AI & Automation

How I Stopped Fighting WordPress and Built Client Sites in Hours with Framer (7-Year Journey)


Personas

SaaS & Startup

Time to ROI

Short-term (< 3 months)

After 7 years of building websites as a freelancer, I watched a CTO spend two weeks debating whether every heading should start with a verb. Two full weeks. While their competitors were shipping features and capturing market share, this team was stuck in grammatical paralysis.

This wasn't an isolated incident. I've seen this pattern repeatedly across dozens of client projects: marketing teams begging developers for simple copy changes, waiting weeks for basic updates, and treating their website like some sacred piece of infrastructure that requires a PhD to touch.

The breaking point came when I helped a B2B SaaS startup cut their website update time from 2 weeks to 2 hours by switching to Framer. That's when I realized the fundamental problem wasn't technical—it was organizational.

Here's what you'll learn from my 7-year transition journey:

  • Why your website should be a marketing laboratory, not a developer bottleneck

  • The exact framework I use to choose between Framer and Webflow for different projects

  • How to migrate from WordPress without losing SEO rankings

  • Real examples of clients who went from 2-week update cycles to same-day changes

  • The specific Framer features that actually matter for non-developers

This isn't another "Framer is amazing" tutorial. This is the honest story of why I migrated all my client projects away from WordPress, and the specific playbook that worked.

Industry Reality

What every agency and startup thinks they need

Walk into any startup or agency, and you'll hear the same website strategy: "We need WordPress because it's flexible, SEO-friendly, and our developers know it." The logic sounds solid on paper.

Here's what the industry typically recommends for business websites:

  1. WordPress with custom themes - "Ultimate flexibility and control"

  2. Developer-managed updates - "Ensures quality and consistency"

  3. Plugin-based functionality - "Extend capabilities as needed"

  4. Staging environments - "Test changes before going live"

  5. Version control systems - "Track every change professionally"

This conventional wisdom exists because it mirrors how software development works. Websites get treated like products that need engineering processes, code reviews, and technical infrastructure.

But here's where it falls apart in practice: your website isn't a product—it's a marketing asset that needs constant experimentation. When your marketing team has to submit tickets for copy changes and wait in development sprints, you're not building a professional process. You're killing marketing velocity.

I spent years watching talented marketing teams get frustrated because they couldn't test landing page variations quickly. Meanwhile, competitors using no-code tools were running A/B tests daily and iterating based on real user data.

The transition to a different approach happened when I realized that marketing R&D requires marketing tools, not development tools.

Who am I

Consider me as your business complice.

7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.

The breaking point came during a project with a B2B SaaS startup. They had a beautiful WordPress site, custom-built with clean code and perfect SEO optimization. Their conversion rate? A dismal 0.8%.

The marketing team wanted to test different value propositions, but every change required developer involvement. Here's what their "simple" update process looked like:

  1. Marketing writes copy changes in Google Doc

  2. Submit ticket to development team

  3. Wait for next sprint planning (1-2 weeks)

  4. Developer implements changes

  5. Review on staging site

  6. Deploy to production

Total time for changing three headlines: two weeks. Meanwhile, a competitor I tracked was testing new landing pages daily using Framer.

The WordPress trap was killing their marketing velocity. They weren't building websites; they were building digital brochures that required engineering teams to update.

This client's specific situation was perfect for demonstrating the problem. They sold project management software to design agencies—a market where speed and iteration matter. Yet their own website strategy was the opposite of agile.

What I tried first was optimizing their WordPress workflow. Better staging processes, simplified update procedures, marketing-friendly admin interfaces. The improvements helped, but the fundamental bottleneck remained: developers were still the gatekeepers of marketing experiments.

The "aha" moment came when I realized we were solving the wrong problem. Instead of making WordPress faster for marketing teams, I needed to give marketing teams their own tools.

My experiments

Here's my playbook

What I ended up doing and the results.

Here's exactly what I did to transition this client (and eventually all my projects) from WordPress to Framer, step by step:

Phase 1: The Migration Strategy

I didn't just rebuild their site in Framer. I rebuilt their entire website philosophy. Instead of treating the website as a finished product, I positioned it as a marketing laboratory.

The migration process I developed:

  1. Content audit and extraction - Export all WordPress content, but reorganize it around marketing goals, not page structure

  2. SEO preservation mapping - Document every URL, meta tag, and ranking page to ensure zero traffic loss

  3. Component system design - Build reusable Framer components that marketing can mix and match

  4. Testing infrastructure setup - Create multiple page variants ready for A/B testing

Phase 2: The Framer Implementation

The key was building a system, not just a website. In Framer, I created a component library specifically designed for marketing experimentation:

  • Modular hero sections - 5 different layouts they could swap instantly

  • Testimonial components - Easy to add/remove social proof based on audience

  • Feature comparison tables - Variants for different customer segments

  • CTA button systems - Multiple styles and copy options

Phase 3: Marketing Team Training

This was crucial. I spent two days training their marketing team on:

  • How to duplicate pages for A/B testing

  • Component swapping techniques

  • Basic animation and interaction setup

  • SEO optimization within Framer

Phase 4: The Testing Framework

I established a systematic approach to marketing experiments:

  1. Weekly hypothesis generation - What do we want to test this week?

  2. Rapid prototyping - Build test variants in hours, not weeks

  3. Data collection setup - Connect analytics to measure everything

  4. Results review and iteration - Weekly analysis and next test planning

The specific technical setup included custom tracking events, goal funnels, and automated reporting that let the marketing team see real-time results of their experiments.

Technical Setup

Framer components and tracking systems for rapid testing

Marketing Control

Training non-developers to make changes confidently without breaking anything

SEO Migration

Preserving rankings while gaining marketing velocity through proper URL mapping

Testing Framework

Weekly experiment cycles that increased conversion rates through systematic iteration

The results were immediate and measurable. Within the first month:

  • Update time dropped from 2 weeks to 2 hours - Marketing team could test new ideas same-day

  • Conversion rate increased from 0.8% to 3.2% - Systematic testing revealed winning combinations

  • A/B test frequency increased 10x - From monthly tests to multiple tests per week

  • Zero SEO ranking loss - Proper migration preserved all organic traffic

The unexpected outcome was cultural. The marketing team stopped asking permission to test ideas. They started treating the website like their laboratory instead of requesting changes from the development team.

After seeing these results, I migrated every client project to either Framer or Webflow depending on their specific needs. The pattern was consistent: marketing teams became more experimental, conversion rates improved, and development teams could focus on actual product work.

One client told me: "We went from having meetings about changing button colors to running live experiments with real user data." That's the difference between treating your website as infrastructure versus treating it as a marketing asset.

Learnings

What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.

Sharing so you don't make them.

Here are the top lessons learned from migrating dozens of client websites away from WordPress:

  1. Marketing velocity trumps technical perfection - The ability to test quickly matters more than having perfect code

  2. Your website is a marketing lab, not a monument - Build for experimentation, not permanence

  3. Component systems enable non-developer creativity - Give marketers building blocks, not rigid templates

  4. Migration timing matters - Plan during low-traffic periods and have rollback plans

  5. Training is essential - Spend time teaching teams to fish, don't just build the pond

  6. SEO preservation is non-negotiable - Map every URL and redirect properly

  7. Measure everything from day one - Set up tracking before migration, not after

What I'd do differently: Start with Framer component design before touching WordPress. The clearer your vision for the new system, the smoother the migration.

This approach works best for marketing-driven websites where testing and iteration matter more than complex backend functionality. It doesn't work for content-heavy sites or complex web applications.

How you can adapt this to your Business

My playbook, condensed for your use case.

For your SaaS / Startup

For SaaS startups specifically:

  • Build landing page variants for different customer segments

  • Create component libraries for rapid feature page creation

  • Set up conversion tracking for trial signups and demo requests

  • Design A/B testing workflows into your marketing process

For your Ecommerce store

For ecommerce stores:

  • Focus on product page templates and promotional landing pages

  • Build seasonal campaign page systems for quick holiday promotions

  • Create collection page variants for different customer segments

  • Implement conversion tracking for checkout funnel optimization

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