Building a website is not an easy task, and every business wants to leverage the best solutions when working on it. Companies often hire website developers to look into this requirement who are well-versed with such development processes. These developers have the flexibility to create effective websites using code or no-code software solutions.
The first option of leveraging coding is a traditional one, while the section option for no-code involves Webflow website development. Businesses cannot decide how to choose a web development company, especially when weighing the pros and cons of Webflow vs. Traditional Development. Let’s draw a comparison for both methods of developing websites in the guide below.
What is Webflow?
Webflow is an advanced and secure website builder that allows you to create custom websites without writing any code. It also includes e-commerce, hosting, and customer management system (CMS) features.
Webflow offers excellent flexibility to designers and developers through custom CSS and JavaScript and streamlines the web development process. Several businesses hire Webflow developers to work on their websites for faster deployment and responsive design.
It is unlike traditional web development, which involves creating a website from scratch using coding languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.
See How Our Experts Can Drive More Traffic to Your Website!
SEO: Boost your rankings and drive more organic traffic today!
Website Design/Development: Create a stunning website that converts visitors into customers.
Paid Media: Reach the right audience at the right time with expertly managed paid media.
Differences Between Webflow and Traditional Web Development
The right web development approach can help your business attract more target audiences and rank across search engines in the long run. It requires you to understand the differences between Webflow and traditional development services that we will discuss below:
-
Faster vs Manual Development Process
The traditional approach requires you to start coding for the website from scratch. Then, you must use different frameworks to design, build, test, and debug the websites. All these are manual tasks which consume a lot of time. Moreover, manual coding carries a higher chance of errors, so you need technical expertise.
In contrast, Webflow web development is faster and more efficient, owing to its no-coding requirements. You have many pre-built components, templates, and themes to choose from.
You can easily drag and drop to add a feature. This straightforward process accelerates your design, development, prototyping, and integrations. The absence of the need to code saves your effort and time, leading to faster time-to-market.
-
Budget-Friendly vs Long-Term Expenses
Traditional development requires technical coding expertise, so you must hire skilled developers. In addition to paying for staff, you must also spend money on website hosting and security. This will be necessary for many years. The higher the complexity of the project, the higher the expenses rise.
In contrast, Webflow development is a budget-friendly option. You don’t need a large, skilled team for web development. The ready-made templates, components, and tools are enough to build rich websites. You need little skill to do this.
While you need to pay the subscription fees for Webflow, the total cost is less than that of the traditional method. You can choose the free or basic plan for simple websites. For more complex sites, select an advanced plan to save money.
-
Future-Proof vs Complex Upgrades
Scaling a website built using a traditional coding approach is a challenging and time-consuming process. You will need modifications at the back end, manual upgrades, and security updates to keep the website at optimum performance. But you have control over these server configurations and customizations.
With Webflow, web development and scalability are a smooth ride. You have an interactive content management system (CMS) that allows automatic updates, upgrades, and maintenance. So, when businesses witness growth or want customizations, Webflow makes it easier and smoother without major technical hurdles. Moreover, Webflow optimizes your websites for desktops, tablets, and mobiles – a critical requirement for all businesses.
-
Customization and Design Flexibility
Traditional development allows high levels of customization depending on the features and capabilities you want. But it requires a similar level of coding expertise. So, you must have immensely experienced and proficient coders and developers to build a customized website.
High levels of personalization become easier with the flexible Webflow as your website development tool. You can create customized websites without the additional stress of coding.
Designers and developers use many integration options and features in Webflow. This helps them add capabilities and animations. Their goal is to make websites interactive, visually appealing, and easy to use.
Thus, you will have professional-looking websites without programming knowledge or low coding. However, catering to every specific requirement can be a challenge with Webflow.
-
SEO and Performance Requirements
If you wish to create SEO-friendly websites, you need to have technical expertise in traditional development. Moreover, using external plugins to create feature-rich websites affects the website’s speed and SEO-friendliness. Therefore, the cost and effort to optimize websites for SEO are high.
Webflow web development enables an easier path for optimization from the website development stage. You have built-in SEO tools that enable clean coding, metadata editing, alt text generation, and Google Analytics integration. All these features help increase your website’s rankings in search engines.
-
Automated vs Manual Security Management
Maintenance and repairs are additional expenses for websites developed using the traditional approach. You need to keep investing in website security updates, version upgrades, and error corrections. These updates turn out to be costly for you and can involve downtime, which affects the website’s rankings.
With Webflow website development, you enjoy an automatic updating process. The user-friendly CMS offers managed hosting, SSL, and automatic website security updates. Thus, you won’t face downtime issues, manual updating errors, or external server expenses. You are stress-free owing to the automatic updating of your website and continued security.
Which Web Development Method is Right for Your Business?
If you want cost-effective website development in a quick time, Webflow is the right choice. You can develop customized, scalable, SEO-friendly, and high-performing websites. However, the flexibility and unique functionalities required in complex websites are difficult to achieve. So, if you want to develop business websites, portfolio sites, landing pages, personal blogs, or e-commerce sites, Webflow works best.
With a traditional development process, your cost, time, and effort in development, maintenance, SEO optimization, and customization are more. Moreover, coding expertise is essential to achieve all these with the traditional approach. However, this method scores better in a high level of customization.
Weigh your website goals against the budget and time, and then make a choice. The better option is choosing Webflow web development for a relaxed approach to building professional websites. You don’t need to write the code and save costs; built-in SEO tools are a blessing.
The Bottom Line
Website development will always be a requirement for businesses. Whether developing from scratch or improving the existing one, you will continue to need web development. And yes, that involves investing money in website hosting, hiring technical experts, and the long development process.
But if you choose Webflow, your stress, cost, and time of website development are reduced. Webflow web development ensures your website is visually appealing, responsive, SEO-friendly, and secure. It is easy to use and requires less technical expertise, giving you the best ROI.