So, you’ve decided to launch your website on Showit, but you’re not sure if you should hire a Showit website designer or DIY a Showit template. Maybe you’re feeling decision fatigue. Maybe your site is just a “someday” on your list of a thousand other things you need to do as a business owner.
Well, we’re here to help you fix that!
There are a few options as you get started with your Showit website:
- Create a Showit design from scratch;
- DIY your design using a template;
- Hire a Showit website designer to design a custom website;
- OR Hire a Showit website designer to help you customize a template.
So what is the best option for you and your business?
(In this post, we’re skipping the first option — because I honestly don’t recommend it for anyone who is not a website designer)
We’re breaking it all down — the Pros, the Cons, and everything in between. Let’s dive in!
DIY-ing a Showit Template
If you’re a creative business owner who is just starting out, or doesn’t need many custom integrations or pages — I would highly recommend using a Showit template.
Now, hear me out.
Not all templates are created equal
There are definitely some templates you should stay away from. But using a well-designed, strategic template, can get you some great results. Choosing the right template is essential!
Let’s look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
1. It’s designed for you!
the obvious pro is that template sites are already designed and laid out for you. Again, not all templates are designed well, not all designs will make sense for your business. BUT if you choose wisely, your site can look and feel great.
2. You can launch quickly.
The right template can make you look professional and legit in a fraction of the time. Adjusting a template for your brand can still be quite a process (we’ll get to this in a minute), but starting with a well-designed, strategic template is definitely less time-consuming than starting from scratch, or even hiring a designer.
3. You can adjust anything you want.
You’ll want to adjust a template to match your brand, changing fonts, colors, photos, and maybe even rearranging sections to make sense for your business and flow of your site. This is much easier to do with a template. If digging into Showit to adjust the layout and design sounds like a fun challenge to you, customizing your template might be a good fit for you.
4. Showit templates are budget-friendly.
Hiring a website designer to create a custom website can cost thousands of dollars. If you’re just starting out, dropping that much money on a website might not be the best option for you right now. DIYing a template can save you a lot of money and if you’re budget conscious, this might be a huge plus for you.
Cons:
1. It can be very time-consuming.
But didn’t you just say it was less time-consuming?? While it’s true that you can potentially launch sooner than doing a custom website, it’s also still a project you have to do on your own. Like most projects in life(I’m currently debating this point on many house projects), you can either spend the time and DIY, OR you can spend the money and hire a pro. It’s the same with templates. As a busy creative business owner, the time you spend on DIYing your template site can be time taken away from growing your business or working with clients. There are many things to gather and implement still in a template website and adjusting these things takes time, and a bit of skill.
2. You can adjust anything you want.
Okay, this is just annoying now. Wasn’t this point in the pro column? This is what we call a double edged sword. Yes, you can move things around in a template to your hearts desire. But DIYing a template as a non-designer, means you can, well…screw it up. It’s very easy to make small changes here and there and end up launching something that looks nothing like what you wanted it to look like. Because you’re not a designer, it can be hard to make small design changes to a template and still have it look as professional and sleek as the original template you bought. It’s also not for everyone. Some people love a challenge, love to learn a new skill and dig into the backend of Showit, while other small business owners dread the idea of doing this.
3. There might be a learning curve.
Like many great solutions for design, mastering Showit can come with a bit of a learning curve. You may want to customize parts of a template and spend hours searching for walkthroughs on YouTube because you’re not sure how to go about it. There are other blocks that might leave you
4. Your template may leave you feeling limited.
No one wants to look the same as another small business on the internet, especially if you’re using the same template. Adjusting a template on your own may leave you feeling boxed in or too similar to other sites you’ve seen in your industry. You may not have the ability or time to adjust the template enough to make it look unique.
The Bottom Line:
DIYing your Showit Website template can be a great option for you, if you recognize its limitations — and your own. Your site can be launched in a matter of weeks, not months and, with some adjustments, you can create something unique and perfect for your brand.
Hiring A Showit Website Designer
You might think, as a Showit website designer, this would be my preference for most small business owners. But that’s actually not the case!
Custom Showit website design, while some of my favorite projects, is not for everyone. But it is a perfect option for some!
Let’s see if it’s right for you:
PROS:
1. It forces you to get it into gear.
As busy entrepreneurs, business owners, humans — we can often procrastinate things on our list that we’re not the best at or are not sure where to start. With an overwhelming project like a website redesign, it can be easy to prioritize your clients and other business tasks. Hiring a website designer takes away that voice in your head that says, “I’ll get to it when things slow down.” Hiring a website designer forces you to kick your butt into gear.
2. You won’t waste time trying to figure everything out.
A lot goes into making your website work, even just a template. There’s email lists integration, contact form integration, photo optimization, copywriting, design, etc.
There’s a mountain of things you need to organize and figure out in Showit. And you don’t have time to sift through help articles and YouTube videos. You just want it to be done so you can get on with what you do best: helping your clients!
3. You’ll get technical, strategic, SEO, and design expertise.
A website designer (along with a copywriter) can help you strategize the best way to lay out your website for your audience. When you pay someone who is an expert, you no longer have to Google how to create the website of your dreams.
“How do I connect my Flodesk email to Showit?”
“How do I connect with my ideal clients right off the bat?”
Or even, “Is this the best photo of me for my about page?”
A Showit website designer can strategize your layout, design custom sections, and make sure everything is functioning properly. A Showit website designer can give you the expertise you need to get the results you deserve.
4. Create custom solutions for your business.
The sky is the limit when you design a custom site with a Showit website designer. If your brand has e-commerce, education, products, or if you want to stand out even more, this is the perfect option for you.
Cons:
1. Hiring a Showit website designer is not cheap.
Custom Showit website design can be pricey. It is typically a service that is priced differently from client to client. While it comes with many pros, a high-quality, custom solution comes with a higher price tag.
2. A much Longer process
This process requires extensive planning, wireframes, mood boards, and design phases. Our custom Showit website design process also includes copywriting, which also can take some time. Six to eight weeks is a typical custom web design timeline for our services, but the timeline varies from designer to designer. If you need to get your site up and running quickly, this might not be the best option for you.
A Note About Hiring a Pro Showit Website Designer
Not all designers are good website designers.
I’ve heard many a horror story of small business owners that have hired flashy, popular designers they thought would get them results, but ultimately ended up hating the final site.
It’s always a good idea to meet with potential Showit website designers before working with them. View their work, ask them questions, look at testimonials. Make sure they’re a good fit for you and your goals.
I also suggest looking for someone that knows SEO or some of the more technical aspects of Showit that you might need to know.
Template Customization with a Showit Website Designer
Not every Showit website designer offers this service (but hi, hello, we do!). This is a great solution for those interested in the pros of purchasing a template, but need a bit of help customizing it for their brand.
This is really the best of both worlds — take the pros of the template column and pros of the custom column and you have pros for hiring a Showit website designer to help with your template customization.
Let’s get into it:
Pros:
1. It’s designed for you — and WITH you. Plus, you won’t waste time trying to figure everything out.
Not only are you starting with a great template, but you can adjust that template with a professional. No more wasting time Googling how to embed your contact form or what the best layout is for your copy (cue the hallelujah chorus).
2. You can launch your site quickly.
This is still typically the case for most Showit website designers who offer this service. Our template customization sites typically launch within 1-3 weeks, depending on the client’s needs and availability.
3. Working with a Showit website designer forces you to get your butt into gear.
I’ll say it again — it’s super easy to put off internal work as a busy business owner. Hiring a Showit website designer can really kick your butt into gear, help you gather all the things you need for your site, and keep your project on schedule for launch.
4. A designer can help you choose a template.
As I mentioned earlier, not all templates are the same. It’s important to choose the right template for your business. A Showit website designer can help you find a template that works the best for your brand and your services. Working with a talented designer means they’ll take the time to understand your unique vision and make sure it will work with the website you choose. You can trust your designer to create a polished and strategic website that’s totally you.
5. This is still a budget-friendly option.
While this option is more expensive than the DIY route, it is often a fraction of the price of a custom Showit website. So, if you’re sick of putting your site off, or need a designer’s eye on your template changes and are okay paying a little more, this is a good option for you.
6. You’ll get technical, strategic, SEO, and design expertise.
This is probably the biggest pro. When you work on a website (yes, even a template) it’s really helpful to have a strategy and design expert on your side. A Showit website designer can easily adjust your template and give you the best advice for the layout of your site. If you find a designer who can help you with SEO, that’s an added bonus! They can also help you find other professionals if you need additional services for your website such as copywriting and brand photography (we do both of those things!)
Cons:
1. Depending on your budget, it can be pricey.
While it is significantly less expensive than a custom site, it is more expensive than a DIY option. If you feel good about paying a bit more for a service that can get you up and running sooner with expert design and technical help, this might not be an issue for you.
So, which is the best fit for your business?
There are so many ways to get a great looking, strategic website in Showit. Whichever you decide — DIYing a Showit template, hiring a Showit website designer to do a custom design, or hiring a Showit website designer to help you customize a template — is up to you and what you think will best fit the needs of your creative business.
Still not sure which solution is best for you? Schedule a consultation with me and I can help you decide on a process that fits your needs!
Need a custom website or a template customization? I’d love to be your design (and strategy) expert. Schedule a consultation with me so I can learn more about your vision!
Comments +