The 2024 State of the Website
Key challenges and opportunities for marketing leaders
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6543dd15ab461b70bee11680_eBook_2024StateOfTheWebsite_WebCover_1300x1920.avif)
Introduction
Webflow conducted an online survey between July 2023 and August 2023 across the United States and Canada using a rigorous, multi-level screening process to ensure only suitable candidates participated. Respondents are all marketing leaders, which are defined as someone who holds a Director-level position or above in a marketing department. All respondents work at an enterprise organization in the public or private sector with at least 50 employees.
Foreword
Today, websites are the cornerstone upon which modern, enterprise businesses create and grow their online presence and connect with their audiences. They serve as a digital billboard — the first point of contact with potential customers, a reflection of your company’s identity, and a source of truth for critical information about your brand, mission, and offerings.
As competition and consumer expectations rapidly shift, a well-designed and well-executed marketing site is not a luxury but a necessity. And while marketing leaders understand the positive impact a website can have on their bottom line, many continue to struggle when it comes to building, developing, and maintaining them — and this comes at a cost.
Growing businesses looking to drive innovation at scale and deliver relevant customer experiences faster need a winning digital strategy to get them there. However, creating truly stunning web experiences is a delicate art that requires a balance of people, processes, and technology.
In our experience serving hundreds of thousands of customers globally over the last decade, we know striking the right balance can be challenging. That’s why as we enter this new era of building for the web — one that merges the power of design and development — it’s up to marketing leaders to eliminate constraints and guide their teams into a future where they can bring their most creative and impactful ideas to life on the web.
— Shane Murphy-Reuter, Chief Marketing Officer, Webflow
Executive Summary
Section 1: Keeping up with customer expectations
Marketing teams are spending on average $1.6M on website teams and software annually.
The website is becoming an increasingly expensive and time-consuming asset to manage, and organizations are struggling to quickly deliver on their customers’ needs. This presents a major, ongoing challenge for marketing teams, who are facing more pressure to innovate than ever before.
![$1.6M spent on website teams and software annually](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545acb9417f99e3ffaa07db_Pg%205%20graphic%201.avif)
Section 2: Website ownership
Website ownership is a persistent challenge for 81% of marketing teams.
While marketing teams are commonly the owners of the customer experience, the large majority of these teams are currently restricted by developers and other teams — inhibiting their ability to deliver on their goals.
![81% of marketing teams find website ownership a challenge](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545ad036fa16d7313716b9c_Pg%205%20graphic%202.avif)
Section 3: The web tech stack
60% of marketing leaders believe their current web tech stack is missing the mark.
Most marketing leaders agree that they need to improve their websites to achieve their business goals. However, their current stack fails to sufficiently empower their business users to make this a reality.
![60% of marketing leaders believe their current web tech stack is missing the mark](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545ad0f056349385ef415e6_Pg%205%20graphic%203.avif)
Section 4: The impact of modern web tools
50% of marketing teams that have implemented no-code or low-code tools are already witnessing incremental benefits.
Organizations are seeking out modern web tools to help them deliver on their business goals, and early adopters are already seeing measurable impact when it comes to collaboration and workflows.
![50% of marketing teams that have implemented no-code or low-ode tools are already witnessing benefits](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545ad1b440c1238e7f9ccd2_Pg%206%20graphic%201.avif)
Closing thoughts: The work ahead
Marketing leaders need to establish the right harmony between their teams, technology, and processes to achieve web success.
Relying solely on technology is not a scalable solution. In order to supercharge their websites, marketers must build a new operating model — spanning team structures, collaborative processes, and workflows — that allows them to better leverage web development tools and deliver stunning digital experiences to their customers.
![Marketing leaders need to establish the right harmony.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545ad2c77769161e254e516_Pg%206%20graphic%202.avif)
Keeping up with customer expectations
Marketing leaders are facing more pressure than ever to innovate
Innovation is taking center stage
The demand for marketing innovation is undeniable. Despite 93% of marketing leaders acknowledging the critical need for innovation, a substantial 61% of respondents state they struggle to manage their teams' current workloads.
Moreover, our research uncovers a compelling link between company size and their capacity to stay apace, with small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) facing the greatest challenge today.
![Our marketing team must continually innovate to remain competitive. - 93%](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b15adae43376d5eece6e_Pg%208%20graphic%201-1.avif)
![61% of respondants state they struggle to manage their teams' current workloads.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b16407ba1cf144035d5c_Pg%208%20graphic%201.avif)
The past year introduced more hurdles
92% of marketing leaders believe they must improve their websites to fully deliver on their goals. However, many are struggling to keep up with consumer preferences and market shifts, with 57% reporting it is more difficult to meet customer expectations now compared to a year ago.
Additionally, a substantial portion of respondents indicated that the current economic conditions have resulted in reduced budgets and workforce reductions.
![57% agree meeting customer expectations is more difficult than it was 12 months ago.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b1c8e28dab178d84ba08_Pg%209%20graphic%201.avif)
![59% agree hiring talent is more difficult than it was 12 months ago.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b1d3e1c54d80b4e941b7_Pg%209%20graphic%202.avif)
![57% agree retaining talent is more difficult than it was 12 months ago.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b1dde2c1b5650abfd31a_Pg%209%20graphic%203.avif)
Marketing teams are spending too much on web development resources
Despite its immense value in contributing to the top line, the website is becoming one of the most expensive assets for marketing teams to maintain. Not only is technology running up their bill, but so is staff resourcing — from web designers to web developers — with the average organization spending $1.09M on talent alone over the past 12 months.
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Marketing teams are facing pressure from the top down
Not only are marketers facing pressure to keep up with market trends, stay ahead of their competition, and keep pace with customer expectations, but they are also under scrutiny from executive leadership.
Marketing leaders across industries echo this sentiment (93% agree) and also believe their websites have critical shortcomings, with more than half reporting their site is missing the visual mark with how it stands today.
![93% state their executive team believes they should enhance their website.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b2736c673642122a9b06_Pg%2011%20graphic%201.avif)
![Currently, our website does not fully align with our brand identity.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b27dbafbfc625b3c3a5a_Pg%2011%20graphic%202.avif)
Customer spotlight
How Fivetran delivers engaging web experiences to its global audience
![Fivetran website](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b3dc9e4010aabf7469a0_fivetran.avif)
Fivetran has gone from a humble startup founded out of Y Combinator in 2012 to the standard for automated data movement. The Oakland-based tech company’s full-stack data solution makes it easy to move data out of, into, and across your cloud data platforms so data engineers can conduct queries and analyses to understand what is and isn’t working for a business.
As the company grew, it identified a massive opportunity: to be the premiere automated data movement platform for large enterprises. This new upmarket motion made Fivetran team realize they needed a tech stack that was powerful enough to support their ambitious growth goals.
After they vetted a number of platforms and made the switch the Webflow Enterprise, they hit the ground running, migrating their entire site — as well as building 20 new pages — in under three months. Today, Webflow powers all of Fivetran’s professional websites, and they’ve increased speed to market by 98%, freeing up their time so they can focus on elevating their marketing and web initiatives and deliver more complex and visually-engaging experiences to their global audience.
Go further
The marketer’s website
![The marketer's website](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6220f3e30d60ec3ef9a240d3/6545b488e754dca05fc6b109_the-marketers-website.avif)
Marketing leaders are at a crucial turning point — one where they must decide how to effectively drive awareness, communicate their vision, and outrun the competition. It’s up to them to meet this moment — one marked by a uniquely high rate of competition — and it starts by empowering marketing teams with the skills and tech they need to build a stunning website.
In this free ebook, learn how visual development tools are changing the game for modern marketing teams who crave flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to save precious engineering time.