Why I Switched From WordPress to Showit

The biggest change for my newly redesigned website is how it was built. Prior to my redesign, my website was a self-hosted WordPress site that I designed and coded from the ground up.

As my website has evolved, so have my needs. Now, my website is powered by both Showit AND WordPress. Here’s a little info on why I made the switch.

A Little Background

When I first started learning how to code a website, for me it was all about being able to control what was on the page. I learned very quickly that in order to really control how things looked was through code. The page builders and pre-made themes available at the time were nothing compared to raw code.

Throughout my career, I built websites in pure HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP and then moved on to putting it altogether building websites in WordPress.

Eventually, I started to consider myself as more of a designer and front-end developer, so when I finally started working at an agency where all I got to focus on was design I was in my happy place. My coding background came in handy for sure, but if I had to choose I’d much rather design than code.

The Decision to Try Showit

I started making changes to my website when I began freelancing again, around the same time I started hearing more and more about Showit. I started considering Showit for a couple of reasons:

1. It seemed like it might be another (and possibly better) offering for potential clients
2. I could have more control over my site with fewer headaches

I joined Showit’s Facebook group and started researching. One of my clients was gracious enough to let me use her site as a guinea pig, so I could really dive into it beyond the 2-week free trial that Showit offers.

After I brought my client’s site over to Showit and saw how it worked with WordPress, I knew I could use it to better serve my clients. Not only was it a fantastic option for them, but I could see myself designing templates for those that wanted a DIY option. However, in order to offer this, I needed to have an account on Showit.

When I found out I was pregnant again towards the end of 2020 I knew I needed to move quickly if I was going to move forward with this plan.

Why I Fully Switched

My design is not limited to my development skills.

If you’re a designer who is also responsible for development you know that your designs can become limited based on what you know you can code. I remember my old boss telling me the reason they had their designers just focus on design was so their creativity wasn’t limited by their coding knowledge and could think outside the box.

With Showit, the sky is the limit when it comes to design, and it makes my little creative heart so happy! It’s a drag-and-drop editor that feels very similar to design programs like Sketch and Adobe which makes it easy to design things exactly how I want.

Development goes much quicker.

Using Showit to build my site has cut my development time down significantly. As a mother of a toddler, time is most important to me and something I don’t have as much of as I used to. Back when I started this whole gig I had more time to dedicate to development. These days I don’t.

With Showit I can pump out a build a lot quicker than building it from scratch. When I used Showit for another client, her build took two weeks which was shorter than what it took to design all the pages. My own build took a little longer because I am a perfectionist. 😆

It’s easy to update my site.

Anytime I wanted to make edits to my old site, it was quite a process. I had to open up 3 different apps: Github, Codekit, Coda, and MAMP. 🤓

With Showit, I simply log into my account, go to the page I want, make the edits, and hit publish. Cache is cleared, edits are immediately applied. Boom, done. Showit handles backups and autosaves, so I don’t have to worry about my work.

I’m in control of every detail of my design.

One of my frustrations as a designer has always been how I take the time to design every detail and it’d never come out quite how I designed it. It’s so nice to know that what I’m designing is doable. Plus, anything I can’t immediately control in their drag-and-drop editor I can control through CSS, so my developer skills still come in handy.

I still get to use WordPress.

WordPress is a powerful CMS, and I love it for blogging which is why I’m happy I still get to use it.

Showit works with WP Engine to deliver a seamless WordPress experience without the headaches that come with managing a WordPress site on your own.

I use Showit to not only control the design of my site but also of WordPress. And if my sites are lacking certain functionality that Showit doesn’t provide out of the box, I can use WordPress to pick up the slack with the many plugins and integrations available.

With moving to Showit, it’s really transformed the way I create websites and for the better.

Interested in giving it a try? Use my code ‘thelovelygeek‘ to get your first month free.