A well-structured design system ensures that:
✅ Styles remain consistent across all pages and elements.
✅ Future updates are quick and safe, without unexpected changes.
✅ New team members can easily understand and work with the system.
Without a structured approach, sites become hard to update, leading to:
❌ Randomly named styles that no one understands.
❌ Unintended styling changes across multiple pages.
❌ Difficulties scaling the site without major rework.
By following these best practices, we ensure that every component and class is built to be reusable, scalable, and easy to manage.
Components are designed to be used multiple times throughout the site. When structured properly, they:
✔ Automatically update across all instances when edited.
✔ Allow specific content changes without affecting global styling.
✔ Prevent unnecessary duplication of elements.
✅ Best Practices for Components:
Classes in Webflow define how elements look and should be structured to promote reuse, not one-time fixes.
✅ Best Practices for Classes:
1️⃣ Use descriptive names instead of generic labels
❌ `.div-block-23`, `.heading-5`
✅ `.hero-section`, `.button-primary`, `.text-heading-large`
2️⃣ Create global styles for commonly used elements
✅ `.container` → Standard spacing and width
✅ `.text-body` → Universal paragraph style
✅ `.heading-large` → Consistent heading styling
3️⃣ Use combo classes for variations
✅ `.button-primary` → Default button
✅ `.button-primary.large` → A larger variant
✅ `.card.highlighted` → Special styling for a featured card
This approach ensures that styles remain scalable and adaptable rather than being patched together.
Every design system should follow a clear hierarchy of styles to avoid redundant or conflicting classes.
🔹 Global Styles → For universal elements (e.g., `.container`, `.text-body`)
🔹 Component Styles → For reusable components (e.g., `.card`, `.hero-section`)
🔹 Modifier Classes → For slight variations (e.g., `.button.secondary`, `.section.dark`)
🔹 Unique One-Off Styles → Avoid if possible!
🚫 Over-styling components directly – Use combo classes instead of applying styles on the base component.
🚫 Creating too many single-use styles – If a style is used only once, consider if it should be part of a component instead.
🚫 Using random class names – Every class should clearly describe its purpose.
A well-structured Webflow project allows the site to evolve without breaking existing pages.
🔹 Updates should be global and predictable.
🔹 Components should be flexible, not rigid.
🔹 Classes should be structured to allow reuse across different pages and designs.
By following these best practices, future updates and new pages can be built quickly and efficiently, ensuring a scalable, maintainable, and high-quality website.
A well-planned class and component structure reduces effort, prevents styling conflicts, and makes collaboration easier. By focusing on reusability and scalability, we create a system that works not just for today, but for all future updates and improvements. 🚀
If you are looking for more here is a great resource!