If you are interested in a template from EM Shop but have some questions first — this episode will likely (hopefully!) answer some of those questions. And, this is a two-parter, so in a few days, I’m dropping another episode with more questions answered.
I’m explaining everything like friends sitting over coffee chatting web design. And I hope these answers will give you clarity around my templates, what they are, how they work, who they are for, and all that good stuff! And if you’re like “I’m not really sure I even want or need a template, but I am curious about how website templates work and how Showit works” … then still totally tune in. I think there’s something here for you as well!
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Search for episode 144!
You’ll find timestamps below, so if you want to skip around this episode to find just what you need - you can!
- [03:47] What are your templates? What exactly is a website template?
- [06:06] What costs are involved with your templates?
- [12:20] Can I change (fill in the blank thing) on the template?
- [17:18] What is Showit? And how come it looks like Showit only is for photographers?
- [23:06] Why does Showit use WordPress?
- [26:59] If I have WordPress already, will my blogs come over to Showit?
1. What are your templates? What exactly is a website template?
I have a website template shop called EM Shop. As of right now, this is my primary offering in my business! What you’ll find are Showit website templates.
You might be thinking, “What is a template?” A website template or theme as they are sometimes called is a pre-made website that you customize to fit your business needs.
The templates are multiple pages and include things like a blog, call scheduling page, service pages, portfolio pages, and so much more.
My intention with these is for you to have a website that you are proud of and want to send people to and that reflects your business’s goals and where you’re headed.
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a custom website to have a “legit” amazing business website.
2. What costs are involved with your templates?
I get this one a lot and it is a great question! Another version of this question is, ”After I buy your template what else do I need to have my website up and running?"
Here’s what else you will need:
- The template itself. The first thing to know is a template from me can be your first purchase before you do anything else! I offer a pay in full option or 2 different payment plan options. With all the options, you will get your template immediately so you can get to work on your site! This will be the only thing you pay me for!
- A Showit subscription. Showit is the website builder my templates work with, which we’ll discuss soon! So, you have to subscribe to their software to use the templates. Similar to other subscriptions, you can pay for the year in full or do a monthly subscription. If you won’t be blogging, then right now Showit (without hosting a blog) is $19/month. If you will be blogging then there are 2 other levels - basic and advanced blog. Basic is $24/month and advanced is $39/month. This cost covers your hosting AND the website builder. You can start customizing your template with the 14 days free trial of Showit before doing anything else! Get 10% off of your Showit subscription here!
- A domain name. This is the URL that you direct people to in order to see your site. These are super affordable in most cases unless you want a really “in demand” name. You typically pay for this by the year, not monthly. I recommend purchasing your domain from GoDaddy or Google Domains.
3. Can I change (fill in the blank thing) on the template?
I get this email a lot and 99% of the time, our answer is 100% yes you can change it (whatever the thing is).
Most things are editable with these Showit templates! Often people don’t realize this, but I love pointing people to our customer showcase page on my site! You’ll be able to see client sites in action - some which are really customized, others closer to the template and get a good perspective on what all you can do.
Some examples of things you can change and edit that you might not realize or can’t change easily on other platforms:
- The menu, logo positioning, the footer layout, all those essential areas.
- The fonts and colors
- The image orientation and sizing
- Any particular section you don’t like - you can delete it, move it to another page, duplicate it to have multiple versions, etc. Also, anything you delete from the template can be brought back easily.
- Literally, anything you see!
- You can have as many pages as you want. You can duplicate a page you already like as a starting point, then make another page from it.
4. What is Showit? And why does it looks like Showit only is for photographers?
Showit is a website builder similar to Squarespace or Wix. It gives you full creative freedom and the crazy thing about it that people don’t realize until they use it is that you can literally edit everything you see, even as a non-designer.
You can move things around, change fonts, colors, complete layouts - all of it.
Some web builders, like Squarespace, are more structurally based, meaning that if for example the logo is centered at the top of the template you buy, it needs to stay that way.
Showit isn’t like that, you can edit it all yourself with no CSS at all!
I have a whole blog post that goes IN-DEPTH on Showit’s history with photographers that you can see here.
Showit was co-founded by Todd Watson in 2006. Years later, Todd is still the CEO of Showit, and the company is co-owned with his amazing wife, Elisa Watson. I can speak from knowing them, Todd and Elisa are incredible people and have such a heart for building community and helping small businesses.
The original “Showit Desktop” was launched in 2008 and was completely geared towards photographers back then. It was literally a website builder “for photographers”.
The original roots of Showit are why I think so many people still associate it as “just for photographers”!
Showit also used to be associated with the company Pass (which is for photographers and was created alongside Showit Co-Founder, David Jay). The two companies split completely in 2014.
Showit5 was launched in early 2016 — This was a HUGE (and amazing) shift from Showit Desktop, which was built on Adobe Flash. From my perspective, Showit really took off with Showit5 and that is when I started hearing about it as a designer.
Showit also hosts a yearly conference in Arizona called “United”, and this conference is specifically for photographers.
I’ve been to United as a website designer in a sea of photographers and still gained so much value. It’s a conference focused on building your photography business, making industry friends, and having TONS of fun. In 2019, I even left the conference with the amazing award — ”Showiteer of the Year”!
Since its start in 2006, Showit has moved to no longer supporting the original Showit Desktop, and Showit5 is now just “Showit '' since there’s only ONE website builder available.
Even though Showit launched as the “website builder for photographers,” they now aim to make it clear in their marketing that Showit is for ANY business that wants creative control over their website.
Showit has grown to 30+ employees and is still based in the beautiful Gilbert, Arizona! As a company, you can’t help but fall in love with their team, their mission, and all the ways they aim to help small businesses!
5. Why does Showit use WordPress?
This is one of the more confusing aspects of Showit that I see people get hung up on!
When you blog on Showit, that aspect of your website is powered by WordPress. By using Showit (and blogging) you’re actually using both Showit and WordPress.
WordPress is the #1 blogging platform and actually powers more than 42% of ALL websites. But, WordPress is tricky and isn’t the most user-friendly platform if you aren’t familiar with coding.
By using Showit, you get the amazing power of WordPress but with the interface of Showit to design the way your website looks. Now you have all the blogging tools, plugins, and SEO strength that WordPress has to offer with the creative freedom of drag-and-drop.
This is really a win, win in my book as someone who started with WordPress originally before switching to Showit!
If you want to hear more about Showit and WordPress and how they are different, I have a whole episode dedicated to that! [Listen to episode #32 for more].
6. If I have WordPress already, will my blogs come over to Showit?
Yes, if you are using WordPress.org for your blog, then it will all come over to Showit!
The WordPress interface you are used to for blogging will actually look very much the same! Just the way your site is DESIGNED now will look different. You will control the design settings including the colors, fonts, your blog sidebar, and the way the blog home looks on the Showit side!
That is all for part 1 of this FAQ episode. I hope you enjoyed this and will listen to the full episode to hear all of the good details explained about how these website templates work. I hope I was able to make talking about tech FUN!
Part 2 of this FAQ series is HERE for more on SEO, support help, software integrations, and more! Be sure to check that one out too! If you want to shop my Showit templates, you can find them all HERE. If you have any questions, email us at hello@elizabethmccravy.com and we would love to answer your questions or go in-depth on one of these questions from this episode to give you more clarity!
