How to optimize SEO on Webflow websites

March 30, 2022

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the mainstream of online business. It’s impossible to succeed with a blog, e-commerce, or other service-based websites without the best practices of SEO. As Webflow is still a new member of the web sector, there might be hundreds of questions about the compliance and effectiveness of SEO terms on a Webflow-designed site. Are you also thinking about how to optimize SEO on Webflow websites? You may be! 

You will be thankful to know that Webflow comes with a lot of great SEO tools to help you boost the rank of your site on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). Overranking your competitors will seem easy and attainable if you can properly apply the tools. But only tools can’t prevail; you are also responsible to acquire deep SEO knowledge to thrive. 

In this article, we’ll cover the most important factors that you need to focus on to push your website to the top of the search results. So stay with us till the end to sharpen your knowledge and gain some hands-on expertise. Let’s move on!

How to optimize SEO on Webflow websites?

There is speculation on how Webflow deals with SEO practices. Everyone tends to seek the answer to how to optimize SEO on Webflow websites. Some may believe that Webflow does not provide enough utilities and convenience to apply exhaustive SEO principles. But their conception is totally wrong. Webflow comes with everything that is indispensable to improve the rank and earn the trustworthiness of Google. Let’s dive deeper and explore how Webflow adapts to the search engine. 

If you are a bit worried about the SEO results of your Webflow site, you may transfer your tension to us. We have practical experience of building SEO-optimized websites with Webflow. We will never let you down with our first-class service. 

Add SEO titles:

Meta titles or title tags are the core touchpoints between your audience and you. A descriptive, compelling, and memorable title can enhance the click ratio to a great extent. Google also promotes particular content that belongs to an attractive but narrative title. Without an appealing title, it’s never possible to convince Google of the insight of your article. Unless Google understands the theme of your content, how will it get ranked?

That’s why it’s important to write a one-line SEO-optimized title for every page. How to curate an SEO-optimized title tag? The answer is straightforward. You must place your main keyword in the title. Also, it’s important to keep the title concise as Google truncates the longer form. 

The appropriate title should not be more than 60 characters. In Webflow, you can easily specify the page’s title. To add meta titles, you need to navigate to "Page Settings". Then click on the "Home" section. You will discover an "SEO settings" option that will allow you to place titles. 

SEO titles and meta description

Add meta descriptions:

Meta descriptions are the brief summaries of web pages. They are shown in the search snippets of the search engine result pages under the title tags. Similar to titles, meta descriptions play a pivotal role in driving more traffic. Google can never think of giving your pages a rank unless its crawlers find intuitive meta descriptions for each page. A page without a meta description can never be SEO-optimized. 

So it’s obvious that you can’t be neglectful of writing immersive meta descriptions if you seriously want to succeed in your online business. Where to write them in Webflow? This is a critical question. You will find a field for writing descriptions on every blog page after conducting a short setting session. 

To add a meta description on Webflow, go to "Page Settings" and then head to "SEO Settings". Keep in mind that your meta descriptions should not be more than 155 characters. 

Add meta description on each blog or any CMS:

If you want to add a meta description field in a Webflow blog, you need to go to "CMS Collection". Then click on the "Blog Settings" option. 

Blog settings

The section will allow you to add a new field. You just need to include a meta description field. Once you’ve done this step perfectly, then you need to move on to the "Page Settings" section. Click on the "blog template" option. A meta description section will pop up. You have to add the previously created "meta description" field to find the permanent section for writing meta descriptions on each blog page. 

Blog templates setting

Provide alt texts for all images:

Images are the visual content of your website. These are essential to inform and incite your targeted traffic. Optimized images are inevitable for SEO ranking. What does image optimization involve? It's no wonder that adding alt attributes is the key principle. Using a descriptive image file name is another crucial factor to making the images SEO-friendly. Moreover, image optimization involves resizing and compressing the images to ensure superior page speed.

To be honest, Google crawlers can’t see images. They get the idea of images from the alt texts or tags. Hence, it’s a must to provide alt texts for all the images. The alt tags also pop up if somehow the images fail to load. 

Fortunately, Webflow includes a feature that allows you to add alt tags to each image. You could provide text at the time of uploading images to your pages. Once you select a particular image, you will notice a setting option at the top of the image. You will find the alt tag field after clicking on the setting option.

Webflow alt text

Maintain proper URL structures:

A URL is the address of your page. Optimized URL structures are also essential to convincing Google to rank your pages. Google always prefers short and keyword-saturated URLs. So you need to place the main keyword in the URL to gain Google’s favor. An SEO-friendly URL is also easy-to-remember. The better you optimize the structure of URLs, the higher your pages will be ranked. Almost all CMSs include special features that enable users to create appealing URLs, and Webflow is no exception.

Webflow comes with a field where you can set up slugs for your dynamic, static, and utility pages. You will find the option in the Pages panel. When you publish web pages, the slug fields will appear under the page name and page folder options. Most importantly, you could also change the URLs further if needed. But there are some reserved slugs that you can’t use. 

Place header tags:

Header tags are an important part of on-page SEO. They help to communicate the topic of a page to search engines and can help to boost a page’s ranking in search results. There are six header tags, numbered from h1 to h6. The most important header tag is h1, followed by h2, h3, and so on. Header tags should be used to structure your content and should not be used more than once on a page.

Each header tag should include a keyword or phrase that accurately describes the topic of the page. This will help search engines understand what the page is about, and will improve the chances that the page will rank highly in search results for those keywords or phrases. 

In order to create header tags in Webflow, select the text you want to turn into a header and click on the "H1," "H2," or "H3" buttons above the text editor. Be sure to use keywords in your header tags, as this will help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages.

Webflow header tags

Maintain structured data:

SEO is one of the most important aspects of any website. Without proper optimization, a website will not be found by potential customers. In addition to optimizing the content on your website, it is also important to ensure that your website is configured for SEO. One way to do this is by using structured data.

Structured data is a way of marking up content on your website so that search engines can understand it better. This can help improve your ranking in search results and help potential customers find your website more easily.  

Implement an internal linking structure:

Internal linking is one of the most important aspects of on-page SEO. When done correctly, it can help your website rank higher in search engines, and improve click-through rates (CTRs).

There are a few things to keep in mind when implementing an internal linking structure. First, make sure all of your links are relevant and helpful to users. Don’t add links just for the sake of adding them – only include links that will actually be useful to visitors. 

Keep your anchor text relevant and keyword rich. Anchor text is the text you use to hyperlink to other pages on your website. Make sure it’s relevant to the target page and includes some keywords that you want to rank for. Also, try to use a variety of different link types.

Integrate sitemap:

SEO on Webflow websites can be optimized by integrating a sitemap. A sitemap is a map of your website that shows the hierarchy of pages and how they are connected. It makes it easy for search engines to crawl your website and understand your content.

To create a sitemap in Webflow, go to your site’s Project Settings page and select the SEO tab. You will find a Sitemap option. You can create both auto-generated and custom sitemaps there. 

Webflow sitemap

Maintain strong 301 redirects:

301 redirects are essential for good SEO, but they can also be tricky to set up and maintain. Here are a few tips for keeping your 301 redirects in good shape on a Webflow website:

  1. Make sure all redirects are implemented correctly. There's nothing worse than a broken redirect that sends users to the wrong page.
  2. Use the correct redirection code (301 or 302).
  3. Check your redirects regularly for errors. Broken links can hurt your SEO ranking, so it's important to address any issues as soon as possible.
  4. Keep your redirection files tidy and well organized. This will make it easier to troubleshoot any problems that may arise down the road.
  5. Use 301 redirects wisely—they're not always necessary, and can even slow down your website if used incorrectly.

Install the domain's SSL certificate:

Domain SSL certificates are a great way to improve your Webflow website's security and SEO. When you install a domain SSL certificate, your website will display a green padlock in the address bar, indicating that it is secure. This will give your visitors confidence that their information is safe when they enter it on your website. 

Additionally, installing a domain SSL certificate will help improve your website's SEO. Google gives preference to websites that are secure, so having a domain SSL certificate will help you rank higher in search results. Thankfully, Webflow provides automatic SSL certificates for all the domains. 

Implement schema markup:

Schema markup is a valuable tool for optimizing your Webflow website for search engines. It helps to identify the most important elements on your pages, and provides additional information that can help search engines understand your content. Implementing schema markup is truly easy. 

When you add schema markup to your pages, be sure to use the correct type of markup for the content you are describing. There are many different types of schema, so be sure to research the ones that are most relevant to your site. Schema markup can help improve your website's visibility in search results and can also help you attract more visitors from social media sites.

Use canonical tags:

Canonical tags are important for Webflow websites because they tell search engines which version of a page is the original. This is helpful because it prevents duplicate content issues, and it can help your website's SEO. 

To add a canonical tag to a Webflow website, go to the Project Settings tab and then the SEO section. You will find the Global Canonical tag setting. You can then enter the URL of the original page.

Webflow canonical tag

Target featured snippets:

If you're looking to improve your Webflow website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), target featured snippets, also known as "rich results," featured snippets are a special type of SERP listing that showcases an answer to a user's query, pulled from the content on one of your website's pages.

There are a few things you can do to increase your chances of earning a featured snippet for your website:

  1. Identify popular questions related to your business and create content that provides answers.
  1. Make sure your content is well-formatted and easy to read. Use lists, headings, and short paragraphs to break up your text.
  1. Refer to authoritative sources when possible. Featured snippets typically come from websites that are considered experts in their field.

Conduct site speed optimization:

When it comes to optimizing your Webflow website for speed, there are a few key things to keep in mind. Always use a fast hosting provider. This is one of the most important factors in ensuring that your website loads quickly. Never be idle to optimize your images. Make sure they are the correct size and format, and compress them as much as possible without impairing their quality.

Besides, try to minimize HTTP requests, combine files whenever possible, and use scripts and stylesheets only when necessary. Use a content delivery network (CDN) as it will help speed up the delivery of your website's content to users around the world. You may jump to "How to optimize Webflow website speed" to learn the entire process profoundly.

Connect Google Search Console:

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free Google tool that helps you monitor your website’s search engine visibility and performance. It can also help you diagnose and fix problems with your website that might be impacting its search engine rankings.

To use GSC, you’ll need to create a Google account if you don’t already have one. Then, head over to console.google.com and sign in using your Google account information. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a list of all the websites associated with your account. To add a new website, click the "+ Add Property" button at the top of the page.

Do basic link building:

Link building is the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. This can be done through guest posting, requesting links from other websites, or simply by creating great content that others will want to link to.

The more high-quality links you will point to your website, the better your SEO will be. And while there’s no single magic for getting tons of links, there are a few basic things you can do to boost your link-building efforts. 

FAQ:

What are the different types of optimization within SEO?

There are many different types of optimization that can be done within SEO. Most of these optimizations are related to the content on a website, such as the title, the meta data, the images, and the keywords. Other optimizations can be made to the website's structure and how it is coded. The following are some common types of optimization that can be done within SEO:

Title optimization: The title of a website is one of the most important factors for SEO. The title should accurately reflect the topic of the website and include some of the keywords that are being targeted.

Metadata optimization: Metadata is information that is included in the code of a website that is not seen by visitors but can be read by search engines. This information includes the title, the description, and the keywords.

What are the SEO optimization tools?

There are many SEO optimization tools available to help you improve your website’s ranking in search engines. Some of the most popular tools include:

Google Search Console: This tool provides detailed information about your website's traffic, including where your visitors are coming from and what pages they are visiting.

Google Analytics: This tool helps you track your website’s search engine ranking and visibility, as well as identify any potential errors that may be affecting your ranking. 

Screaming Frog SEO Spider: This tool audits your website’s SEO performance, identifying any issues that may be preventing you from ranking higher in search engines.

Is Webflow good for SEO?

Webflow is a great platform for SEO because it gives you the ability to control all of the important factors for good SEO. You can optimize your titles, meta descriptions, URLs, and images to make sure that your website is as search engine friendly as possible. You can also use Webflow's built-in tools to help you track your website's search engine rankings and see how your SEO efforts are affecting your traffic.

Why is SEO important for Webflow sites?

Search engine optimization is important for Webflow websites because it can help improve the visibility of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs). Webflow makes it easy to optimize your website for SEO. You can add keywords to your titles and descriptions using the built-in SEO editor, and you can also use the built-in Google Analytics integration to track your website's traffic and performance.

Final words:

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of improving the ranking of a website in search engines. If you're running a website on Webflow, you're likely looking for ways to optimize your SEO. How to optimize SEO on Webflow websites? Optimizing SEO can be a complex process, but there are a few basic things you can do to get started. Thankfully, there are also a few tools on Webflow to help you out with making your site as search engine-friendly as possible.

Throughout the article, we’ve covered the most noteworthy SEO practices for Webflow websites. You can strictly follow the terms to improve the visibility and rank of your site on Google’s search result pages. But if you need any help in building an SEO-friendly Webflow website, you can drop us a short message. We will respond to you as soon as possible.