How Long Does It Take To Learn Webflow?

Webflow's popularity has been increasing significantly. In just three years, Webflow managed to more than quadruple its market share and is currently used by 0.9% of all websites whose content management system is known. 

The need for Webflow developers and other professionals focusing on the popular service has significantly increased in the past couple of years, attracting many to start learning about the popular builder. Perhaps the primary reason Webflow seemed like a good choice is that it’s a low-code platform, allowing you to create clean, professional, and engaging sites without writing a single line of code. 

Yet coding is vital for Webflow, giving you a key to unlock the platform’s full potential and versatility.

Many who are at the start of their Webflow journey wonder this: how long does it take to learn Webflow? Learning the basics could take as few as several days, but mastering Webflow takes much longer. 

‍It’s safe to say that it is a never-ending process as the platform continuously evolves. In other words, the popular service always offers something new that can assist you with creating better-looking and more effective websites. 

Reasons to Use Webflow

Here are some of the main reasons to consider using Webflow.

• Speed — As mentioned, there’s a reason why Webflow’s popularity has been recognized in a record time, as it speeds up the website-building process. Creating a fully-functional site will take only a fraction of what it would take you if you relied on code alone to build a site.
• Clean code, even for modern layout features — You can use Webflow to implement features such as CSS grid, classes, reusable styles, and flexbox. All of this is possible without using code. Webflow writes clean code for you as you design, on par with the code written by professionals.
• Completely custom interaction and animations — Webflow is equipped with a toolbox to help you quickly design and build interactive elements on your website with minimum coding.
• Webflow has plenty of tutorials — In addition to Webflow’s official set of tutorials dubbed Webflow University, the platform features a range of community-built free and paid resources aimed at beginners. The community, along with helpful Webflow-related content, keeps growing worldwide, and many are members of the vibrant Webflow forum, where you can get your questions answered by fellow members.

Time Required for Different Webflow Websites

Websites come in all shapes and sizes, so one cannot really determine the time needed to build them. A small one-pager with simple interactions can be completed within a day, whereas complex enterprise platforms require months of work.

The difference between Webflow and other builders is in the time required to do the actual grunt work. Let me elaborate.

A code-intensive approach without using Webflow means you’ll spend days just trying to tackle technical stuff and get it right to make the site work. A company might require an entire engineering team for this, while all of that is simplified and more intuitive in Webflow, where one developer could address all the issues in record time.

So, does less time spent building equal less time to complete a Webflow project? Not necessarily. 

In my experience, many clients are marketers interested in getting the most out of Webflow, so we often have meetings to discuss the best solutions, which can be time-consuming. Still, we can actually test all the possibilities we take into account as they’re much easier to implement via Webflow compared to traditional website building. 

This is because Webflow offers a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to quickly create and modify pages and elements, as well as a wide range of features and integrations that allow for more complex and powerful website solutions.

I still want to give you some concrete numbers here, so I decided to make an estimate of how much time Webflow experts spend on average just doing the heavy lifting. In other words, I didn’t count any meetings with clients, discovery workshops, tests, revisions, feedback sessions, and so on. 

This is like estimating the time it takes to build a house without accounting for the hours spent interviewing architects and contractors, drafting blueprints, scheduling inspections, shopping for building materials, and so on. It's an integral part of the process that should not be overlooked. 

Stages of Building a Site from Scratch via Webflow

Building a great Webflow doesn’t start with opening Webflow Designer. The entire process is a bit more complex, but each step described below is equally crucial if you want to get the most from the popular builder.

1. Discovery phase — It all starts with creating a good plan for your Webflow project, which often includes defining the primary aim and preparing everything you’ll need to start the building process. You should discuss website features, structure, UX, website size, scalability, performance requirements, MVP timeline, and so on. Don’t forget to perform market analysis to understand different approaches and explore competition, all while gathering and organizing the relevant information required for your Webflow project.
2. Design phase — During this phase, you actually get to design what the website will look like. Mind you, a Webflow developer often isn’t as proficient as a web design expert, and it’s sometimes better to use external software, such as Figma, to let the designers unleash their creative energy before moving it to Webflow. Some Webflow professionals offer all-in-one services, meaning they both design and develop the site using Webflow’s tools, such as Designer, CMS, and more.
3. Development phase — Once the design is ready, it’s time to develop it into a fully-functional website, which can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days, depending on the overall complexity of a site. Even when the first version is developed, you should understand that your clients will have feedback, and additional iterations might be necessary.
4. Review phase — Testing the website on different devices and ensuring everything runs smoothly is essential before the launch.
5. Migration and launch phase — Launching takes up to an hour for small sites and up to a day or two for complex ones. Once the site is live, check if it works well and make adjustments, if necessary, until it looks perfect. Luckily, these changes can be easily implemented with Webflow’s tools, such as Editor.

All in all, mastering Webflow’s tools is just a piece of the puzzle. If you want to offer an end-to-end experience to clients who want a Webflow site, you need to understand and perfect each and every one of the five stages described above.  

How to Learn Webflow?

There are many ways to get started with Webflow, including a range of free and paid courses. If you have yet to gain experience using the platform, the most logical choice would be to explore Webflow University, as it can kickstart your journey to becoming a Webflow expert. 

However, intermediate and advanced users should also seek other courses, videos, and articles to learn different approaches and how to solve concrete problems with the popular builder.

Ultimately, the best way to learn the basics is to play around with tools and try to build something. Creating a basic Webflow account is free, and you’ll gain access to the majority of tools this service offers.

Here’s a short overview of popular sources for learning Webflow:

• Webflow University
• Flow Ninja YouTube channel
• Flow Ninja blog

Factors Impacting the Average Time to Launch a Website

As mentioned throughout the article, many factors add to the time required to build a website, even if you build with Webflow. Let’s check them out.

• The website’s goal — The website's goal is a significant factor in determining how much time is needed for website development. Depending on the complexity of the desired site, the website's goal can take more or less time to achieve. For example, a website to provide simple information might take less time to build than a complex e-commerce experience.
• The business logic complexity — Determining your site's role in your business can add significant time to the development process. Additionally, the more features and content a website has, the more complex the development process becomes.
• The number of team members involved — This is because the more people involved in the development process, the more coordination is required, and the more chances there are for errors and conflicts. 
• Communication — Communication is vital to ensuring that everyone is on the same page and that tasks are getting done in a timely manner. Poor communication can lead to confusion, delays, and even project failure.

Start Building Websites with Webflow

Everyone can start exploring Webflow for free, including freelancers, marketing agencies, designers, developers, and even beginners. Even though one can get into the swing of things quite quickly — we’re talking several days to several weeks. Mastering Webflow, on the other hand, takes time and effort and is a much longer process that could take years.

Webflow development is just one step in creating online experiences using the popular low-code service. To truly master Webflow, one needs to take a deep dive into the platform’s other tools that can help you with content management, SEO, design, and much more. 

Of course, one should not forget about Webflow templates as a great tool for those who want to explore existing designs and adjust them for their user, saving some time in the process. For instance, if the user is building a professional portfolio website, they can choose from a range of templates that already include features such as a contact form, portfolio gallery, and blog sections.

If you need assistance building a Webflow website or want a team of experts to build it from scratch, feel free to get in touch with Flow Ninja.