Note: This is not an affiliate post. I’m not getting paid by Showit to sing their praises. I just really fricken love them.

I don’t like playing favourites. I love all my pets equally and I refuse to choose between popcorn and chocolate (why not have both?)

But when it comes to website design, there’s only one website platform that has my heart: Showit.

I’ll admit it hasn’t always been this way.

A year ago, I was embroiled in a tumultuous love triangle with Squarespace and WordPress. And while I wasn’t particularly attached to either platform, my clients were 50/50 split between the two of them.

Then came Cass.

Cassandra Lane is the creative copywriter behind Wild Spirit Co. She writes words that woo and copy that converts for adventurous businesses ready for wild success.

But, last year, her Wordpress-designed website just wasn’t cutting the mustard.

(Side note: That’s a really weird phrase, right? Hold on. Let me just Google why we’re cutting mustard … Ah, yes, as I expected, nobody knows.)

Cass stumbled upon Showit, fell head over heels in love, and promised me good karma, kudos and unlimited supplies of chocolate if she could hire me to design her new website using Showit.

I let her keep the karma, kudos and chocolate, ‘cause I really didn’t need much convincing. Showit had been on my radar for a while, and for good reason.

Flash forward today and I’m officially a Showit web design specialist. I’ve ditched the other platforms – farewell, love triangle! – and committed myself wholly and unapologetically to Showit.

I’m not just a Showit supporter, I am actually president of the company.

(Okay, I’m not. I’m really not. Don’t @ me, Showit. I’m just meme’ing and keeping current with my Tik Tok references. Don’t believe a word of it though, I’m very old and very confused about how one actually makes a tik tok.)

Curious what convinced me Showit was my dream web design platform (and why I think the ‘popular’ platforms can’t compete)?

Grab a cuppa and let’s have a chat.

Why (and how) Showit supports my success

In the website platform world, Showit isn’t just the new guy, she’s the underdog.

And while the ‘popular’ platforms are investing in #allthemarketing to prove their awesomeness, Showit is quietly building a solid reputation as the effortless drag-and-drop web builder that clever creatives, artists, change-makers and style-conscious businesses turn to.

Now, I know you’re short on time, so I’m going to limit my Showit love letter to precise points.

(But, just know, I’d write lengthy romantic sagas on Showit if you let me.)

Why I love Showit (and recommend it to my clients!)

Showit is a completely hosted service.

It includes maintenance, security and 24/7 access to their help desk (love you, Ben.) There are no clunky updates to maintain or complex software to stress over. Ever.

Their customer support team actually cares.

Showit doesn’t believe in faceless bots or reluctant, unwilling-to-actually-help help desk staff. (YES, I’VE TRIED RESTARTING, THANK YOU.) Instead, every interaction I’ve had with the humans behind Showit has been mind-blowingly awesome. They are real people that are really determined to make sure you enjoy Showit and get the most out of their platform. And there’s a reason Ben got a shout-out – no matter what weird questions or challenges I threw his way, he responded promptly, efficiently, thoughtfully and with gifs. GIFS. He speaks my language, guys.

Showit is easy to use.

No, I don’t mean easy for a professional website designer to use. I mean easy for anyone to use. It’s literally a drag and drop design. Click and create. Sip and shimmy. The backend doesn’t feel like a complicated maze to navigate (cough *looking at you, WordPress* cough) and I’m betting you’ll easily get the hang of things within a few hours rather than a few years.

Showit is besties with WordPress.

Possibly in real life, but mostly when it comes to your blog. And while your blog ‘look’ is designed in Showit – yay! –, you’ll create posts and do all of your blogging in WordPress (if you have the Showit + blog plan). Which means you get the power of WordPress paired with the creative freedom of Showit.

Showit is SEO friendly.

You don’t have to ditch your high-ranking dreams if you switch to Showit. They’re SEO-aware and have made sure that you can optimise your SEO through image text, page titles and meta descriptions.

Your creative freedom is unlimited.

Want your social buttons to change images when somebody hovers over them? Or long for a little ‘magic’ on your hero banner? With Showit, it’s easy. (I know, because we did it on Cass’s site!) The design of your site is unlimited and while there are free templates to choose from, you can create purely from the power of your imagination.

Showit’s made mobile design separate.

Most platforms are responsive, which means they automatically generate a mobile design (that can’t be edited). But with Showit, you can completely customise your mobile site – which is VITAL for a killer mobile experience (and super important since a lot of your peeps will be browsing your site on mobile devices.)

I could keep going. I really could. But I’ll stop there.

Why Wix didn’t win my heart

You’ve seen the ads. We’ve all seen the ads (many, many, many times).

But I feel like Wix’s marketing budget might have been better spent on sending their customers free popcorn, cause waiting for stuff to load is like watching Ambiance.

(I googled ‘longest movie ever made’ and apparently that’s it. It’s 720 hours – 30 days – long. Yikes.)

Like Showit, Wix is an all-in-one drag and drop website builder. And with 110 million websites using Wix, it’s gotta be doing something right. Heck, it claims to do everything right (and everything all at once … me thinks it’s trying a little too hard?)

But, for me, it’s just not THE perfect solution. Here’s why.

Wix’s top three dealbreakers

Wix’s pricing structure can be misleading.

With a wide range of plans, you almost need a PhD in web design to figure out what you get (and whether it’s important). And while the plans on the lower end look great, they have significant limitations on bandwidth and storage (which can trip up businesses that, quite reasonably, haven’t written a thesis on website platforms.)

You’re stuck with the first template you choose.

Building a website takes a strong creative vision and if you’re DIYing your site it’s going to take some testing and editing to find your groove. Once you pick a template in Wix you can’t transfer content from one design to another. Rude.

Wix isn’t great for big websites.

If you plan on having more than 20 pages on your site (and keep in mind that each blog post is considered a ‘page’), you might struggle with Wix. The limitations on storage and bandwidth can be frustrating and finicky to deal with.

Why Squarespace couldn’t keep me loyal

Okay, tea break. Stretch your legs. Give your butt a wiggle.

Now let’s tackle Squarespace. I know, I know, Squarespace sites are gorgeous. Their minimalism-inspired style is very in right now.

But want to know Squarespace’s dirty little secret?

Actually … want to know three of them?

Squarespace’s three main dealbreakers

Its web builder is less drag and drop and more sigh, cry and struggle.

Designing a Squarespace site design is NOT as simple as their marketing would have you believe. The backend is clunky and confusing, especially for the DIYers. Which means those gorgeous designs that convinced you to use Squarespace in the first place are actually really, really hard to achieve (especially on your own!)

Oh yeah, and those gorgeous graphics and effects you love aren’t included.

They’re created externally, using professional design software (which is not only expensive, but also has a STEEP learning curve, taking months if not years to master). In my opinion, that’s why template creators sell Squarespace kits too.

There’s no autosave.

Squarespace doesn’t have an autosave feature for pages and posts. So if a webby ‘whoops’ happens, you’ll be left sans work. Cue horror scream.

A word on minimalism. I love clean lines and white space. But there’s a point when minimal starts to feel too minimal. And with minimalism being on trend, all the Squarespace designs and templates start to look the same. Want a major variation? You’ll need to design it externally using pro design software. Gulp.

What about WordPress?

WordPress is massive. I could write multiple blog posts just on the Showit vs. WordPress debate. But since Showit supports and utilises WordPress blogs anyway, I’ve decided to keep the industry heavyweight out of this conversation (for now … if you do want a blog post on why Showit is better than WordPress, drop a comment and let me know!)

My verdict?

If you’re a,

• Service-based business or creative who wants a highly customised site without the stress of coding.
• Style-appreciative entrepreneur who wants a website they can make themselves (without a developer!), with a backend that’s simpler than WordPress.
• A DIYer who wants an original, unique site that will stand out and showcase their genius (with a team of customer support legends behind you to help you along the way).

… Then nothing beats Showit.

Seriously.

Psst. Are you a daring DIYer and adventurous creative? Get ready to make and master your own high-converting Showit website! Introducing the completely customisable website collection. Stylish Showit templates that have been created to connect, captivate and convert. Sashay over to the shop