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If you didn’t already know, I’ve been designing websites for a long time.
I got my unofficial start back in the Myspace days. Teaching myself very basic HTML and CSS to customize my profile because I was NOT an outside kid.
Ever since those days, I’ve been in and out of the coding/website design and development world. Teaching myself new skills, experimenting with platforms, and expanding my love for coding.
Back in 2019 when I officially opened my studio and started taking on clients, I primarily built their sites on Showit and Squarespace.
To this day I’ve built over 95% of my client’s sites on Squarespace. It’s a platform that I recommend for those that want a one stop shop, easy to use, and secure website platform.
On the flip side, there is a lot of coding customization that you have to use CSS for to really make a Squarespace site stand out, however, I don’t necessarily see that as a reason to write the platform off completely like some do.
Even with my heavy recommendation of Squarespace, I have never had my own studio’s website on the platform.
I’m not gonna lie - it’s for a hypocritical reason.
I wanted to do so much more creatively for my studio’s site. I wanted to push myself and my abilities. I could went to Squarespace, and fought against the builder for who knows how many hours, adding lines and lines of code and Javascript to get something close to what I was imagining, or….
I could branch out and start from a completely blank canvas. One completely under my control.
In comes Webflow.
Webflow isn’t for the faint of heart
It’s ain’t Wordpress that’s for sure - but it’s not the drag and drop platform that their marketing team oddly describes it as.
There are some AMAZING Webflow templates out there that you can buy. You’ll for sure be able to replace the content, change the styling and be up and running pretty quick.
But if you choose to build from scratch, you HAVE to have a plan. It’s the lack of a plan that gets so many designers stuck. When I say “plan”, I don’t mean a design file in Figma.
I mean a framework. A philosophy, a set of tools, a specific method to use to build every section without losing your brain.
Not learning a framework and going into Webflow completely blind, is the #1 mistake that new people make when building from scratch in Webflow.
I’ve helped many of designers with their Webflow sites, and that theory proves true time and time again. I even created a course to teach people a framework and to walk them through step-by-step on how to develop a site in Webflow.
My honest experience with the Webflow “learning curve”
Honestly, It took a while for things to click for me in Webflow. After learning the interface and where everything was, I realized that all of my experience working with Squarespace sharpened my CSS skills for sure, but not my HTML skills/knowledge.
And having a decent understanding of CSS AND HTML is CRUCIAL to building anything in Webflow.
You don’t have to stick your head into the literal depths of the MDN docs, but you do need to understand how websites are structured and how to make them responsive during the initial build, so making updates down the line isn’t a complete disaster.
I spent a lot of time watching Youtube tutorials, building funky sites, then fine tuning and cleaning them over time.
Addressing the elephant(s) in the room
Common Objection #1: It’s too technical for me
As I mentioned previously, there is a bit of technical skill you have to have to build Webflow sites. But I don’t think it’s as intense as people think.
You truly only need to know these three things:
- A basic understanding of HTML and CSS
- A basic understanding of how to build responsive and accessible websites.
- How to Google things you don’t know.
Number 3 is super important.
I think a lot of people, when dealing with something technical, completely forget that Google exists!
Because of the way that Webflow works, you are building the HTML and the CSS of the site from “scratch”. Sure you’re not actually writing out the lines of code, but you are in a roundabout way.
So that means that the issues you run into? YOU CAN GOOGLE THEM.
HTML and CSS are languages that people have been using for decades online. There is a very low chance that the issue you’re running into hasn’t already been solved by someone else online.
Plus you have the Webflow forums for even more help.
I know for a fact you’ve probably been 400 lines deep in the Chrome Inspector Tool on a Squarespace site trying to figure out why your code isn’t working and still couldn’t figure it out.
So then you Google it and still no dice.
Why? Because you’re dealing with lines and lines of someone else’s code. You’re fighting an uphill battle.
In Webflow, the path to figuring out why something isn’t working and how to fix it without having to google: “what is an event listener javascript?” is much shorter (and less tedious) than it is when using a platform like Squarepace.
Common Objection #2: My clients only want Squarespace
Now this objection is one that I understand and one that I honestly agree with.
When building sites for clients, we have to make sure that we’re setting them up on platforms that they feel comfortable and confident in using. If we don’t, we are doing them and our work a huge disservice.
In all honesty, there are some clients that Webflow just isn’t a good solution for. And that is ok.
I recommend Webflow for 3 types of clients:
- Clients that are a bit more tech savvy, or who aren’t scared of tech. If they can follow along with your website tutorial videos showing them how to make changes, they’ll be fine.
- Clients that truly want a unique site with varying levels of bells and whistles.
- DESIGNERS!
I HIGHLY recommend Webflow for brand, web, and graphic designers. Even more so for web designers.
Designers are perfect candidates for Webflow because we can have full creative control over how our work is displayed. It’s the #1 reason why I took the chance and made the switch.
And while I love the challenge of coding some super custom solution in Squarespace, at some point it’s a waste of time and energy.
If we want to really woo and impress our clients and have complete control over how they experience our portfolio and our story, we need a platform that can help us do that.
Remember friends: It’s our job to keep our fingers on the pulse of what’s new and changing in the industry and express ourselves fully to give our clients the confidence to do the same.
For the designers that say “I don’t have time to learn a new platform”
This is probably the biggest objection that I hear from other designers and I totally get it.
With client work, working on our businesses, marketing, and maintaining some form of a social life - spending time learning a new website platform is probably pretty low on the list.
I have an interesting option for those that really want to make the switch, but don’t have the time or want to purchase a course:
You can learn THROUGH working with a Webflow developer like me.
I’ve developed sites and did some troubleshooting for designers before that have tried to learn on their own and were successful but knew they could do better. Once I developed their site, I recorded different types of video tutorials for them.
They didn’t need to know how to edit content or change out images. So instead, I recorded myself explaining how I built a page and why I made certain decisions.
And if they let me know what they were struggling with specifically in regards to developing in Webflow - I’d screen record myself rebuilding it for them from scratch. Super personalized, stream of consciousness building in Webflow. Just me making and talking through my decisions, mistakes, and corrections in real time.
This way you get to learn directly from a Webflow developer through hands on experience. I’m always available for questions or to record my screen and walk through solutions.
Curious to learn more or what the process is like? Shoot me an email or DM me on IG.
Choosing now to build my studio's site on Webflow did a lot of tangible and intangible things for me and my business.
On the outside, it helped me stand out from other designers, expand my technical abilities, become even more confident in my design and coding abilities, and give me opportunities to partner with other designers doing something I genuinely love.
On the inside, it continues to renew my faith in my business, my skills, my creativity and my industry. Knowing that I have a creative tool at my disposal that doesn’t hinder my ability to be as creative as possible and if I do run into a roadblock - I overcome it through by learning new skills that I can then apply to future projects and situations.
We all deserve to showcase our work and express our creativity exactly how we envisioned it.
Webflow can help you do just that.
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