The Top 5 Reasons I Work Exclusively With Showit

10 years, guys. Diez. Dix. Dieci. Zehn. Ten.

It’s a nice number, isn’t it? That’s what July is for me this year… celebrating an entire decade of being a proud Showiteer! (And also the soon-to-be birth month of my second baby girl!)

In honor of this huge milestone I knew it was time to write a post that I’ve been dreaming up for months… the top 5 reasons why I work exclusively with Showit as a website platform. I was a photographer long before I was a designer so I’m speaking to you today both as a long time customer and as a certified Showit Design Partner.

Of course I could list about 97 other reasons why I adore this platform so much, but for today we’re just going to stick with 5. 😉

1. It’s all I know.
I’m just going put this right out there from the start… aside from messing around in AOL Hometown (is my age showing??) and then building my very first “professional” website with BluDomain, Showit is the only website platform I’ve ever used. (Wait, does LiveJournal count?) I hate shopping around so once I find something I love I tend to stick with it! And honestly, not a single web platform that has come out in the past decade has even remotely caught my eye. As a creative professional the freedom I get with this platform puts it miles ahead of any of the other popular platforms out there.

Before social media became the pulse of the modern day business I relied solely on two things for my advertising: word of mouth and my website. The ability to have a website that was truly different than everyone else really helped my brand stand out. To this day I can say that at least 50% of my business (probably more) comes from my website and I have Showit to thank for that!

2. Freedom of design & no more tired templates.
When Showit first launched its message was simple… freedom. Freedom from boring templates. Freedom from being stuck in a box that you couldn’t escape without knowing how to code. Freedom to design anything you could imagine.

The main reason I switched to Showit back in ‘09 was because I discovered that another local photographer was using the same exact website template from the same exact company as I was. In all fairness she did have her website first and I chose my template without knowing that she was already using it, but I couldn’t very well stand out from the crowd as a new photographer when I was looking like a copycat of someone else.

Yes, there are templates available. But the beauty of Showit, unlike so many other platforms, is that you can start with a template that you like and then change literally everything about it if you wish.

Don’t like the font? Change it.
Want to remove the testimonials slider? Delete it.
Prefer a different style contact form or blog layout? Replace it.
Are there sections from another template that you’d like to use? Add them.
Want to take a one page template and turn it into a 32 page website? Do it!

I’ve always compared the Showit designer to Photoshop… yes, there’s a learning curve, but if you’re comfortable playing around in Photoshop (using layers, etc) then you’ll feel right at home with Showit.

3. It’s built for photographers.
Are there other industries using Showit? Of course! I’ve built sites for florists, makeup artists, motivational speakers, health and fitness experts… the possibilities are endless. But at its core Showit is a platform built specifically to serve wedding and portrait photographers. While there are many designers out there that sell templates for other industries, you’ll find that the Showit store exclusively sells photography themed templates. Showit knows their ideal market and they ROCK it!

Personally, I appreciate that they’re not trying to be a jack of all trades. This is something we teach photographers and other creatives from the start… pick your niche and own it.

4. One word… WordPress.
WordPress is arguably the most powerful blogging platform on the web. With a Showit blog subscription you get the beauty of Showit design and the power of WordPress. The top level subscription also gives you the ability to install your own plugins, giving you even more customization power.

*One tip… when signing up for a Showit subscription, choose the yearly option and save yourself a few bucks!

5. Mobile design.
Did you know that in 2018 52.2% of all web traffic worldwide was from a mobile device? When I started my business in 2009 mobile traffic was at .7%. Not even a full percent! We’ve become a generation that walks around with the world in our pocket so I can only anticipate that number growing steadily over the next few years. This means mobile design is so important.

Too many times I see people posting in Facebook groups complaining that they are frustrated because they can’t control how their website looks on mobile. Responsive is easy, sure, but with Showit each version of the site is designed independently meaning you are in full control over how desktop and mobile look.

If you need another reason to have a stellar mobile site, consider the fact that Google has moved towards mobile-first indexing. “The lack of a mobile-friendly experience could impact negatively on the rankings of that site, and a site with a better mobile experience would potentially receive a rankings boost even for searchers on a desktop.”

>> Click here to read more on this from Moz

Without control of your mobile design you could negatively affect your SEO and you also run the risk of losing potential leads because they can’t understand or navigate your site easily from their phone. In this mobile-first world, that’s not a chance I’m willing to take.

Thank you so much to the incredible team at Showit for all of the hard work they do. Despite all of their success over the years they’ve stayed a small team of 25 that serves thousands of businesses every year and treats them like family. I’m honored to be a part of this amazing community!