#008: Why I Switched From WordPress to Showit
December 20, 2022, by Becca
LISTEN ON APPLE | LISTEN ON SPOTIFY | LISTEN ON STITCHER
WordPress vs Showit. A battle to the death? Nope! Because they work well together!
I recently made the switch from WordPress to Showit. It was a big decision, but now I'm on the other end and I'm glad I made the switch.
I love all the Showit templates. I love the drag-and-drop builder. And I love that I can still blog on WordPress.
Let's chat…
Links mentioned in the episode:
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts!
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support! You can read my full disclaimer here.
What is Showit?
Showit is a web design and hosting platform that allows you to create a completely custom desktop and mobile website, all with a drag and drop interface that requires no coding. It integrates with WordPress for easy blogging and SEO.
saltedpages.com
Is Showit a hosting platform?
Yes. Showit hosts all of your Showit files for all of your pages via Showit web hosting (read the details here). But your blog content is hosted on WordPress via WP Engine.
Where was I blogging before?
I've had quite the blogging journey.
When I first started (and had no idea what I was doing), I was on WordPress.com. But that was short-lived once I realized my mistake, and I switched to WordPress.org for several years.
Then, Squarespace briefly won my heart. But pretty soon I became annoyed with the lack of customization options and I missed WordPress.
So back I went. And I didn't think I would switch again, even when I started looking at Showit. Until I realized that when your site is on Showit, you still blog on WordPress (more on that below). And that got me in.
When I was still on WordPress, I was using page builders to get the site I wanted. First it was Showit vs Elementor, later it was Showit vs Kadence. I like both of them, and they are both highly customizable, but they're not always the easiest to use. Showit is.
WordPress vs Showit: Where I'm blogging now
I'm a hybrid! I blog on WordPress, and happily so. But my site's pages are all designed with Showit. It's really the best of both worlds and I'm loving it.
So without further ado…
WordPress vs ShowIt: Why I switched
1 – You can still blog on WordPress
This is the biggest factor for me. I love the ShowIt drag-and-drop builder for building pages, but NOT for blog posts. All that text would be a nightmare.
Luckily, when you host your site on ShowIt, you still blog on WordPress! The design of my blog and my posts is handled by ShowIt. But the actual content is written on WordPress, exactly the same as I was doing before.
I love WordPress for blogging. It's hands-down the best platform I've ever used in that regard. I don't think I would have switched without this feature, but I'm glad it's here.
2 – You can still use WordPress plugins
I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to plugins. I just love a good plugin! (I limit my use so that my site doesn't take 5 years to load, but in my heart I've got about 100).
I did not want to give up my plugins, and I didn't have to (with a few exceptions).
Most WordPress plugins work just fine with ShowIt. I was worried about giving up plugins like Pretty Links (where I keep track of all my affiliate links) and Link Whisper (my #1 fave SEO plugin). But they all still work!
There are a handful of plugins that do conflict (you can see the list here). But by and large, I get to keep my plugins.
3 – The true drag-and-drop builder
I've used a lot of drag-and-drop builders over the years. I had a Divi stage. I had an Elementor stage (and I still use Elementor for sales pages). And most recently I had a Kadence stage.
All of those builders are powerful and can create beautiful sites. No question there.
But, even though they are drag-and-drop, you're still working within a grid system. You can't drag and drop something anywhere. On ShowIt you can.
You can drop an element absolutely anywhere with no regard to the grid system (though you can toggle on grid lines to make sure everything is lining up).
I love the extreme flexibility of the ShowIt drag-and-drop builder. Though if I have one complaint, it's that it is sometimes a little annoying to make sure everything is perfectly in line.
4 – Tonic templates
Not going to lie, one of the reasons that I was so keen to switch to ShowIt was the GORGEOUS ShowIt templates created by Tonic Site Shop.
Tonic's ShowIt templates just can't be beaten. And I started seeing them pop up on more and more sites (always fabulous sites).
One thing lead to another…and I was hooked.
I use the Margarita ShowIt template, but I also love the Paloma template and the Manhattan template (but really they're all good).
Putting aside my love affair with the design of Tonic's ShowIt templates, there are also other good reasons to love Tonic.
First, their templates are extremely easy to install and customize.
And second, they have a whole onboarding email sequence complete with links to helpful articles and video tutorials for those new to ShowIt.
So it's safe to say, I am a Tonic fan. 🤩
5 – Mobile customization options
Any modern website needs to be mobile responsive and that comes standard with any WordPress theme.
But with ShowIt, mobile and desktop are two completely different areas. You can have elements that only appear on one or the other. And different layouts for mobile. Really, any differences you want.
You can edit them one at a time, or side by side, which I like quite a bit.
I like being able to control the mobile design like this. Because some things just weren't meant for mobile, and with ShowIt, I can easily delete those elements.
6 – No coding needed
I know some basic HTML and CSS, but by no stretch of the imagination am I a coder. And with ShowIt, I don't have to be.
If you want to insert custom CSS to make some fancy elements, you certainly can, but nothing about the builder requires you to use any code (and I don't currently have any on my site).
7 – Easy to use interface
This one is subjective, but personally, I find the user interface of ShowIt to be easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. There are probably others who disagree with me on that, but I'm a fan.
8 – Free blog migration
ShowIt handles 100% of the work of migrating your WordPress blog over to the ShowIt/WP Engine host. All you have to do is put in a migration request and they just take care of it, no muss no fuss.
Migrating between platforms can be a HUGE headache (as I learned when I switched from Squarespace to WordPress a few years ago), so the fact that I didn't have to worry about this at all was a huge plus for me.
9 – Excellent customer support
And finally, last but not least, ShowIt has excellent customer support. They have help articles on pretty much everything I've ever Googled, and the articles often include videos.
And if you need to talk to someone one-on-one, that's also extremely easy to do.
When my blog first got migrated over there were a few minor tech issues, and they were dealt with quickly and effectively with minimal effort from me.
Customer support is important to me when it comes to tech stuff, so this really was a major factor for me.
ShowIt Pricing
ShowIt has three pricing tiers:
For $19 a month, you get the ShowIt site, but no blog.
For $24 a month, you get the ShowIt site plus a “basic” WordPress blog. On this basic plan, you can only use ShowIt's small list of preinstalled plugins. So it's pretty limiting and I wouldn't recommend it.
Finally, for $34 a month, you get the ShowIt site plus a “ShowIt advanced blog” WordPress blog. This means that almost all plugins (with a few exceptions) can be used. Plus, it comes with free blog migration (more on that above). This is the plan I use.
ShowIt FAQs
How do I move from WordPress to ShowIt?
It's super easy, because ShowIt does it for you! All you have to do is put in a migration request, and within a day or two, your blog will be completely migrated, no muss no fuss. You don't have to lift a finger.
This was important to me because I've switched platforms before and it was a nightmare. So the fact that this was so totally painless was a huge plus in the ShowIt column.
Do I need WordPress to blog on ShowIt?
Yes. ShowIt is not a blogging platform. It relies entirely on WordPress for the blogging aspect of your site. There's no way to blog directly on ShowIt.
Is ShowIt better than WordPress?
They work together and serve different purposes. In my mind, you get the best of both worlds with ShowIt and WordPress.
So that's that! I made the switch and I'm glad I did. When it comes down to WordPress vs ShowIt…why not have both??
Have you checked ShowIt out? I'd love to hear your experience! Leave a comment below and let me know! ⤵️
PIN THIS POST!
+ show Comments
- Hide Comments
add a comment