As a small business owner, choosing the best website builder from the beginning can help alleviate pains in the future as you begin to nurture and grow your online home.
In this article, we will discuss two growing popular website builders, Webflow and Showit, and help you determine which platform is best for your business.
While both Webflow and Showit share similar drag-and-drop visual interfaces, some key differences affect the design flexibility, technical capabilities, and overall structure of the websites.
These features are critical as they can affect the scaleability of your website. Growing businesses should consider these features to ensure their website remains user-friendly, optimized for conversion, and avoids technical headaches down the road.
Jumping to the Chase: Generally, I would recommend Webflow to all service-based business owners. With 7+ years of web experience working with a multitude of website builders, I have yet to discover a platform that offers the same level of advanced design flexibility, efficient workflow capabilities, and supportive community that Webflow does.
Their leadership in the no-code industry and commitment to continually improving their platform are unmatched (in my opinion).
With that being said, building your own website is challenging, and ultimately, I want you to feel educated and empowered to make the best decision for your business. Don't let a website builder hold you back. Let's compare Webflow vs. Showit and give you the power to decide what interface will work best for you.
Webflow vs. Showit | 8 Noteworthy Features to Compare
And why Webflow dominates when it comes to website scaleability
Visual Interface + Responsive Design
Webflow: Regarding precision and control, Webflow's visual interface allows you to build intricate designs, bringing them to life without hard-coding a single element. This speeds up the development process and provides more time to test your site's responsiveness. Within Webflow, you can test 6 different device breakpoints and screen sizes in between (and in the modern age of website building, responsive design should be a priority). Between the complex design customizability and the native website responsiveness, Webflow is our visual interface winner.
Sidenote: Compared to other website builders, mastering the Webflow visual interface has a steeper learning curve. I highly recommend spending time at Webflow University if you are starting. Once I learned the concepts behind flexbox and absolute + relative positioning, my confidence in Webflow skyrocketed, so it may be worth checking out from your end, too!
Showit: Showit also operates with a visual interface that allows you to drag and drop elements onto a canvas. It's intuitive and user-friendly for beginner designers and small business owners who want to jump right in and take control of their site. The responsiveness of Showit sites is less robust than that of Webflow, and you will need to build both the desktop and mobile versions separately. This can be time-consuming as you will need to design both from scratch, and you will not have control over tablet or larger desktop breakpoints. However, for businesses looking for a simple design with few customizability needs, Showit may be the platform to consider.
Dynamic Collections
Webflow: The CMS (content management software) of Webflow allows you to curate unique dynamic collections that host replicated content like blogs, portfolios, team pages, product pages, and other projects. This means you do not need to worry about managing or updating hundreds of individual static pages on your site. Collection template pages are connected, making revising the styling and adding additional elements an absolute breeze; what is done to one will be done to all.
Showit: If you want to manage a larger-scale blog within Showit, you must connect the platform to WordPress, as they do not currently have a built-in CMS to manage replicated content. Each page on Showit is unique, which may benefit a business with few pages to manage. For companies that want to keep scalability in mind, not having a native CMS for other projects like bios and portfolios could become cumbersome in the long term.
Animations + Interactions
Webflow: Animations and interactions add movement to elements on your site that can increase user engagement by adding that 'wow' factor. Within Webflow, you can easily add parallaxes, hover effects, scroll animations, and more to make your site interactive. To take it further, you can integrate assets created in After Effects, Cinema 4D, or Octane, which are robust programs for advanced 3D renderings and animations. While this may not be a priority to small business owners, having that option as you grow your online home is good to have in your back pocket for when you are ready to make that investment.
Showit: Adding simple animations like scroll effects, text movement, and even parallaxes is also relatively easy in Showit. They have a few animations you can choose from and apply to different elements throughout your site. If you want to get into more advanced animations and interactions on your site, Webflow will win this feature.
Hosting
Webflow: When choosing where to host your website, there are a few features you should consider, like speed, security, and ease of site management. Webflow offers all that and more with its robust hosting that is fast, reliable, and scalable, ready to manage the growing traffic on your website. Backed by Amazon web services, Webflow hosting can deliver your site's content to 95% of the world in milliseconds. Discover more about the power-packing Webflow Hosting.
Showit: Hosting on Showit is simple and removes the technicalities of setting up and managing your hosting. Your website would live on the Showit servers and securely deliver your content to users. Keep in mind that Showit has limited storage capacity for blog storage, which could ultimately affect your site's speed. Overall, Showit has reliable hosting options.
Client Interface
Webflow: The Editor is Webflow's front-facing interface that allows clients to make simple content changes without worrying about learning the Designer's complexities. The Editor provides access to collections where blogs, bios, portfolios, and the like can be created and managed efficiently. You can also access forms built natively in Webflow and static pages to make copy edits and other simple content revisions. For clients who do not have time or experience working with website builders, having a client interface like The Editor is heavenly!
Showit: Showit does not have a designated client interface, though it is known for being a relatively easy visual website builder to master. Some clients or teammates who are not as familiar with website builder technicalities may run into challenges in making updates. If you have employees or others who need access to the website, this may be a feature to consider in more depth.
SEO Capabilities
Webflow: Webflow offers a host of native features and tools to help you manage your website's search engine optimization (SEO). You can calibrate image alt tags, meta tags & descriptions, 301 redirects, sitemap indexing, and more. One of the great features of Webflow is that it also includes page-by-page audits, which allow you to see skipped heading levels, duplicate IDs, missing alt tags, and non-descriptive link content. This is incredibly valuable to SEO and will enable you to quickly pinpoint issues that need to be cleaned up. Webflow empowers users to take complete control of their SEO and provides an extensive toolkit to master just that.
Showit: Showit offers essential baseline SEO features to optimize content-based sites (e.g., photographers). You can add custom meta tags and descriptions, image alt tags, and update the heading structure for H1, H2, H3, etc. tags. Overall, Showit does not offer as comprehensive of an SEO toolkit as Webflow. However, it could still be a good option for a small business with substantial local recognition that may not necessarily need to widen its brand awareness through the digital landscape.
E-commerce Capabilities
Webflow: Webflow's e-commerce platform has grown substantially over the last few years, enticing more and more shop owners to migrate their online stores. The buyer experience is enhanced through Webflow, which provides the flexibility to design and curate unique product pages, checkout pages, cart pages, and more. Its simple interface is excellent for shop owners to manage product listing and customer transactions. Webflow's e-commerce capabilities are worth checking out if you sell a unique product.
Showit: While Showit does not have a native e-commerce interface, you can integrate third-party providers like Shopify, WooCommerce, Shoprocket, Paypal payment buttons, and more. Showit may be a good option for a small boutique that does not require complex inventory management systems or advanced design customizability.
Scalability
Webflow: Between Webflow's immersive visual interface, dynamic CMS, powerful hosting, and robust SEO tools, the ability to grow and scale your website has never been more accessible. Webflow was designed to take on complex projects that require precision and intricate systems to manage the ever-flowing content that naturally builds on sites as they develop over time. When creating a website as an additional asset to your business, Webflow's mastery platform is where you'll want to start.
Showit: Showit offers solid opportunities to grow your website and brand recognition. With its beginner-friendly visual interface and simple SEO capabilities, it could be a great place to start for a small business or boutique that may not have a substantial budget for investing in a complex web design.
Webflow vs. Showit Highlights
In conclusion, Webflow and Showit are powerful modern website builders that offer unique features to small businesses and individuals who want to create their online homes.
Showit may be a better option for smaller online shops, portfolio sites, and photographers who want a place to showcase their work visually with simple design, hosting, and SEO features.
Webflow is for small businesses that want their website to be more than just a visual front. It should be a digital asset that generates additional revenue and converts users to happy customers.
