I have learned not to start a Framer homepage redesign by opening the canvas and moving boxes around. That is the exciting bit, but it is also how a perfectly serviceable landing page becomes a hard-to-reproduce “before” state.

My small rule now: make a static staging copy first. Not a screenshot folder, not a hopeful browser bookmark—a copy I can load, inspect, and put on a separate host while the new design gets messy. For a marketing site with animations, custom fonts, and a handful of launch-critical links, that gives me a real rollback point.

ExFlow’s Framer exporter is the practical shortcut I use for this: give it a published Framer URL, then export the pages, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, and media into a static package I can download or deploy. Here is the field-note version of the workflow.

## 1. Decide what the copy is protecting

I write one sentence at the top of the task: “This copy is the approved homepage at 10:00 on redesign day.” That boundary keeps the exercise useful. I am preserving the currently published routes, the responsive layouts, the forms or CTAs, the analytics snippets I actually need, and the visual behavior that explains the old conversion path.

For a small store, that usually means the homepage, collection or campaign pages, policy links, and every paid-traffic destination. If product content is changing too, I borrow the same discipline I use when I build a reusable Shopify product-page content system: identify the content blocks and their owner before changing their presentation.

2. Export the published Framer site—not the idea of it

Framer is very good at producing a polished, animated marketing page. The catch is that a browser view is not a handoff. I want the actual static ingredients together: page markup, styles, scripts, fonts, images, and media.

With ExFlow, I enter the published URL, run the Framer export, and choose either a downloadable ZIP or a deployment target such as Git, S3, FTP, or ExFlow Hosting. The important move is to keep the output separate from the redesign project. A versioned Git repository makes that especially easy: one commit is the staging baseline, and later changes are visible instead of mysterious.

Hand-drawn Framer export to staging workflow

A generic downloader can be fine for a plain page, but it is not where I start with a modern Framer site. I expect fonts, lazy-loaded media, scripts, responsive details, and animation behavior to need a platform-aware export and a real check.

3. Put the copy somewhere boring and reachable

My favorite staging destination is a small static host on a temporary subdomain: old.example.com or preview-old.example.com. The name is intentionally unglamorous. Its job is to be easy for the team to find when somebody asks, “What did the original hero actually do on mobile?”

The deployment choice matters less than the repeatability. Git gives me a reviewable history; S3 or FTP works for an existing infrastructure setup; ExFlow Hosting is the low-friction option when I do not want to configure another host that day. This is the same reason I liked making a Webflow CMS site static before a hosting change: portability is most valuable before the urgent moment.

4. Run a short export QA, in two viewports

I do not call the export done because the homepage opens. I check it in a desktop browser and on a real phone-sized viewport, then make one ugly little checklist:

  • Open every navigation and footer link; internal links should stay internal and external destinations should still make sense.
  • Check the hero, image-heavy sections, and lazy-loaded media after a hard refresh.
  • Scroll through animated sections once on desktop and once on mobile; note anything that degrades instead of silently assuming it is fine.
  • Confirm custom fonts, metadata, social preview image, and favicon are present.
  • Test the conversion path: contact form, calendar link, newsletter, cart handoff, or whatever the page is meant to do.
  • Record redirects or password-protected pages that need special treatment.

Hand-drawn Framer export QA checklist

That last point matters. A static export is a durable snapshot, but anything powered by a third-party form, live inventory, or an external app needs an intentional decision. Preserve it, replace it, or label it as a staging-only behavior. I use the same “smallest useful test first” instinct as in my Shopify AI assistant pilot.

5. Make the handoff legible

The copy is far more useful if another person can operate it. I leave a short README with the source URL, export date, deploy target, domain or preview URL, and a bullet list of known exceptions. No essay required. The point is to turn “there is a backup somewhere” into a usable artifact.

Hand-drawn static-site handoff kit

This also changes client handoffs. Instead of handing over a platform login and hoping it remains the long-term answer, I can hand over a portable site package plus a hosted reference. That is close to the reason I exported a Framer site before a client handoff: a usable copy gives the next person choices.

A small portability note

ExFlow has dedicated exporters for Webflow and Squarespace, too, but I would still start with the platform actually under the knife. Each builder has different failure points. Framer’s are often animation, fonts, media, and responsive sections; the QA should reflect that rather than becoming a generic “download your website” ritual.

My next action before touching the canvas

Export the published Framer site, deploy the copy to a quiet staging URL, and test its primary conversion path in two viewports. Then begin the redesign. You will have a concrete reference, a rollback option, and a much calmer review conversation.