I support creative business owners in accomplishing their design dreams.
Letās chat about Showit vs WordPress, and how you can decide which to use for building your website. This episode is part 4 of a series Iām doing on website platforms. If you havenāt listened yet, I’ve also talked about:
Showit vs Shopify | Showit vs Wix | Showit vs Squarespace
Iām not here to bash any website platform and tell you that you have to use Showit. I see pros and cons to all of the options I will talk about.
Itās my hope that as Iām sharing my thoughts, you can take what Iām saying with a grain of salt as you make the decision about what is best for you.
WordPress is a free content management system. It includes a website builder that supports templates (known as themes) and blogging capabilities. According to their website, it is āthe worldās most popular website builder.ā
Showit is a drag + drop website builder that was created with photographers in mind. It now serves creative entrepreneurs of all kinds. Showit’s newer than some of the other options out there, and is known for the creative freedom it allows. Showit actually integrates with WordPress for blogging, which Iāll explain in a bit.
When you have a website, you also have a domain name (the address that people type in to get to your site, like mayapalmerdesigns.com), the platform your site is built on, and a website host. Several of the platforms out there, like Showit, Squarespace, and WIx serve as both the website builder and host.
However, when you have a WordPress site, you use WordPress to build the site, then pay for a host (like SiteGround) separately. I just wanted to clarify that from the get go.
But letās dive a little deeper, shall we? To explain how Showit and WordPress are similar and different, and why you might choose one over the other, letās break these platforms down in terms of Price, Quality, Customization, and Convenience.
As we dive into price, I want to say that a website is an investment that should serve your business well, not just another expense. Also, the saying āyou get what you pay forā is true when it comes to web design.
I include price in my comparison because we all have budgets to stick to, but I encourage you to consider the other factors weāll talk about, and not just price, when choosing a platform.
Okay, letās tackle the investment for having a WordPress site, first. This can get a little tricky, and will vary from business to business. But because I serve creative entrepreneurs, Iām going to focus on the options that would most likely serve your business types.
So, letās get a little techy again. WordPress itself, which the site is built on, is free. There are paid plans available, but most people that Iāve talked to have a free WordPress plan.
In the WordPress world, templates are called themes. There are free themes available, and the premium options vary in price. One of the most popular themes out there is called Divi. In fact, Elegant Themes, which created Divi, states on its website that Divi is āthe most popular theme in the world.ā
At the time that Iām recording this episode, Black Friday deals are happening. Elegant Themes is currently offering a deal to get access to 3 of their themes for $67/yr, or you can pay $187 one time for lifetime access. And both those prices are after the 25% off deal. While this is just one option for a theme, hopefully that gives you some idea of how much they can cost.
Like I mentioned earlier, when you have a WordPress site, you have to pay for hosting separately. There are several options for hosting out there, but one well-known option is SiteGround, so letās talk about their pricing.
They are also having Black Friday deals at the time that I am doing my research, but it says that the regular price for their StartUp WordPress hosting plan is $14.99/mo, and that supports hosting for one website.
So to recap, with WordPress you can pay for just the hosting at the very least, and use a free theme. But if you want something with more customization capabilities, thereās the option to pay for hosting and a theme.
Itās common to pay a developer or designer to create your WordPress site for you, and costs for custom design will vary based on the designer’s experience level and the specific needs of your project. On average, expect that hiring a WordPress designer to cost at least several thousand dollars.
Letās talk about Showitās pricing now!
Showitās Basic Plan is $24/mo. However, if you want to have a blog on your site (which I recommend) the Showit + Basic Blog plan is $29/mo. There are higher-priced plans available, but for most businesses who are just switching from their first-ever site, I suggest starting with the Showit + Basic Blog. Of course, if you are a blogger, or just have lots of blog posts to transfer over, then the Showit + Advanced Blog might be best for you, which is $39.mo.
You can totally sign up for a Showit account and create your own site from scratch at no extra cost! But many people who arenāt designers prefer to hire a professional to design their site, or go the DIY route with a template.
As far as Showit templates go, there are free options out there, but there are a lot more premium templates. Premium Showit templates typically cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to $1000+, depending on what youāre looking for in a template.
Similar to WordPress, the investment for hiring a Showit designer to customize your template or build a custom site will vary based on designer experience and your needs. But on average, expect it to be at least several thousand dollars.
We just talked a whole bunch about some of the costs associated with website design. I hope this has given you an idea of what you are looking at spending for a WordPress site vs. Showit site.
Letās go ahead and move on to the more fun topics of Quality & Customization.
The quality of your website matters. Research says that when a person is browsing on the internet and clicks on your site, they will make the decision to stay or leave in a matter of seconds. You want to make a good first impression!
What affects a siteās quality? A combination of structure, intentional design, and well-written copy (the text on your site) determines a siteās quality. You want a website that is:
The good news is that both Showit and WordPress offer the features you need to check all of these off your list! You just have to put in the work to customize the templates for your business.
I will mention that depending on your WordPress theme, it might take a little more work to get it to be mobile friendly.
One neat thing is that because Showit integrates with WordPress for blogging, Showit users can actually use the popular plugin Yoast for helping with SEO.
Customization and ease are major reasons why business owners choose Showit over WordPress, so letās spend some time on this topic.
WordPress is amazingly powerful – thatās why itās so popular, and thatās why Showit integrates with WordPress for blogging power. However, WordPress sites are also notorious for being hard to edit for the average person. Even as a website designer myself, I used to dread having to edit clientsā WordPress themes.
Thatās why I love using Showit. While thereās still a learning curve, itās so easy to use compared to other options and I can train my clients on using their website without things getting too complicated.
Showit offers so much freedom design-wise. You can click and drag anything to any spot on the page. There are no blocks and very little rules. The mobile site customization is unlike anything else Iāve use, it can be customized as much as youād like and doesnāt have to look just like the desktop version! Showit definitely isnāt perfect, but I personally prefer it.
Elementor is a website builder for WordPress sites that make them easier to edit. But similar to options out there like Squarespace, itās a block editor where every item on the page is contained in a box.
One of the selling features of Showit is that it integrates with WordPress for powerful blogging without the hard to edit site. Let me explain how that works, briefly.
Your site design, including the blog page layouts, are all created in the Showit editor. But when you write blog posts, you will hop over to WordPress. You can also add plugins to add more functionality to what your blog pages can do, just like if you had a WordPress site.
All in all, Iād say that both WordPress and Showit sites are plenty customizable. Showit sites are more customizable than some of the more limited WordPress themes.
Because Showit is easier to edit, Iād say itās more convenient.
Well there you have it, my thoughts on Showit vs WordPress. I prefer Showit, and I believe that itās easier to use for the average small business owner. But Iām not trying to say that WordPress is bad. Thereās a reason why itās the most popular website builder in the world, and why Showit integrates with WordPress for blogging.
Again, these are just my opinions, please take what Iām saying with a grain of salt and do whatās best for you and your business!
If you’re interested in switching to Showit, check out my website design services. I offer packages for both template customization, as well as completely custom design. No worries if you’re not sure which is right for you yet, the process starts with a complimentary discovery call so that we can chat about your needs!
If I can answer any questions for you about websites, templates, choosing a platform, etc. feel free to DM me on Instagram @mayapalmerdesigns or send an email to maya@mayapalmerdesigns.com. Iām happy to help!
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I had never heard of Showit but thank you for this info.. I am struggling with WP. I was thinking of getting elementor and just having someone redesign my cover photo to look more professional. It’s still a work in progress
Hi Deborah! So sorry to hear that you’re struggling with WordPress. I definitely think that Showit could be an option worth exploring if you’re having trouble customizing your site. I’ll be sharing more resources on what it’s like to switch to Showit soon!
Other than saving time, is there any value to the premium show it templates vs. the free ones? Like are things better for SEO, structured any differently or does it just come down to done for you? Thank you! I’ve building a WordPress website for months and am throwing in the towel.
Hi Whitney! So sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with WordPress, I definitely recommend giving Showit a try. I would say the higher priced the template, the more it “looks like a custom website.” But of course there are exceptions to this! I’ve found that free templates tend to be more minimal as far as layouts go, while the premium templates are more detailed. Any template you purchase should be designed with SEO in mind. If you need help picking out a template, I have a freebie that walks you through choosing one that’s a good fit for your business: https://mayapalmerdesigns.com/template-freebie Happy to answer any additional questions you have. You can email me at maya@mayapalmerdesigns.com or send me a DM on Insta (@mayapalmerdesigns).