“Showit or Squarespace?”
This is a question that comes up a lot when I’m on a consult call with a potential client.
For those of you who don’t know, Showit & Squarespace are two of the more popular no-code web design platforms out there. Because they don’t require coding (and therefore don’t require a developer), they’re common options among small business owners (service-based businesses, in particular) because they’re both affordable options and are easy to maintain and update as your business evolves.
I love both of these platforms, and they’re the ones I offer & work in most frequently with my service-based clients. But depending on your business, goals, and just overall preferences, one may be better for you than the other. Read on to get my honest take on the pros & cons to each so that you can have the info you need to decide which is best for you!
Showit
Let’s start with Showit, because if I had to choose, it’d be my personal favorite. Showit started out as a drag-and-drop, code free web design platform for photographers, but soon enough all sorts of service-based business owners realized it was a great platform for them too. So no need to be a photographery—whether you’re a designer, copywriter, coach, consultant, interior designer, or any other kind of entrepreneur providing a service rather than a product, Showit may be a great option for you.
Pros:
- Completely drag & drop – you can design a page to look pretty much however you want it!
- Really easy to add in your custom fonts.
- Full control over mobile view, so that you can get as creative as you want when optimizing for how your site shows up on a phone screen.
- Integrates with WordPress for blogging, which is the best of the best.
- Lots of Help documents & a really helpful support team.
- If you have a small shop, it easily integrates with Shopify Lite (I only recommend this to service-based business owners who sell a few things on the side — this would not be a good solution for a product-based business).
Cons:
- Having the design freedom to do anything you want may be overwhelming.
- The drag & drop functionality requires an extra layer of attention to detail.
- You only have control over desktop & mobile views – you can’t do any custom designs for the screen sizes in the middle (like a tablet).
Squarespace
Of these 2 platforms, Squarespace is the one you’ve more likely heard of and maybe even used. I love Squarespace because it’s also a no code platform, and they provide beautiful templates that make getting started less daunting. The platform has recently gotten much more flexible too, so while you don’t have quite as much freedom as you do in Showit, it’s quite robust in what you can do.
Pros:
- Essentially unbreakable – since everything is based on Squarespaces’ templates and grid, there’s not too much room to “mess it up.”
- Lately, there’s a lot more freedom than there used to be with their drag & drop functionality.
- They have a blogging platform.
- They have an eComm platform (although I don’t recommend it for shops).
Cons:
- You need to use CSS to add custom fonts, so you need a little knowledge of code
- It’s not a free-for-all design-wise – there are limitations based on their templates and module designs.
- Since it’s a template-based site and a lot of business owners use it, some websites may end up looking similar to others.
- Knowledge of CSS is good for more than just adding custom fonts – I often find myself wanting to make edits to certain text styles and other design elements that requires playing around with the code.
Overall, Showit & Squarespace are 2 amazing no-code web design platforms. As a service-based business owner, it will ultimately decide on your preferences!
