AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
OK, so here's the uncomfortable truth about my first few years as a freelancer: I was building digital ghost towns. Beautiful, pixel-perfect websites that nobody could find.
For years, I treated each website like a premium sales representative for the company. The messaging was sharp, the user journey was seamless, the design made competitors look outdated. But here's what I discovered after tracking results across dozens of projects: I was essentially training world-class sales reps to do door-to-door sales in an empty neighborhood.
This realization hit me hardest when I started migrating clients from traditional platforms to Framer. Everyone was excited about the design possibilities, but we kept missing the bigger picture. Your website isn't just a presence—it's a marketing asset that needs to be discoverable.
After working with multiple clients on platform migrations and watching traffic patterns, I learned that Framer SEO isn't just about adding meta tags. It's about fundamentally rethinking how you architect websites for discovery.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why most Framer sites fail at SEO (and it's not what you think)
The SEO-first approach that actually drives organic traffic
My exact workflow for optimizing Framer sites without sacrificing design
When to choose Framer over other platforms for SEO performance
Common migration mistakes that kill your existing rankings
Industry Reality
What every designer believes about Framer SEO
Most designers and agencies approach Framer SEO the same way they'd approach any other platform: build the beautiful site first, then "optimize it for search" as an afterthought.
The typical process looks like this:
Design-first mentality: Start with stunning visuals and smooth interactions
Homepage-centric thinking: Assume visitors enter through your front door
SEO as seasoning: Add meta descriptions and hope for the best
Content comes last: Fill pages with placeholder text that "sounds good"
Technical ignorance: Assume Framer handles all the technical SEO automatically
This conventional wisdom exists because Framer markets itself as a design-first platform. The entire interface encourages visual creativity over content strategy. Most tutorials focus on animations and interactions, not search optimization.
The problem? This approach treats your website like a digital brochure when it should be treated as a marketing laboratory. You end up with gorgeous sites that perform terribly in search results.
I've seen this pattern repeatedly: startups launch stunning Framer sites, get excited about the design praise, then wonder why their organic traffic never materializes. The conventional approach works if you have massive paid ad budgets or existing brand recognition. For everyone else, it's a recipe for invisible websites.
The reality is that Framer CAN be excellent for SEO, but only if you flip the traditional approach completely.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
My wake-up call came from a B2B SaaS client who had hired me to rebuild their website on Framer. They were migrating from a clunky WordPress setup, and everyone was excited about the design possibilities.
The client had a solid product and decent traction, but their existing site was pulling in less than 500 monthly organic visitors despite being in business for two years. "We just need something that looks professional," they told me. "Our current site is embarrassing."
I delivered exactly what they asked for: a stunning Framer site with smooth animations, perfect typography, and a user experience that made their competitors look amateur. The design won awards. The client was thrilled.
Three months later, their organic traffic had actually decreased. We'd built a beautiful ghost town.
That's when I realized I'd been approaching website building completely backwards. I was thinking like a traditional designer: homepage first, perfect user journeys, brand-focused messaging. But in the SEO world, every page is a potential front door.
The fundamental issue wasn't the platform—it was my mindset. I was treating websites like static brochures when they needed to be dynamic, discoverable content machines. Most businesses don't need a better homepage; they need to be found by people actively searching for solutions.
This client became my testing ground for what I now call "SEO-first Framer development." Instead of starting with the homepage design, we started with keyword research. Instead of assuming user journeys, we mapped search intent. Instead of beautiful placeholder content, we created genuinely useful resources.
The approach was counterintuitive for someone coming from pure design, but the results spoke for themselves.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the exact workflow I developed for building SEO-optimized Framer sites that actually get found:
Step 1: Content-First Architecture
Before touching Framer's design tools, I start with content strategy. This means mapping out every page based on search intent, not company structure. Your site architecture should follow how people search, not how your business is organized.
I create a content map that prioritizes pages people actually search for: solution pages, use case pages, comparison pages, and educational content. The homepage becomes just one entry point among many, not the center of the universe.
Step 2: Framer-Specific Technical Setup
Framer handles many technical SEO elements automatically, but there are crucial settings most people miss. I ensure clean URL structures, proper heading hierarchies, and optimized image compression from day one.
The key insight: Framer's component system is perfect for creating SEO templates. Instead of designing each page individually, I build reusable components that maintain consistent technical optimization across the entire site.
Step 3: Content Creation Within Design Constraints
This is where most people struggle: creating genuinely useful content that still looks beautiful in Framer. I developed a hybrid approach that respects both search requirements and design aesthetics.
Rather than cramming keyword-stuffed text into elegant layouts, I design content-first templates that make valuable information visually appealing. Think structured articles, comparison tables, and resource libraries that work as both content and design elements.
Step 4: Performance Optimization
Framer sites can be heavy if you're not careful with animations and images. I implement a performance-first approach: optimize every asset, use lazy loading strategically, and ensure Core Web Vitals stay in the green zone.
Step 5: Continuous Testing and Iteration
The biggest advantage of Framer for SEO is iteration speed. Unlike WordPress or custom development, you can test new content approaches and measure results quickly. I treat every Framer site as a marketing experiment platform.
Performance First
Optimizing Core Web Vitals and page speed without sacrificing Framer's visual appeal through strategic asset management.
Content Templates
Building reusable Framer components that maintain SEO consistency while enabling rapid content scaling across multiple pages.
Technical Foundations
Setting up proper URL structures and meta optimization within Framer's interface for maximum search engine crawlability.
Migration Strategy
Safely moving existing sites to Framer while preserving search rankings through proper redirects and content mapping.
The transformation was dramatic. Within six months, my B2B SaaS client went from 500 monthly organic visitors to over 5,000. But the numbers only tell part of the story.
More importantly, the quality of traffic improved. Instead of random visitors bouncing off a pretty homepage, we were attracting people actively searching for solutions the client provided. Lead quality increased because visitors were pre-qualified by their search intent.
The Framer platform proved ideal for rapid iteration. When certain content approaches worked, we could quickly scale them across the site. When others failed, we could pivot without waiting weeks for developer changes.
What surprised me most was how the SEO-first approach actually improved the design. Focusing on user search intent forced us to create more purposeful, user-centered layouts. The site became both more discoverable and more conversion-focused.
This success led to similar results with other clients. A design agency saw their organic traffic triple in four months. An e-commerce startup ranked for competitive keywords within their first year. The approach worked across industries because the fundamentals were sound.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
The biggest lesson: SEO-first doesn't mean design-last. The best Framer sites I've built achieve both excellent search performance and stunning visual appeal because they're architected with both goals from the start.
Here are the key insights from multiple Framer SEO projects:
Platform choice matters less than approach: Framer can outperform WordPress for SEO when used correctly
Content architecture beats homepage design: Think about entry points, not user journeys
Speed is a feature: Performance optimization in Framer requires discipline but pays dividends
Components enable scale: Reusable SEO templates accelerate content creation
Migration timing is crucial: Plan redirects and content mapping before launching
Testing trumps perfection: Framer's iteration speed is its biggest SEO advantage
Designer-developer collaboration: SEO success requires both creative and technical thinking
The biggest mistake I see is treating Framer SEO like an afterthought. When you integrate search optimization into your design process from day one, both elements improve dramatically.
This approach works best for businesses that need both strong visual branding and organic discoverability—essentially any modern company serious about growth.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups using Framer for SEO:
Prioritize use case and feature pages over homepage design
Build integration and comparison page templates for rapid scaling
Use Framer's component system for consistent trial signup flows
Focus on solution-based content that addresses specific user problems
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores optimizing Framer for search:
Create product category templates with proper schema markup
Optimize for local and product-specific search terms
Build collection pages that target buying-intent keywords
Ensure fast loading times for product images and galleries