Migration to Webflow: Complete quality checklist

Evaluating a migration to Webflow can feel overwhelming, especially when you're not the one doing the technical work. Whether your internal team, a freelancer, or an agency is handling the migration, you need to know what to look for in the final deliverable to ensure you're getting quality work that protects your business goals.

This checklist helps you evaluate migration quality by focusing on what you can actually see and test in the finished product. You don't need technical expertise to use this guide—just the ability to click around your new site and ask the right questions.

Introduction

A successful migration to Webflow isn't just about moving content from one platform to another. It's about preserving your search rankings, maintaining your brand experience, and setting up your new website for long-term success. Poor migration work can cost you traffic, conversions, and countless hours (and money) of cleanup work.

This evaluation guide covers 6 critical areas that determine migration success:

1. Design quality that drives conversions
2. Development work that ensures performance and maintainability
3. SEO implementation that protects your organic traffic
4. Functionality that serves your users
5. Monitoring systems that track your success

By the end of this checklist, you'll know exactly what questions to ask and what warning signs to watch for.

1. Design and User Experience

A migration to Webflow should improve your site's design and user experience, not just replicate what you had before.

1.1 Design quality and conversion optimization

Your new Webflow site represents a significant investment in your digital presence. The design should not only look professional but also guide visitors toward your business goals more effectively than your previous site.

Quality indicators:

• Clear visual hierarchy that draws attention to your most important content and calls-to-action
• Purpose-driven design decisions that align with your specific industry and target audience needs
• Strategic placement of conversion elements like contact forms, phone numbers, and pricing information above the fold
• Consistent brand implementation with proper logo usage, color schemes, and typography throughout all pages
• Intuitive navigation structure that follows standard web conventions and includes breadcrumbs where appropriate

Warning signs:

• Inconsistent design styling across different pages (i.e.some buttons rounded, some square, different colors without purpose)
• Poor typography hierarchy where headings don't clearly distinguish content importance
• Cluttered layouts with too many competing elements fighting for attention
• Conversion elements buried in footer areas or requiring excessive scrolling to find
• Generic stock photography that doesn't relate to your actual business or services

Key questions to ask:

• "Can you explain the reasoning behind the visual hierarchy and layout decisions?"
• "How does this design improve our conversion potential compared to the old site?"

1.2 Responsive design execution

With mobile traffic often exceeding desktop, responsive design execution must be flawless across all devices and screen sizes.

Quality indicators:

• Thoughtful mobile-first approach where mobile layouts feel intentional, not cramped
• Optimized content prioritization showing the most important information first on smaller screens
• Smooth breakpoint transitions without awkward in-between sizes that break the layout
• Device-specific optimizations like click-to-call phone numbers on mobile devices

Warning signs:

• Desktop-centric design that treats mobile as an afterthought, with tiny text and cramped elements
• Inconsistent spacing where elements that look good on desktop have poor proportions on mobile
• Missing mobile-specific features like swipe gestures for galleries or hamburger menu functionality
• Viewport meta tag issues causing zoom problems or horizontal scrolling on certain devices

Key questions to ask:

• "Has this been tested on actual mobile devices of different sizes, not just browser simulation?"
• "How was the mobile user experience optimized beyond just making things smaller?"
• "What mobile-specific features were implemented to improve usability?"

2. Webflow Development and Performance

Poor development work creates ongoing maintenance headaches and can significantly impact your site's performance and search rankings.

2.1 Site speed and loading performance

Page speed directly affects user experience, conversion rates, and Google search rankings. Your migrated site should be substantially faster than your previous platform.

Quality indicators:

• Website speed: Load time under 2 seconds on key pages (homepage, product pages, checkout) for both desktop and mobile
• Optimized image delivery using WebP formats and appropriate compression for different screen sizes
• Minimal custom code bloat using Webflow's native features instead of unnecessary JavaScript

Warning signs:

• Missing lazy loading on below-the-fold images and embedded content
• Inconsistent compression ratios where some images are over-compressed and others unnecessarily large
• Unoptimized font loading causing text to flash or delay during page rendering
• Poor script loading order where non-critical JavaScript blocks initial page rendering

Key questions to ask:

• "What's our current website speed compared to the old site?"
• "What speed optimization techniques were utilized in the development process?"

2.2 Code quality and maintainability

Clean, well-organized Webflow development makes future updates easier and reduces the risk of breaking your site.

Quality indicators:

• Consistent class naming system following Webflow best practices (e.g., "button-primary", "text-large", "section-hero")
• Reusable symbols and components for headers, footers, and repeated elements across pages
• Logical site structure with organized pages, folders, and CMS collections
• Semantic HTML output that follows accessibility guidelines and SEO best practices
• Strategic use of custom code only when Webflow's native features aren't sufficient

Warning signs:

• Random class naming like "div-block-47" or "text-block-23" left unchanged from Webflow defaults
• Duplicate styling instead of reusable classes (creating maintenance nightmares)
• Inline styles overriding class-based styling unnecessarily
• Broken responsive inheritance where desktop styles interfere with mobile layouts
• Excessive custom code for basic functionality that Webflow handles natively

Key questions to ask:

• "How was the Webflow class system organized for easy future maintenance?"
• "Can you show me how to update common elements like buttons or section styling?"
• "What custom code was necessary and why couldn't Webflow's native features handle it?"

3. SEO and Search Rankings

Protecting your search engine visibility during migration is crucial for maintaining organic traffic, leads, and revenue.

3.1 URL structure and redirect strategy

Smart URL management preserves your search rankings and prevents broken links from external sites and bookmarks.

Quality indicators:

• Preserved URLs where possible maintaining existing structure for important pages (e.g., /about/, /services/contact/ stay identical)
• Strategic redirects only when necessary for structural changes (e.g., /blog/2024/01/15/article-name/ → /blog/article-name/)
• Proper 301 redirect implementation that passes link authority from old URLs to new destinations
• Updated internal link structure pointing directly to new URLs without redirect chains
• SEO-friendly URL structure using descriptive slugs and logical hierarchy

Warning signs:

• Excessive redirects for URLs that could have been preserved exactly (indicating poor planning)
• Redirect chains where one redirect leads to another, diluting link authority
• Generic or unclear URLs like /page-1/, /untitled/, or /webflow-page/
• Missing redirects for important pages that had external links or bookmarks
• Inconsistent URL patterns where similar content types use different URL structures

Examples of smart URL management:

• URLs that should be preserved exactly: /about/, /services/, /blog/article-name/, /contact/
• URLs that legitimately need redirects: /2024/01/article-name/, /category/tech/article-name/, /wp-content/uploads/file.pdf
• URLs that indicate poor planning: /home-2/, /about-page-copy/, /services-old/

Key questions to ask:

• "Which URLs were preserved exactly and which required redirects, and why?"
• "Can you show me the redirect mapping spreadsheet and explain the strategic decisions?"
• "How will we monitor for any missed redirects that could cause 404 errors?"

3.2 Technical SEO implementation

Proper technical SEO ensures search engines can effectively crawl, understand, and rank your new Webflow site.

Quality indicators:

• Unique, descriptive page titles optimized for both search engines and click-through rates
• Compelling meta descriptions that encourage clicks while including relevant keywords
• Proper heading structure with single H1 tags and logical H2-H6 hierarchy throughout content
• Clean URL structure that includes relevant keywords and follows logical site architecture
• XML sitemap configuration properly submitted to Google Search Console for indexing

Warning signs:

• Duplicate meta titles across multiple pages or generic titles like "Home - Company Name"
• Missing or identical meta descriptions that don't provide unique value for each page
• Poor heading hierarchy with multiple H1 tags per page or skipped heading levels
• Keyword stuffing in titles or descriptions that reads unnaturally
• Missing schema markup for content types that could benefit from rich snippets

Key questions to ask:

• "How were page titles and meta descriptions optimized for both search engines and users?"
• "What schema markup was implemented for our specific content types?"
• "Is the new XML sitemap already submitted to Google Search Console?"

4. Functionality and Usability

Your new Webflow site should maintain all essential functionality while potentially improving user experience and conversion rates.

4.1 Forms and interactive elements

Contact forms, newsletter signups, and other interactive elements are critical for lead generation and user engagement.

Quality indicators:

• Comprehensive form validation preventing common user errors and spam submissions
• Clear success and error messaging that guides users to complete desired actions
• Proper integration with your email marketing platform, CRM, and/or career opening system
• Spam protection implementation using Webflow's native reCAPTCHA and/or other filtering methods

Warning signs:

• Missing form field validation allowing users to submit incomplete or incorrectly formatted information
• Unclear error messages that don't help users understand how to fix submission problems
• Broken third-party integrations where form submissions don't appear in your marketing tools
• Missing confirmation systems leaving users uncertain whether their submission was successful

Key questions to ask:

• "How are form submissions processed and where do they end up in our system?"
• "What spam protection measures are in place and how effective are they?"
• "Have all integrations with our marketing tools been tested with real submissions?"

4.2 Content management capabilities

Your team should be able to easily update and maintain the new site without constant developer involvement.

Quality indicators:

• Intuitive CMS interface that matches your team's workflow and content creation process
• Logical content organization with clear content field labels and helpful descriptions
• Appropriate user permissions allowing team members access to relevant sections without over-privileges
• Easy media management with organized asset library and clear upload guidelines

Warning signs:

• Overly complex CMS structure requiring extensive training for simple content updates
• Unclear field purposes where editors don't understand what each field controls on the live site
• Missing Webflow CMS collections for regular content that your team publishes
• Confusing media organization making it difficult to find or reuse images and files
• Limited editing capabilities requiring developer intervention for routine updates

Key questions to ask:

• "How intuitive is the Webflow CMS for our team's typical workflow?"
• "What training or documentation is provided for team members who will manage content?"
• "Can you demonstrate how to create and publish our most common content types?"

5. Monitoring and Success Metrics

A quality migration includes proper setup for ongoing monitoring and optimization to ensure long-term success.

5.1 Analytics and tracking setup

Comprehensive tracking systems help you monitor migration success and identify areas for ongoing improvement.

Quality indicators:

• Google Analytics 4 properly configured with goal tracking and conversion measurement for your key business objectives
• Google Search Console setup and verified so you can monitor changes in search traffic, keyword rankings, and indexing after the migration to Webflow
• Heat mapping tools configured (like Hotjar or Crazy Egg) to understand user interaction patterns

Warning signs:

• Missing conversion tracking for important business goals like form submissions, phone calls, or purchases
• Incorrect Google Analytics configuration where data doesn't match pre-migration patterns or appears incomplete
• Unverified Google Search Console preventing you from monitoring search performance and indexing issues
• Missing baseline metrics making it impossible to measure migration success or failure
• No ongoing monitoring plan leaving performance and SEO optimization to chance

Key questions to ask:

• "How will we track the success of this migration compared to our previous site performance?"
• "What specific metrics should we monitor in the first 30-60 days after launch?"

Specific metrics to establish baselines for:

• Organic traffic volume from Google Search Console
• Keyword rankings for your top 20-30 most important search terms
• Conversion rates for primary business goals like contact form submissions
• User engagement metrics including bounce rate, pages per session, and average session duration

When to seek expert help

If your evaluation reveals significant issues in any of these areas, it may be time to consider additional expertise. Poor migration work often creates more problems than it solves, leading to lost traffic, frustrated users, and ongoing maintenance headaches.

Warning signs that indicate you might need professional intervention include missing functionality, slow website speed, declining search rankings, or a content management system that your team can't use effectively. Our experienced Webflow migration team has helped numerous clients evaluate and improve problematic migrations, ensuring they meet professional standards for performance, SEO, and usability.

Remember, catching issues during the evaluation phase is much less expensive than fixing them after launch when they're already impacting your business results.