How I Built This Website

When most people build a website today, they usually choose between two options: WordPress or a fully hosted website builder. I ended up choosing neither.

Instead, I designed my site in Webflow, exported the code manually, and hosted everything on a traditional cPanel hosting account using my own custom domain.

It gave me the design freedom of a visual builder, the performance benefits of a static website, and complete ownership over the final files and hosting setup.

After going through the entire process myself, I realised there are surprisingly few detailed guides explaining how to use exported Webflow projects with standard hosting. Most tutorials either stop at the design stage or assume you are using Webflow’s own hosting platform.

So in this post, I want to walk through exactly how I built my website, why I avoided WordPress, how I exported and hosted the site manually, and the lessons I learned along the way.

Why I Didn’t Use WordPress

WordPress is still one of the most popular website platforms in the world, and for good reason. It is flexible, widely supported, and has plugins for almost everything.

But for this project, I wanted something simpler and faster.

One of the biggest reasons I avoided WordPress was maintenance. Even lightweight WordPress sites eventually become dependent on plugins, theme updates, security patches, caching tools, and optimisation plugins. Over time, that stack can become bloated and difficult to manage.

I also wanted more direct control over the front-end design without relying heavily on page builders or third-party themes.

Webflow felt like a better fit because it allowed me to visually design the entire website while still generating clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript underneath.

Rather than managing a CMS-heavy setup, I could treat the final website more like a static front-end project.

That decision ended up improving:

• page speed
• hosting simplicity
• security
• overall site performance
• long-term maintenance

Static websites naturally have fewer attack surfaces compared to dynamic CMS platforms, which was another advantage I liked from the beginning.

Designing the Website in Webflow

The actual design process inside Webflow was one of the smoothest parts of the project.

Webflow essentially works like a visual front-end development environment. Instead of dragging random blocks around like many website builders, you are still working with concepts similar to real HTML structure and CSS styling.

That made responsive design much easier to manage properly.

I built the layout using reusable classes, responsive containers, and custom interactions while making sure the design stayed lightweight and mobile friendly.

One thing I quickly realised is that Webflow works best when you already understand at least basic front-end principles. Knowing how flexbox, spacing, positioning, and responsive breakpoints work makes the entire workflow significantly cleaner.

Although Webflow simplifies visual development, good structure still matters.

I also paid close attention to:

• semantic heading structure
• image optimisation
• SEO page titles
• meta descriptions
• accessibility
• mobile responsiveness

These are small details that make a major difference later when the site goes live.

Exporting the Website From Webflow

Once the design was complete, I exported the entire website directly from Webflow.

The export process gives you:

• HTML files
• CSS stylesheets
• JavaScript files
• images and assets
• project folders

At that point, the site essentially becomes a standard static website.

This was one of the biggest reasons I chose this workflow in the first place. I wanted ownership of the actual files rather than being locked into a single hosting ecosystem.

However, exporting a Webflow site does come with some limitations.

Features tied directly to Webflow’s CMS do not export properly. Things like:

• dynamic collections
• built-in search
• memberships
• native forms

either stop working or require custom replacements.

For my project, that tradeoff was acceptable because I prioritised performance and simplicity over advanced CMS functionality.

If your site depends heavily on dynamic content, Webflow export may not be the best option.

But for portfolios, business websites, landing pages, and content-focused sites, it works extremely well.

Hosting the Website Using cPanel

Instead of paying for Webflow hosting, I uploaded the exported site to my own hosting account using cPanel.

This gave me much more flexibility and lower ongoing costs.

The setup process itself was fairly straightforward:

1. Export the Webflow project
2. Download the ZIP archive
3. Upload the files into the public_html directory
4. Extract the files
5. Connect the domain
6. Enable SSL

After uploading everything correctly, the site worked almost immediately.

One advantage of traditional cPanel hosting is that you still get access to:

• email hosting
• file management
• backups
• DNS controls
• SSL certificates
• FTP access

For smaller static websites, shared hosting is often more than powerful enough.

I also liked having direct control over the server files rather than relying entirely on a managed platform abstraction.

That said, organisation matters.

Keeping the file structure clean became important very quickly, especially when updating assets or re-uploading exported versions later.

Connecting the Custom Domain

After the hosting setup was complete, the next step was connecting the custom domain.

This involved updating DNS records through the domain registrar and pointing everything toward the hosting server.

Depending on your provider, this may involve:

• changing nameservers
• updating A records
• configuring CNAME records
• enabling SSL certificates

DNS propagation can sometimes take several hours, so patience helps during this stage.

I also configured HTTPS redirects to ensure every page loaded securely and consistently across both mobile and desktop devices.

Small technical details like this are important not only for security, but also for SEO performance and browser trust.

Optimising Website Performance

One of the biggest advantages of using an exported Webflow site is performance.

Because the website is static, there is no database processing or unnecessary plugin overhead happening in the background.

Even so, I still spent time optimising the site further.

Some of the biggest improvements came from:

• compressing images
• reducing oversized assets
• limiting unnecessary animations
• lazy loading media
• optimising fonts
• removing unused scripts

I also tested the website repeatedly using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to identify bottlenecks.

Static websites can still become slow if assets are not managed carefully.

Large videos, excessive animations, and poorly compressed images will hurt performance regardless of platform.

Keeping things lightweight made a noticeable difference to both loading speed and user experience.

Lessons Learned From the Entire Process

Looking back, this workflow ended up being exactly what I wanted.

Using Webflow for design and cPanel for hosting gave me:

• complete ownership of the website
• faster loading times
• simpler hosting
• lower long-term costs
• cleaner front-end control

At the same time, it also taught me that no platform completely removes the need for technical thinking.

Even visual website builders still benefit heavily from understanding:

• HTML structure
• CSS layout systems
• responsive design
• hosting environments
• SEO fundamentals
• performance optimisation

One thing I would probably improve next time is creating a cleaner deployment workflow. Re-exporting and manually uploading files works fine for smaller projects, but automation becomes more valuable as projects grow.

I would also spend more time organising assets and minimising animations from the beginning rather than optimising them later.

Final Thoughts

For my specific use case, combining Webflow export with cPanel hosting ended up being a great alternative to WordPress.

It gave me the visual design flexibility I wanted without the maintenance overhead that often comes with plugin-heavy CMS platforms.

Would I recommend this setup to everyone?

Not necessarily.

If you need advanced blogging systems, user accounts, ecommerce functionality, or constantly updated dynamic content, WordPress may still be the better option.

But if your priority is:

• speed
• simplicity
• ownership
• performance
• front-end control

then exporting a Webflow site and hosting it yourself is a surprisingly effective approach.

It sits somewhere between no-code simplicity and traditional front-end development — and for the right kind of project, that balance works really well.