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If you have arrived at this article, you have already made an excellent choice: selecting Webflow to create your website!
Webflow is a no-code website creation tool that is increasingly becoming popular, particularly for its SEO performance. It competes with numerous other CMS options like WordPress or Wix by offering a wide array of integrated development features. There are no limitations on creation, and you don’t need to pile on plugins; your site is efficient and perfectly adheres to your brand guidelines.
The advantages of Webflow are numerous, but it also necessitates a user interface that requires genuine web design skills. If you want a site optimized for SEO that drives traffic and engagement, it is advisable to work with an agency. Yes, having a site is great, but having a visible site is even better! Partnering with a web agency to develop your Webflow site is therefore a wise choice! Now comes the task of choosing the right agency... 🤔
Now you may be wondering how to choose the best Webflow agency for your online presence. In this article, we have gathered 10 criteria that we believe are important when selecting your agency.
Define the needs of your Webflow site
A website can incorporate numerous features, which is why it is essential to identify your needs in order to ask the right questions to the web agency you choose.
Who is in charge of design and conception?
Design is not automatically included in the development of a website. It is a standalone element that requires specific skills and distinct tools. Webflow is a website development tool, and Webflow agencies may not necessarily have the proficiency to propose a redesign of your brand guidelines. Regardless, here are some questions to ask yourself when assessing the design of your upcoming website:
- Do I have a brand guideline? (logo, colors, fonts, heading sizes, etc.)
- Do I have a wireframe for my site? This means a draft of the pages, along with the elements that compose them, such as image blocks, text areas, call-to-action elements, etc.
- Do I have a website mockup? Starting from the wireframe, your mockup is a closer representation of reality since it includes visual elements, colors, actual images, effects, backgrounds, etc.
- Do I have a website prototype? The prototype is the final design phase of your site. It allows the developer to better visualize the interface.
It is therefore important to ensure that your provider has the graphic skills to offer something aligned with your company’s image and products. Genuine UI, UX design, and graphic competencies are required. As a guarantee, we recommend checking the portfolio of the Webflow agency or the Webflow freelancer you're in contact with.
What features does your Webflow site need?
Are you looking for a simple showcase site or an e-commerce site?
The features that can be included in a website are vast. You might need a CMS to manage your blog, a filtering system for your e-commerce articles, a shopping cart for your online platform, or a "members" feature to create client spaces.
All these functionalities should be anticipated with your provider. Webflow experts may often specialize in web animations, SEO, or e-commerce features. For example, creating an advanced filtering system in Webflow requires HTML skills. Listing all the features you wish to see in your website is a way to validate the feasibility of the project with your web provider in advance.
Choose your type of web provider
Once you've defined your needs, you may wonder what type of provider to choose? A freelancer, a specialized Webflow agency, or a more general agency? Here are the pros and cons of each.
Webflow Freelancer
- Advantages: Cheaper than an agency, responsive, flexible, close to the client, fewer formalities.
- Disadvantages: Often smaller projects, generally specialized in a segment of website development, often have longer wait times for completion, lack ongoing management and support for the site, limited to web development without considering a holistic site strategy.
Generalist Web Agency
- Advantages: Comprehensive web offering ranging from design to launch, management, or even hosting. A choice of CMS options like Webflow, WordPress, Wix, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc., or in site development. Multiple minds working on the same project for optimal output. Ability to handle very technical web projects that may go beyond just a simple site.
- Disadvantages: Very costly, lengthy completion times, more formalities. Difficult to really assess their specific Webflow expertise... After all, when you claim to be an expert in everything, does that mean you're an expert in nothing? A less agile, less flexible offering, limited to executing the contract.
Webflow Specialized Agency
- Advantages: What could be better than a Webflow agency to develop a Webflow site? Expertise in a specific tool, advanced skills in Webflow development methods, knowledge of different no-code tools to integrate with Webflow, a dedicated Webflow team for your web strategy, project tracking, and much more reasonable pricing than with a general agency, thanks to the magic of no-code.
- Disadvantages: No optimization of your existing site without migrating it to Webflow, and you need to understand the designer mode or the editor mode of Webflow to use it.
Is your Webflow agency certified?
Here we are, talking about certifications! Yes, they are important and not just for show.
No-code has opened the doors of the web to many people. The number of no-code web developers is growing, and we see both gems and scams emerging. Indeed, it is now very easy to find a website template online for free or at a low cost and to "develop" it for a client, selling it as authentic. The website template may not necessarily reflect your image, and altering the structure could lead to responsive or UX issues. Without going to such extremes, it’s essential to emphasize the complexity of Webflow's designer mode. Unlike tools like WordPress or Wix, Webflow requires more advanced web design skills. This is where certifications become useful.
Choose a Webflow Expert Agency
The first certification that seems crucial is, of course, to become a Certified Webflow Expert. For this, check the list of Webflow expert agencies in France. This certification is obtained by passing several exams on the knowledge of the tool, its functionalities, web design skills, and also after reviewing several Webflow site creation projects. Thus, an expert agency is a primary guarantee of quality to reassure you in your choice.
Prefer a Client First Certified Finsweet Agency
The Finsweet certification corresponds to a validation of specific skills in development methodologies. Finsweet launched this certification in 2021 with the aim of standardizing development methods within Webflow. It guarantees structured and comprehensible development, referred to as "Client First." The Client First development method ensures the least number of bugs, display issues, responsiveness challenges, etc. This certification reflects advanced web development skills, providing an additional argument in choosing your Webflow agency.
Other certifications are a plus
Remember, we talked about "needs." This is where the other certifications of your agency make sense. If your needs go beyond creating a simple web page and you want to automate your website, connect no-code tools, create a member area, link it to your Airtable, communicate with your teams via Slack, automate Gmail email sending, track traffic with Google Analytics, etc., we recommend paying attention to your Webflow agency's skills on these various points and their ability to support you through the end of your project.
For instance, if you want to automate your site’s data flows, we would recommend a Webflow agency that is an Make (Integromat) expert or Zapier expert. For optimizing your marketing, we would recommend a Mailchimp expert agency or a Brevo (Sendinblue expert). Lastly, expertise in Google tools is also highly recommended.
Examine the works of the Webflow agency
Now let's get concrete! Despite all the certifications of your web agency, you need to visualize their capabilities. The best way to ensure that your agency has successfully completed Webflow projects is to look at their portfolio.
Project Size
First, try to find a site in your industry that you can compare yourself to more easily. If the agency highlights a particular project, look at it as a whole to see what has been accomplished: style guide, wireframe, mockup, development, SEO, etc.
User Journey
Analyze the user journey by paying attention to the presence of call-to-action buttons, the arrangement of elements and sections, the website's accessibility, and internal linking. The number of clicks required to transition from one page to another or the ease of navigating the site are important factors.
SEO Performance
Many tools exist to analyze a website’s performance. This is indicative of the advice that the agency in question can provide as well as their development methodology. A site that isn’t optimized for SEO will not be visible. Prefer an agency that adheres to best practices.
Site Markup
Internal markup is a very important element to consider for the future SEO of your website. By marking up your site, you are explaining to Google how it is designed, what content it offers, and where it should be indexed. Review the markup of the agency's sites to gauge their Webflow competencies.
Integrated Features
Finally, be interested in the various features integrated into the site. Is there a member area, a filtering system, animations, a dropdown menu, etc.? All these small details contribute to the overall experience of the site, and you may need similar functionality for yours.
Analyze the web creation offer
When you contact a digital agency to create a site, you are actually coming with a genuine online visibility project. Your Webflow agency should therefore be capable of meeting all your needs, from graphic creation to training. Ensure that the agency offers you a comprehensive service. Here are some questions to ask yourself to target your agency:
- Do they provide a brand guideline development?
- Is there a mockup of my site included in the offer?
- Is the development Client First?
- Is the development responsive?
- Will I receive training upon delivery of the site?
- Is my site compliant with SEO standards?
Stay autonomous in the evolution of the site
Throughout this article, we have presented Webflow as a complex tool that requires the involvement of experts. This remains true, particularly for the development side. Indeed, Webflow has a "simplified mode," the editor mode. This mode provides access to numerous functionalities of the editor mode without requiring specific web design skills. To evolve your site over the long term without needing to contact your agency for every minor change, we recommend ensuring several things.
Number of dynamic pages and sections
Dynamic pages and sections are parts of the site that you can easily add, remove, or duplicate. Unlike static pages, they are preconfigured in your CMS and do not require the intervention of a developer. Pay attention to the number of dynamic pages that will be created on your site, as it could significantly reduce your autonomy later on.
Webflow Editor Training
Ensure that your agency provides you with training on the features of the editor mode, which will allow you to advance your site: adding a blog post, adding a job listing, modifying text and images, etc.
Ensure ongoing site support
Once you have ensured that you are as autonomous as possible in the daily evolutions of your site, you must also ensure that you have guaranteed support for structural changes. See what type of contract your agency offers to help you develop your site further. This is often a significant topic for large e-commerce sites or online platforms that manage a lot of data and often make structural changes to their interfaces, tool integrations, etc.
Additionally, in case of issues, bugs, or other problems, your Webflow agency is expected to intervene promptly.
Don't focus solely on price
Price can be a barrier in all types of projects. Start from the principle that your website is a genuine investment for your business. Whether it’s a showcase site or a Webflow e-commerce site, establishing an online presence is no longer optional.
Today, we consider websites to be genuine salespeople. They provide access to information about your company, your offers and products, your achievements, and your contact information to millions of people with just a few clicks. For all these reasons, we recommend first considering the quality criteria we just discussed before focusing on the price.
