If you are a creative small business owner, you are most likely going to need a website. Whether you sell products, offer done-for-you services, or have some combination of the two, a well-built website is the perfect place to showcase your work and attract new clients. Deciding between a website template or custom website design is your next step.

Website Design Platform for Your Creative Small Business

I have a whole post going over the pros and cons of some of the major platforms here, but in my short and humble opinion, Showit is my favorite platform. Showit allows for total creative freedom, without all the necessary coding. This means that you can have a professional designer create your dream website, and then be able to go in and make edits and adjustments later without trying to read lines of code. In this post, I will be discussing Showit exclusively and referring to Showit when sharing opinions on templates and custom design.

Side note: I will admit that Showit is not ideal if you are a product-based business. So if growing your storefront is a priority, I recommend Shopify instead. There may still be valuable information in this post related to general template versus custom designs, but I will not be discussing e-commerce functionality.

Let’s Talk Showit Templates

There are many website templates out there, but Showit templates are some of my favorites. For one, they are super easy to customize, making them a great match for different industries, styles, and audiences. They also come in a range of prices, from free, all the way up to $2,000+.

Most Showit templates are designed by individual designers, many can be found on their website, or found around Etsy and Instagram. I love that there are so many templates available for purchase straight from your favorite designers because you can really find a designer who’s style you love and stick with something within their line of work.

Finding the right template is going to take some research. When looking for a Showit website template, I recommend you look for the following things:

1. Included Pages: each template is going to have different pages included. Make sure you read through the description carefully, or even browse the live preview if that is an option, so that you can guarantee you will have every page type you need. If you are really looking for a high-quality portfolio page, but a favorite template doesn’t have one included, that would be a pretty big deal-breaker.
2. Price: money is always a factor when running a business, so go into your search with a budget in mind. Remember that I mentioned above that templates can range from free (check the ones that come with your Showit membership or our free homepage template here) all the way up to 4-figures. From my own research, there are tons of really high-quality templates available in the $200-700 range.
3. Bonuses: a template should come with a lot more than JUST the template. When looking into each template, make sure to look beyond just the page descriptions. Does it come with copywriting support? Tutorial videos for customization? SEO guidance? Determine what is a priority to you and seek out those bonuses as well. (Psst… we have new templates coming and all our templates will soon come with some ahhh-mazing bonuses).
4. Overall Style: just like with fashion, interior design, or restaurant plating, even website templates will fall into a unique style. Fonts, colors, and images, will likely be changed out when you implement your own content, but the website should still fall into a design style you love. Most of the websites that I design tend to fall into a clean & boho category, combining crisp lines with stacking elements and shapes. If prefer something more editorial looking, you may seek out designers who use luxury-looking fonts, monochromatic palettes, and high-fashion stock images.

Custom Showit Website Design

If you’ve decided against the template route, you may be interested in a fully-customized option. Custom websites are an amazing route if you feel less than tech-savvy, don’t have the time to customize your own template, or have a specific design style in mind.

I would say that MOST of my custom design clients come to me because they originally thought, “I will get a template and then just customize it myself,” before realizing they didn’t have the time, struggled with learning the design tools, or couldn’t find a template that really had everything they needed in a website.

If you are in the market for a custom website, be sure to keep these factors in mind:

1. Price: Of course, a custom website is going to come at a steeper price that most templates. Market standard for Showit designs typically range from $1,800-10,000. The wide range in price varies designer to designer based on what is included in the website design as well as individual designer experience.
2. Designer Match: Finding the *right* designer is a key piece to the custom design process. I have a full post here going over my top recommendations when looking for a custom website designer, so definitely take a look at that before you begin your search!
3. What’s Included: I touched on this in the section about price and go over in again in my post about finding your right-fit designer, but this is a biggie. If you are going to pay a premium price for a new website, it better come with everything you need to really step-up your online presence. Ask the tough questions to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck.

The Right Choice for You

At the end of the day, you have options and there are several out there. Sorting through it all can be a little daunting so I always recommend you think about the website of your dreams first. Make a list of what you want to get out of your website. What is the priority? A place to send clients from Instagram? A place will well-researched SEO to attract new clients? A design that is so aligned with your brand you can’t help but repeatedly visit? Decide what is important to you and use that to guide your search.

If you are feeling stuck on where to start, follow us on Instagram @kellyryannco and feel free to send a DM about this post! My inbox is always open to chat about design!