

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