In this post I am sharing 3 questions I commonly get asked as a Showit web designer and my honest answers!
I have worked with many clients over the years and there are a few questions that seem to come up in almost all of our consultations calls. Today I am going to pull back the curtain and share them with you! If you have thought about investing in a website for your small business you may be curious about the same things.
The top 3 questions I get asked as a Showit website designer
- Why do you use and recommend Showit over other platforms like WordPress or Squarespace?
- How long does it take to build a website and what do you need from me?
- What does website maintenance look like after working with a Showit website designer?
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1. Why do you use and recommend Showit over other platforms like WordPress or Squarespace?
If you have already started to do some research into publishing a website, you may know that there are different platforms where you can host your website. This is basically where you design, develop and publish your website onto the World Wide Web!
Choosing a website platform is not a decision I take lightly! As a small business owner it’s important that you choose a website platform that you can use and manage for years to come. You may have heard of Showit web designers or Squarespace web designers. This means that person specializes in that specific platform.
I choose to design, develop and publish websites on Showit for a few different reasons.
- Showit is easy for small business owners to update and maintain themselves = saving money in the long run!
- Its design capabilities – you can create unique and creative websites that are really personalized for each client.
- WordPress integration for blogging – WordPress is the number one blogging platform and Showit seamlessly connects with WordPress to publish your blog posts! Meaning, you get a beautiful design layout from Showit and the power of blogging for WordPress.
Showit customer support – they have an incredible support team which you can reach out to through chat. They are able to pop into the backend of your website and help you troubleshoot. This is great as a Showit website designer and as the business owner!
Showit is the best website platform for small business owners
This really is so important when launching a website for small businesses. As a small biz owner I know that keeping an eye on your bottom line is so important! The last thing I would want is for my clients to feel like they need to continuously invest to make small updates on their websites. I teach you exactly how to make updates and add content to your website yourself so you can save money in the long term!
If you’re ready to invest in a Showit website, feel free to book a free consult to see if it’s the right platform for you!
2. How long does it take to build a website and what do you need from me?
All Showit designers have their own processes and website design packages. If you are wanting to know a specific Designers timeline I would recommend checking out their website or getting in touch with them for their specific details!
The timeline for my Showit web design services
The timeline for designing, developing and publishing your website will depend on which package you choose. I offer two different packages:
- SEO and Website Design – two week design period
- VIP Design Day – website in a day
A little disclaimer, with either of these packages we would get on a consultation call prior to determining what’s realistic for your specific website needs. We will talk about your website and business goals! It’s really important to determine how you’re planning to use your website. Whether it’s to provide information or to market your business. Once I have a clear idea of what you’re looking for I can recommend which package is best for you. Of course this also depends on your budget! For a VIP day, the amount of pages we can publish within a day will depend on the amount of content you have.
What does the client need to prepare for a website design service
I’m not going to lie, there is a good amount of homework you need to do prior to the design dates! You will need to provide the following:
- Branding
- Copy (the text on your website)
- Images
It’s so important that you gather all of this content and share it before our design period starts. This gives me the opportunity to look through your content and prepare for our first call when we kick off your project! It also creates a seamless experience for you as the client!
Branding
If you already have branding that’s great! If not, you can always hire a brand designer. Or I have had clients design their own brands. I do want to caution though that your branding will directly impact what your website looks like. I know that might sound silly for me to mention but it’s just so important! If you are not comfortable creating your own brand then reach out to me and we can always figure something out for you!
I don’t need a whole brand book to design your website but I would need:
- Brand colour palette
- Font pairings
- Wordmark logo
Copywriting
Website copy is the text on your website. Showit web designers usually aren’t also Copywriters. You can hire a copywriter to write your copy for you but you don’t have to! I provide copy writing guides to my clients for each page on their website. These guides have prompts that tell you what to write for each section! All of my clients have been really happy with the copywriting guides and don’t often hire a Copywriter, but it’s completely up to you!
I do need to mention, DO NOT use AI to write your website copy! It’s not good for your website SEO.
Images
Not to be dramatic but images can make or break your website! Seriously, you can have a beautiful website design but if the images don’t align with the branding or the quality isn’t great, there’s no saving that website!
If you are a personal brand, you’re providing the services one on one then I highly recommend you get a brand photo shoot. Showing your face and who you are will build trust with your website visitors.
You can also source high quality, aesthetic images from stock image websites for free. Here are some that I like to use:
Timeline for gathering content aka client homework
It can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks for clients to gather their content. It depends on how much you already have, if you need to hire a photographer, write your copy etc. But typically about a month is a good amount of time to get all of this together if you put some time aside to work on it!
What does website maintenance look like after working with a Showit website designer?
Earlier in this post I mentioned that one of the reasons I use Showit to build websites is because it’s super easy for clients to maintain their own websites!
You will be able to make most updates yourself! I do offer an hourly rate to provide updates for past clients so that is always an option for you. But I teach my clients the basics of updating their own website on Showit. I don’t want you to feel like you have to invest money every time you need to make a change on your website. It does not need to be an ongoing financial investment!
I wrote a post with all of the details here: Showit Website Maintenance
Depending how tech savvy you are, Showit can be a really easy platform to use. And you can always reference my training videos I provide when making changes. There are also a ton of free resources on YouTube if you need to search how to specifically do something. Showit itself has really good training resources: Showit 101
And last but not least, you always have access to the Showit Customer Support team through your Showit account. They are great at helping you troubleshoot any tech issues!
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