7 signs you should move from WordPress to WebFlow

WordPress is the platform that powers around 43% of websites around the world. It's clear why they've continued to be chosen by many corporate web personnel for over 10 years. A rich plugin ecosystem, a thick developer community, and low initial costs — these are the unwavering strengths that WordPress has built up over the years.

However, times have changed. With the rise of no-code tools, increasing demands on web security, and rising expectations that “web personnel can update themselves,” options that are different from 10 years ago have become realistic.

If you have any idea of the 7 signs below, start with WordPressMigrating to WebflowMaybe it's time to seriously consider it.

First sign: Plugin update notifications are piling up all the time

Notifications saying “○ plug-ins can be updated” are piling up every time you open the management screen — aren't you used to this situation?

It's not uncommon for mid-sized WordPress sites to include 20 to 30 plugins. Each one is updated at a pace of 1 to 2 times per month, so some sort of update work occurs virtually every week. Even if the update process itself takes a few minutes, the problem comes later. The person in charge of the site must have experienced the trouble of losing compatibility between plug-ins and not being able to display the site, or specific functions not working, at least once. However, if you postpone the update, security holes that have not been patched will be left unattended.

Webflow doesn't have the concept of plug-ins. Functions such as forms, animations, and CMS are included as standard on the platform, and Webflow is responsible for the update work. There is zero time for personnel to be chased by update notifications.

Second sign: PHP updates are scary

Have you ever seen a notification saying “PHP needs to be upgraded” and put it off without thinking?

The transition to PHP 8 was a major barrier for many WordPress sites. There are many cases where old themes and plug-ins that have been used for many years are not compatible with PHP 8, and there are countless cases where the site collapsed after the version was upgraded. When it comes to “check with the developer and then respond,” there will be a time lag of several days to several weeks from request to completion of response. Meanwhile, operations will continue with known vulnerabilities.

Webflow's entire technology stack, from front-end to infrastructure, is managed by Webflow. There is no need for the person in charge to be aware of PHP, server OS, or database versions. There must be a particularly great sense of liberation for those in charge of the web who “also work in charge of infrastructure.”

Image source:https://webflow.com/feature/hosting

Third sign: site display speed is slowing down year by year

I was comfortable when I first launched the site, but then I noticed that Google's PageSpeed Insights continued to receive red and yellow reviews — a common story.

The main cause of slow WordPress display speed is the accumulation of plugins. Caching plugins, image optimization plugins, SEO plugins... each loads its own JavaScript and CSS, which increases the total number of page requests. Furthermore, in the case of operating on a shared server or low-spec VPS, response delays at the timing when access is concentrated are unavoidable.

Google Core Web VitalsIn an age where evaluations directly affect search rankings, display speed is not just a UX issue, but also an SEO issue. Webflow delivers static content through AWS's global CDN. There is no need to worry about server specs, and it is displayed at high speed no matter where you access it from anywhere in the world.

Fourth sign: you've experienced a security incident or are constantly anxious

It is estimated that over 90% of cyber attacks targeting CMS target WordPress (security company Sucuri survey). This is not because WordPress is weak; it is a structural problem where vulnerabilities derived from plug-ins are easily left unattended.

Fifth sign: I'm asking the production company to correct even one line of text

“I want to update my site because my address has changed” or “I want to revise the campaign schedule” — don't you send an email to the production company every time there is such a simple change?

If an in-house person with no knowledge of HTML/CSS operates the WordPress administration screen, there is a risk that the layout will unexpectedly collapse. Therefore, the decision to “leave it to the production company for safety” is reasonable, but if one correction request is 10,000 to 30,000 yen and it takes 3 to 5 business days to respond, the annual cost is considerable. If the average is 10,000 yen for 3 correction requests per month, that alone is 360,000 yen per year. It's 3.6 million yen in 10 years.

Webflow's visual editor is designed so that even personnel without HTML or CSS knowledge can safely update content while maintaining design intent. There are many people who feel that once they have experienced the experience of “being able to update the design yourself without worrying about it falling apart,” they can't let go of it.Webflow edit modeBy utilizing it, the update speed will increase, and timely information dissemination will be possible.

Sixth sign: considering multilingual support, but the plug-in is complicated

An increasing number of companies are considering making their websites multilingual due to overseas expansion and service expansion for foreign visitors to Japan. However, when trying to implement multilingual support in WordPress, things quickly become complicated.

WPML, which is a typical multilingual plug-in, comes with the complexity of settings and compatibility issues with the theme in addition to the annual license fee (approximately $99 to $199/year for the business plan). Managing translation memories, designing URLs (whether subdomain or subdirectory), and setting up hreflang tags — these require considerable expertise to be implemented correctly. If there is a misconfiguration, Google will not correctly index the language-specific pages, and the effect of multilingual SEO will be halved.

Webflow in 2023Locale functionhas been officially released, and multilingual support is provided as a standard feature. URL path settings for each language, automatic output of hreflang tags, and language switching editing in the visual editor are integrated, so you can build a multilingual site without purchasing additional plug-ins or complicated settings.

Image source:https://webflow.com/feature/localization

Seventh sign: “If I were to remake it, I would like to renew the design incidentally”

I'm dissatisfied with the current state of the site. But at the same time, there's also a feeling that “if I were to remake it, I'd like to make drastic changes anyway” — if you feel this way, then it's rather the best time to transition.

WordPress themes have structural limitations in terms of design freedom. You need a developer who can customize within the scope of the layout prepared by the theme, or have deep experience with PHP and CSS. In particular, there are many cases where design obsessions such as “I want to add movement only here” and “I want to make this section full width” collide with the theme code and cannot be realized.

Webflow is designed as a design tool, and websites can be built with a degree of freedom close to the design drawn with Figma. Grids, flexboxes, and custom animations can be set without code, and it is described as being close to the feeling of “outputting the vision drawn by the designer in his head as it is.” By simultaneously renewing and migrating the site, production costs and migration costs can be optimized collectively. Being able to simultaneously achieve “infrastructure renewal” and “brand renewal” in one project is a major advantage of taking advantage of this timing.

summary

What did you think of looking back at the 7 signs?

• I'm busy updating plug-ins
• PHP updates are scary
• The display speed has dropped
• I'm worried about security
• Simple fixes are also outsourced
• I'm considering multilingualization, but it's complicated
• I want to double as a renewal

If you have an idea of three or more of these, your current WordPress operation may be approaching a “marginal cost.”

The point, though, is that WordPress isn't bad. WordPress is still a powerful choice for blogs, large-scale media, and sites where developers want flexible customization. The problem is that we tend to forget to ask the question “whether the tools we chose 10 years ago are optimal for our current situation and goals.”

Nor is moving to Webflow right for everyone. However, if you are familiar with the challenges introduced here, I recommend that you expand your options once.

Let's start with a free migration diagnosis and check together what's happening with the current site.

Booost offers a free WebFlow migration diagnosis for WordPress sites. Please feel free to contact us about everything from organizing current issues to estimating migration scopes.