Pretty web pages that are slow as molasses just don't work. In fact, an increase in website loading speed of just 1 second could be the difference between making a sale or losing it.

In other words, if page speed isn't on your radar it could be costing you lots of money!

You know you have been on the losing end if this. You pull up a website — maybe just to quickly check a company's business hours, or you are spending time there searching for the perfect laptop bag. Alas, nothing is accomplished because the website is just so stinkin' slow. It makes it nearly impossible to do whatever it is you need to do.

Are you impatient and just “X” out?

Or do you become more determined, maybe come up with an alternate plan, but still feel disappointed?

As a business owner, that should strike a nerve…or make you downright panicked!!! If your website is too slow, you could be losing valuable customers AND hurting the reputation of your brand. Slow loading speed times can impact your business in the future, too. No matter the time you spend on SEO, search engines won't even want your site on page 10 of their searches! It will not only be hard to have potential customers convert, but they will have a hard time knowing you even exist!

Sooooo, let’s talk website loading speed, including why it’s so important and what steps to take if you find your webpage is lagging a bit.

Improve Your Showit Website Loading Speed Index

Why Is Website Loading Speed Important?

You can probably guess what “website loading speed” (sometimes referred to as “page speed”) means: it’s the length of time it takes for a webpage to load all of its content.

When you’ve got a fast loading speed, all that content appears in the browser right away. But when you’ve got a slow page, all that content could take a few seconds to come up. (Note that we said “a few seconds,” because yes — when we’re talking about website loading speed, a few seconds is considered a long time.)

As our friends over at Davey & Krista explain, “page speed is crucial to user experience. We live in a fast-paced society, and everyone’s attention span is pretty short. Nobody wants to sit around and wait for a slow webpage to load. There are other places users can go to get the information they need.”

So, you might be wondering which factors can cause a website’s loading speed to lag. It comes down to a combination of:

·  Complexity of the content, such as high-res images or long videos

·  Lagging server performance

·  Poorly built site

HubSpot states that waiting 1-3 seconds means a 32% increase in the chance somebody is going to leave your page. If they have to wait up to 10 seconds, that’s a 123% chance they’ll leave your page. 

Can you really blame them? When was the last time you waited 10 seconds for a website?

For every second in delayed page loading, you can expect to lose page views — and when you lose page views, you’re also losing conversions.

Obviously, you don’t have control over the internet connection speed of a user landing on your website. But you do have control over the other factors.

FACT: Page Speed Improves SEO

If your users aren’t having a great experience on your website, search engines are going to take note.

Yes, search engines like Google consider page speed as a ranking factor when listing results. That’s because page speed means whoever is doing the search is going to have an easier time getting the info they need from a faster website. Why would Google send them to a website that’s just going to leave them frustrated and ultimately cause them to leave the page?

Ideally, don’t let your page take more than one second to load. Any longer than that, and it could negatively affect your ranking in search results.

Also FACT: Page Speed Improves User Experience

It’s common sense: A faster website means a better user experience. 

This gets a little tricky because page complexity also contributes to user experience, and page complexity affects page speed.

In other words, a lot of visually appealing features, like images and videos, can make a page load more slowly. But that kind of visual appeal contributes to a user’s positive experience, too. So it’s important to find the balance between your page’s visuals and your page speed.

Let’s talk about some ways you can do that.

How to Analyze Your Website Loading Speed

If you want to get serious about your website's loading speed (and you should!), it helps to start with an understanding of how fast your website is currently loading.

Get technical about it. While you could easily pull up your webpage and time it with a stopwatch, that’s not actually going to measure your loading speed the way you need to measure it if you’re going to analyze and make improvements.

Instead, you should turn to the tools that are available for that specific purpose.

Tools to Measure Page Speed

Want to start measuring your page speed? Here are just a few of the tools you can check out:

Google PageSpeed Insights: Did you know Google has a free tool built into its platform? You can use PageSpeed Insights to analyze your page performance on both desktop and mobile versions, then receive a score out of 100 along with recommendations on how you can improve it. (If you ask our team here at Showit, this is the tool we recommend!)

GTmetrix: Like PageSpeed Insights, this is another free tool that analyzes your page performance, giving you a score out of 100 and tips on how you can improve. Although it emphasizes speed in its analysis, GTmetrix looks at other factors as well.

Pingdom: If you don’t mind paying for an evaluation, Pingdom could be a good option. It offers several performance monitoring services as part of its evaluation and gives you a detailed breakdown of what’s working (and what’s not).

5 Tips to Speed Up Your Showit Website

If your business is going to thrive in the virtual field, you need a good web host — one that’s built for good performance. 

That’s one of the reasons we always talk proudly about how Showit websites are created with speed and efficiency in mind, and they’re hosted on a responsive server. That way, you know your web visitors aren’t sitting around waiting for your page to load!

Even with a great web host like Showit, there are still steps you need to take when you’re customizing your website. Here’s what we always tell people about making sure your Showit site loads at top speed.

1. Optimize Your Images

This one is especially important for photographers who rely on their websites to show off their amazing images. After all, what’s the point of a photography website if people can’t see how great your work is? 

There has to be a way you can have images that look their best without slowing down your site too much.

It all starts with the right steps to prepare your images and optimize your images. That means:

·  Rethink the file type. When you're ready to upload your images, you will definitely want to think about file type in reference to your website loading speed. Generally, you will choose between jpegs, pngs, and gifs. In Showit, “we only suggest using PNG when transparency is necessary and GIF when animation is used, all other images should be JPG format.” But there is more on that on our help doc about “preparing your images“. It's a good general rule to follow for all, though — and ultimately makes your page load time much faster.

·  Resize them. You don’t need the photos on your site to have such high resolution that people could print a billboard from them. Instead, resize them to the right dimensions for the space they’ll take up on your site, and then save them at that lower resolution.

·  Compress them. When you compress your images, you can reduce their overall file size without affecting the quality or how they look. Try a free online compression tool like TinyPNG.

INSIDER TIP: Choose a design that works for you and your load times in our Design Market.

2. Choose Videos Wisely

You want to be deliberate in what videos you use and how you incorporate them into your site. 

Do videos add to the user experience? Absolutely! Especially if you’re a videographer, you need to show off what you do.

However, hosting a video directly on your Showit site could end up slowing your page down. Videos are usually very large files, and that’s just the nature of having a very large file on your page.

In many cases, it might be faster to embed them. When you embed a video, you upload it to a separate platform, such as YouTube or Vimeo, and use code to make the video appear on your page. What this does is take data from a third party on an external server, so it can also slow your webpage speed just as direct hosting does. However, embedding third-party video can also potentially slow down your page speed. Here are some ways you can minimize that.

If you need to embed but you don’t want to slow your page too much, you should:

·  Be conscious of the amount of embedding you’re doing. One embedded video might not hurt. But five or six? You could be looking at a significantly slower page.

·  Use lazy loading the way you did with your images, so your embedded videos don’t load until a visitor is ready to watch them.

(Hint: Want more tips on how to use video as part of your Showit website? Check out our full article here.)

3. Reduce URL Redirects

Your website is going to evolve — it’s just inevitable. After all, your business will grow and change, so why wouldn’t your website? 

When you make changes to your site, such as closing down a landing page or changing a URL to make it easier for people to remember, you’re going to have to create redirects so your web visitors don’t end up on a broken landing page.

It's always best to keep these redirects to a minimum. Redirecting is an extra step, and any extra step is going to slow down that loading speed. If your website is full of redirects, your page ultimately becomes slower.

4. Use Plugins Strategically

Plugins only add to the user experience…well, until they don’t. 

Having WordPress or Shopify plugged into your website makes it easier for you to blog or sell products. But, like images or redirects, these plugins will reduce your loading speed.

This is why you should always evaluate every plugin you plan to use. Determine whether it’s a reputable and well-maintained plugin by looking at reviews and ratings. 

WordPress has a great reputation, so these plugins shouldn’t be a problem. But a plugin you’ve never heard of (even if it seems like a great fit for your needs)? Use discretion and beware!

Secondly, use only the plugins you need. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this? Will removing this plugin prevent customers from building a relationship with me or doing business with me?”

(Want more info? We cover all the details about the WordPress Plugins that are compatible with Showit here.)

5. Limit JavaScript + Other “Extra” Elements

“Extras” can be fun and even increase conversions. Animations leave an impression on your web visitor. Forms and pop-ups let your visitors submit information or find resources they’re looking for.

Sooo, yes, interaction is part of a good user experience. That is until those interactive elements overload your website and cause it to lag!

That’s why we always tell people that JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and other elements should be used only when they’re vital to what you do. (Here’s a look at your options when it comes to JavaScript on a Showit website.)

Learn More Ways to Improve Your Showit Website

Website design is about always striving to be better. Can you imagine if every page on the internet today looked (and functioned) like it did back in the ‘90s, when the internet was first taking off? 

That’s why we’re always encouraging people to keep learning and exploring ways to improve their websites. The Website Tips section of our blog has all kinds of info on ways to make your Showit website even better. 

Don’t yet have a Showit website yet? It doesn’t cost anything to get started — your first 14 days with us are free. Come see the Showit difference for yourself!

So, you wanna see your website pop up at the top of the results page when somebody searches on Google? Hey, who doesn’t?

While we wish we could say we had a quick fix for you, one that could bump up your standing on Google over the course of just a few days, optimizing your website for search engines is a practice that takes time. The good news is that most businesspeople who have done it will agree: the time and effort are well worth it!

What you need to do is take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO). With consistency, you can see your website start to work its way higher and higher on search results pages. 

How long it takes for SEO to work will depend on several factors, so let’s break it down and discuss how you can get the best results for your business.

Back Up: What Is SEO, Again?

Good question! SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s pretty much a necessity for every business website (and probably a few hobby websites too).

SEO sounds like the sort of thing that would be super technical and tough to understand. The idea behind it is actually pretty simple. 

Optimizing your website for search engines is exactly what it sounds like: making your website appealing to search engines like Google, so they’re more likely to put your site in front of users (that is, the people searching for info on Google).

You can do this in several ways, but the one we’re focusing on today is using keywords in your website content. 

Think about all the words that people are searching for on Google and other search engines. We call these keywords, even though often they are specific phrases combining more than one single word. You can use these keywords on your website, not only in body copy but also in headlines and subheads. This indicates to the search engines that you have relevant content these users are looking for.

Making effective use of keywords involves a few key steps — and it’s just one of the many factors that affect your ranking in search results. Dive deeper by reading “How to Master SEO for Showit Websites: The Ultimate Guide.”

Does SEO Really Matter for My Business?

The short answer here? Yes, of course! You want your website to get more visibility, and that’s what SEO is all about. SEO gets your business website a more prominent place in search results, which means it’s ultimately noticed by more people. More traffic to your website often leads to more conversions.

Of course, there are many factors that affect whether someone on the internet ultimately becomes a paying customer. SEO is still one of the best ways you can get your name out there more prominently and build brand awareness. There are two main reasons for this.

First, it helps build trust, as people will see your website as more credible than an obscure site constantly buried on page 10 of Google’s search results. 

Second, it’s also cost-effective, because unlike paid advertising, in which you spend money with Google for prime placement on its results page, SEO doesn’t require anything from you other than the time you spend researching keywords, creating content, and tracking your results. 

On that note…

How Should I Measure My SEO Results?

Once you’ve put the time and effort into optimizing your website for search engines (including regular content that makes smart use of keywords), you need to take the time to figure out what’s working and what’s not. You do this through metrics known as key performance indicators, which are usually called KPIs for short.

Best SEO Metrics to Track

Think of KPIs as a sort of score for the game of SEO. You want to do better on as many of these metrics as you can, because a combined higher score means your website gets more prominence with search engines. Some of the KPIs you want to track are:

·   Impressions: The number of people who actually saw your link

·   Clicks: How many people actually clicked on your link

·   Keyword ranking: How your website ranks with search engines for keywords related to your business

·   Conversions: How many of the people who clicked through to your site actually did what you wanted them to do (e.g., make a purchase or sign up for your newsletter)

·   Bounce rate: How many people left your website after looking at just one page

·   Pages per session: The number of pages people visited on your site before they ultimately left your site

·   Session duration: How much time people spend on your site

Best Tools to Track SEO

Here’s the hard part, though — you can’t track all these numbers on your own. You can’t tally the number of click-throughs to your site unless you’re using the right analytic software, of which you have a lot of options.

Here’s what you should know about some of the top picks:

·   Google Analytics: A free tool by Google that gives you insight into website performance, traffic, and conversions

·   Google Search Console: Another free tool from Google that lets you monitor how you appear in search results and gain data on search performance

·   SEMrush: A good option for researching keywords, as well as for auditing your website based on backlink analysis (how many outside websites are linking back to you) and competitive analysis (how you compare with similar businesses)

·   Ahrefs: Like SEMrush, another good option for backlink analysis and competitive analysis

·   Moz: A good tool for auditing your site, assessing your credibility standing (do search engines perceive you as credible?), and tracking how you rank in search results

·   Ubersuggest: A good tool for researching keywords that people are searching for, so you can use them in your web content

·   RankMath: A plug-in for WordPress that lets you analyze your content based on how it will be perceived by search engines

BONUS TIP: Grab a great template that ups your aesethic and boosts your SEO in the Marketplace.

What Kind of SEO Results Can I Realistically Expect?

You might be reading this and thinking, “SEO sounds like a lot of work! I need to research keywords, create content, and then analyze how everything performs… So, realistically speaking, how long does SEO take to work?”

Here’s the thing you need to keep in mind: You shouldn’t expect your SEO efforts to show results immediately, even if you’re doing everything right. Instead, you should be focused on consistency, so you can see good organic traffic over time. 

This is traffic you’re not paying for through advertising, so you don’t need to worry about it dissipating as soon as you stop running ads. Ultimately, your goal is to get better visibility that will lead to better brand awareness — and that will lead to more purchases!

How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

“Yes… but again, the important question: How long does SEO take to work?” 

It’s not overnight. A realistic answer might be four to six months. We know that might sound shocking (and even unappealing) to some business owners out there. After all, a whole six months? That’s half a year! As with all things that demand consistency over immediate gratification, better web traffic through SEO seems like the type of thing that will take forever.

Don’t lose sight of the reality that four to six months, in the grand scheme of things, really isn’t all that long — it will go by faster than you realize, and when it does, you’ll be glad that you started today instead of waiting.

That said, don’t assume that the second the calendar marks four months from the date you posted an article, your page views will suddenly skyrocket. SEO is far from an exact science, so your results could be gradual at best — or you could create a unicorn piece of content that gets thousands of hits almost immediately. It’s really hard to tell.

The one thing we can be sure of? Like cream, the content that’s best will rise to the top. So as long as you stay focused on providing value, your efforts will eventually pay off.

Why the Heck Does SEO Take So Long?!

Organic traffic builds slowly, especially when you compare it with paid traffic. Search engines prioritize websites with authority that can be perceived as trustworthy. This isn’t the kind of reputation you can establish in a short period of time.

The reason SEO takes so long to show results depends on several factors, including:

·   Crawling: This is when search engines send bots that “crawl” through your website and read its content so they can report back about the quality of your site. This process sometimes takes several weeks.

·   Indexing: This is when a search engine categorizes your website in its database as determined by what the bots reported back when crawling. This is something that has to be done before your website can be considered for searches.

·   Keyword competition: This refers to how many other websites are also trying to rank for the keywords you’re creating content for (and how authoritative their sites are). As your website consistently starts creating relevant content, search engines will start to perceive it as a more valuable resource and ultimately will be more likely to prioritize it.

How Can I Improve My SEO Results?

There’s no one-size-fits-all pathway toward improving your SEO results. Instead, it’s a combination of many factors — some of which might be easier for you than others, or might be a better fit for your business compared with your competition.

These are the four big factors you need to observe if you want to achieve the most success:

·   Research your keywords: Look for keywords that people are searching for, but remember that the most popular keywords with searchers will also be the keywords that most businesses are using (and therefore might be a little harder to rank for). Mix up popular keywords with more obscure ones for best results.

·   Focus on quality content: Don’t create content just for the sake of stuffing in as many keywords as you can. Instead, focus on quality content. Yes, keywords are important, but if your content is subpar, users will quickly take notice and won’t spend a lot of time on your website. They might even be less likely to come back. All of this can diminish your standing with search engines.

·   Fix the tech glitches: If you have a glitchy website, your visitors aren’t going to have a good experience. Search engines don’t want to send users to a site where they’ll have a bad experience. So, if you have problems with site speed or mobile-friendliness, your website won’t be considered optimized. Take care of as many tech aspects as you can, from the common ones we just described to the more obscure ones, like creating descriptive alt tags for images.

·   Build links within your site to other (credible) sites: Linking to other credible websites establishes that you are reliable and trustworthy. After all, you wouldn’t be linking to the website of a leader in your industry if you didn’t know your stuff, right? When you have plenty of links within your content that go to credible sites, it establishes you as credible by association, and this will boost you within a search engine’s ranking.

Is Showit Good for SEO?

Our goal at Showit is to make it easy for you to have the best website possible. We recognize that a big part of that is helping you optimize your site for searches, even if you’re not a techy person. After all, what’s the point of building a beautiful, efficient website if nobody sees it? 

That’s why we created Showit with all kinds of resources that make search optimization easy, from step-by-step directions on creating meta descriptions for your pages to tools that will prevent you from building a website that lags at a slow pace.

We also have plenty of resources helping you better understand SEO, so you can always strive to keep improving your site’s visibility. Be sure to check out our past blog posts like How to Write the Best Titles for SEO (And Your Audience) or Blogging for SEO: It’s Not as Scary as You Think!

Stay the Course — Your Showit SEO Results Are Worth It!

Above all, just remember the old adage: Good things come to those who wait. 

It’s certainly true in the case of SEO — this is a practice that requires some dedication and patience, but those who stick to it are the ones who make it to the top of the Google search page. When you take the time to research the right keywords, create the best content you can, and actually track your metrics so you can continue learning and improving everything you do, you’ll see real payoff with long-term growth and increased opportunities for your thriving business.

Want to create that dream SEO-friendly website of yours with Showit (you know, so you can see for yourself just how easy we make it)? Don’t forget that we have a free trial that gives you 14 days to experiment with all our tools, without ever even entering any credit card information. All you need is your email address, so go ahead — sign up and start creating your site today!

Have you noticed that Instagram isn't about the most beautiful photo anymore? Doesn’t it seem like every other month there is a new feature they throw at you? And then the “social media experts” tell you the only way to improve your low engagement on Instagram is to include this fancy feature in all your content. *sighhhhh* How to keep up? Don’t! Focus on these 5 ways to improve your low engagement on Instagram. Remember, you got this!

1. Use Instagram's Built-In “Insights” Feature

One of the first reasons you might be having low engagement issues on Instagram is because you are doing something wrong…which means there is a fix! If your numbers are low, this is great news! Why? Now you know what not to do. 

If you don’t have an Instagram Business/Creator account, this is your chance. With a business account, you gain access to “Insights” and the strategic marketing side of Instagram, where you can see all the numbers and analyze your data. To start, find posts on your Instagram account with the lowest engagement and others with the highest, then compare the two. What is the image? When did you post it? What's the first sentence in your caption? After analyzing the data, take some notes and decide on how you are going to improve your low engagement on your Instagram posts.

Now take a look at your low engagement on your Instagram Stories. Are they not getting the views they used to? Check the insights on your Instagram Business Account to find out why. Which stories had low views and which were more popular? Does your audience like it when you are talking to them? Maybe when you show them how you work? Perhaps they like a quiz or “this-or-that” on your stories? Check your stats to see what your audience loves and what they don’t love. Low engagement is an opportunity to build better engagement.

2. What's That You Said? (Use captions!)

You might not be in a library, have a sleeping baby, or be hearing impaired…but your viewer might be!

Instagram has an ahhhmmazing caption creator. It's so good, in fact, instead of people making TikToks and bringing them into IG, they are grabbing those beautiful captions on IG and bringing them over to the Tok. Seriously!

So why add captions? Instagram captions have proven to be more accurate than other platforms such as TikTok and Youtube. Often you don't even have to go back and edit. By using Instagram captions, you save time from editing to focus on finding solutions to boost your low engagement. And BONUS, no worries about aesthetics because IG captions are also graphically on point! Move them around wherever you like them, and make those captions tiny or big with just the pinch of your fingers. People will have no reason to swipe past your stories because they can finally hear, ahem, see what you have to say. Now you are two steps closer to flipping that low engagement on Instagram!

3. Make it Accessible

Just like there are people watching stories who might be hearing impaired, there are people scrolling who might be visually impaired. By hopping into your advanced setting, you can add “alt text” to describe the photo to those using screen readers. Yes, it can be more time-consuming, but your awareness will not go unnoticed! Do you know who else will benefit from using alt text on your images? YOU!

When you add visual descriptions to your images, you are benefitting too! This act of kindness will grow your heart, a la The Grinch —it's true. But adding this text also improves your SEO. According to TailWind, a popular social media scheduling tool, “when you add relevant alt text to an Instagram post, it helps the Instagram algorithm understand what the image is all about. This, in turn, increases the chances of your post showing up in the “Explore” section of your target users’ Instagram accounts. This has become even more crucial with the latest changes in Instagram Search.”

Thinking through your Instagram engagement strategy, ensure that you are thinking through accessibility for the visually and hearing impaired. While the platform uses image recognition to analyze every post, the alt text ensures your content is shown to the right people. Also, it’ll help you to reach your target audience when they’re looking for posts related to your brand/niche/product.”

Alt text helps the visually impaired and gets your photo in front of your target audience—Yes, please! Say goodbye to low engagement on Instagram and hello to consistent growth!

4. Acknowledge People

It's so simple. If someone walked up to you in the supermarket and complimented you on your pants, wouldn't you at least say “thank you” to this random, kind stranger? It's the same for DMs. It's so easy to pop in, and see if anyone has tagged you or asked you a direct question. Answer them. 

The fourth not-so-secret way to turn around your low engagement on Instagram is by engaging. If you are so busy that you just-cannot-even, then why not hire someone? “Hiring” your teen niece to answer DMs would be better than nothing at all. Recently, we received a DM from someone with almost five million followers. Yes…millions of followers. We responded, and guess what? SHE RESPONDED BACK!!! It's still shocking. But seriously, practice good etiquette. It always pays off.

The moral of the Algorithm? If people engage with you, engage back. You are trying to win on social media—social media. The point is to be social. Instagram, just like every other social media platform, rewards you for being social. One of the main reasons people have low engagement on Instagram is due to not engaging. The words “engagement” and “social” are associated with the platform for a reason. It has to work both ways. You must get social with your audience to improve your engagement on Instagram.

5. Give everyone some space.

Adding space to your stories, images, and reels allows everyone's eyes to be on you!

The last tip to get your low engagement on Instagram (ahem) headed in the right direction: give everyone some space! Adding space to your stories, images, and reels allows everyone's eyes to be on you and what you are trying to say.

Space. It isn't just for astronauts. But we can take a tip from their book! 

• Step 1. Picture yourself with a space helmet on. Got it? Great! 
• Step 2. Now grab your phone. Flip it to selfie mode and get ready to smile!
• Step 3.  Move your camera up a bit and far enough away so your imaginary helmet can fit in the screen, too. There. Space.
• Step 4. Snap a photo of that beautiful mug! Do it for the ‘gram, or just send it to your biz bestie to share this tip!

Why all the space? Two reasons. First, it’s just plain ol’ good manners. Remember, you want to be on your best behavior for your business, even on Instagram, right?  Would you ever get up in someone's face so close they can see your hairline? Or worse, hold the camera so close, and at such an unfortunate angle they could see your nose hair?! Ew. People want to see your beautiful face and hear what you have to say. They just want to hear it from a normal, conversational length.

Ask the Experts!

Fun fact! The more space, or “negative space” you might call it—if you are the artsy-fartsy type, can at times make a more appealing image. This is the second reason you will want to keep some space in your frame. It’s a widely known fact in the visual arts that negative space gives the eye a chance to rest, relax, and stay awhile. We’re not the only ones who think so, either. Hear it from the experts over at Adobe:

“You always want the space to steal the show,” says photographer Petecia Le Fawnhawk-Maggiori. A good rule of thumb is that the amount of negative space should take up at least 50% of the photo to achieve the right effect. 

Adobe.com

So, take a deep breath, set your phone up at a distance, smile, and share your thoughts. Your audience wants to hear from you. And see you!

Keep it social to fix your low engagement on Instagram.

Take it or leave it. At the end of the day, this is your business, your brand, and your audience. If you are intentionally engaging and producing content that speaks to your target audience, bravo! Intentionality and consistency will win in the end. Just make sure you know who is on the other side of those engagement numbers. Hopefully, it’s your dream client on the other side, but regardless, remember behind every number is a real person. 

Your followers are humans like the ones you pass in a store, see at the gas station, or sit next to you at the doctor’s office. If you keep Instagram social and a part of your business and professional mindset, you will flip that low engagement in no time. If you want to know how to better engage with your clients offline, check out this great resource. But don't forget: You got this, and we are cheering you on!

So, you want to put together a website design portfolio that will sell your services to your ideal client? Great! But where are you even supposed to start?

The actual process of putting together your website design portfolio might not be as stressful or overwhelming as you think. It should, however, be a conscious project with a few important points you must consider: which projects you’ll feature, which projects you’ll leave out, and what else besides the mockups themselves you should have on the page.

Here are our tips for creating an impactful website design portfolio.

Why Website Designers Need an Online Portfolio

Every creative professional needs a portfolio that gives your ideal clients a feel for what you do — and that includes website designers. 

Displaying your portfolio online as a part of your website gives people an idea of your skills and your specialties. It assures them you are able to do what you say you can. 

Plus, it might inspire them to trust a professional in general. Many businesses might be inclined to use a website template or try designing their site themselves with an amateur-friendly platform. But once they see your professionally designed work done on Showit, they will be quickly convinced that having you handle this project for them will elevate their business higher.

The 5 Key Elements of a Website Design Portfolio

The layout of your portfolio website is completely up to you, but there are a few essential elements that most people have come to expect — and for good reason. They make it easy for potential clients to get an idea of who you are and why they should choose you over a competitor. 

Here are five key elements you should include in your web designer portfolio:

1. Hero Section: At the top of the landing page, this section should have a clever title (beyond the boring old “My Portfolio”) as well as a subhead or slogan that sums you up as a creative. You also might want to include a logo or image of some kind.
2. Featured Projects: This is the substance of your portfolio — the part where you actually show off the projects you want people to see.
3. Testimonials / Social Proof: Include testimonials from happy clients or even a few statistics on how your design improved their business success.
4. About Section: This part doesn’t have to be long, but you should include at least a paragraph about your portfolio, why you chose the projects you did, and what clients can expect from the process of working with you.
5. Call to Action: Finally, here’s the most important part. Encourage people to reach out if they like your work, and make your contact information easily available, whether through a form submission or direct contact, such as your email and phone number.

How to Create a Portfolio That Wows Your Ideal Web Design Clients

Your online portfolio is a reflection of you — it’s about your unique skill set as a designer! 

So, of course, you’re going to want to create a portfolio that gives people an idea of how you’re different from other designers out there. It should reflect your creativity. It should show how you have your own unique style, plus how you’re able to capture a client’s unique vision.

This is the fun part because you’re limited only by your imagination. (Remember, Showit gives you complete creative control as a website designer, so you can really show off your design work in the portfolio section of your website.)

Ready to put together the ideal portfolio? Here are some of our top tips.

1. Feature Clients Who Represent Your Ideal Audience

Think about your goals as a designer. What projects do you specialize in, and which projects would you want to do more of? If you love designing websites for wedding photographers, for example, be sure to feature wedding photography websites prominently.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve managed to establish a niche or not. If you had even one opportunity to design a website for a restaurant, but you want to land more restaurant clients — by all means, feature that one restaurant website prominently in your portfolio!

The advice goes both ways, of course. If you ever did a project that you really didn’t click with, and you want to avoid similar projects, you shouldn’t feature that website in your portfolio (even if you did a great job on it).

2. Choose a Sampling of Your Very Best Work

Maybe you’ve had a long and successful design career up to this point. That’s great, but you should avoid featuring every website you’ve ever designed in your portfolio. It’s just overwhelming! Remember that in these situations, less is more. Stick to a small number of your best work.

Of course, “a small number” can be relative. Maybe you’re a designer who has three or four examples that adequately reflect your work. Or maybe you need a few more examples to show people what you’re capable of. 

Pro tip: You can use canvas views on Showit to let people scroll through your portfolio horizontally, instead of cluttering up the screen with so many examples shown vertically.

3. Include Context for Each Project

Giving context to your work helps your web visitors understand what you do as a designer. Make sure each website design in your portfolio is accompanied by succinct copy in which you describe what the client had in mind and how you brought that to life. 

This will help potential clients appreciate your ability to grasp and visualize ideas — and they’ll be excited to see what you’re able to do with the concept they have in mind for their own business.

4. Show Off Your Personality

Remember that your portfolio is supposed to reflect your personal brand, so don’t let it be austere or cookie-cutter. Show off your personality! Use creative copy, your personal brand colors, and other fun design elements to give potential customers an idea of what it’s like to work with you.

Pro tip: Easily apply your branding to your portfolio page using Showit’s Design Settings!

5. Include Website Mockups

A mockup of the websites you’ve designed will give people a visual of what you’re able to do. You can even take a screenshot of the finished product and place it next to rough drafts or mood boards you did beforehand to get the actual look just right.

6. Use Your Clients’ Own Words

Your clients probably have great things to say about how you were patient with them, understood their concepts, and accommodated their revision requests. They also might be ready to brag about how having a website designed by you has changed their business! Be sure to get these written or video testimonials from your clients so you can include them in your portfolio.

Pro tip: This would be another great opportunity to use canvas views to feature multiple testimonials in one canvas.

7. Make Your Portfolio Easy to Find

Word of mouth is powerful, but you also want to make it easy for random web visitors to stumble upon you — and the way to do that is through search engines. Be sure to optimize your portfolio for Google with elements like alt text and keyword captions. You should also link to your portfolio in both the menu and footer of your website.

Pro tip: Optimize your portfolio page with ease using Showit’s simple SEO tools!

8. Make It Look Good on Mobile

What looks good on a laptop or desktop doesn’t always look great on a phone. That can be a real problem when you consider the fact that 92% of internet users might be looking at a phone for their browsing experience.

This is another good reason to keep your portfolio pared down. Scrolling through too many examples gets tedious enough on a desktop, but it’s especially bad on the small screen of your phone.

Pro tip: Showit allows different designs on mobile vs desktop, so you can easily customize your users’ experience on different devices!

9. Build Backlinks

Backlinks are great for SEO. Make sure each mockup in your portfolio is linked to your client’s actual website. You should also encourage them to link back to yours for extra traffic and SEO benefit.

10. Keep Your Portfolio Up to Date 

Regular upkeep takes a bit of effort, but it’s so necessary — you don’t want an outdated portfolio! Take the time every few months to go through and update your portfolio, so you can take down outdated projects and add new ones.

Build Your Website Design Business with Showit!

If you’re a website designer who’s ready to grow your business, you’ll find everything you need on our platform here at Showit. We give you full creative control to design the websites of your clients’ dreams. Plus, you can create your own website to showcase the websites you design for other people!

Check out the top 9 features designers love about Showit to see if our platform could be the right fit for your own design business.
Curious about everything you can do with Showit? We offer a free trial with absolutely no strings attached. Be sure to check it out and start designing today!

If you’ve been following along with our 10-part Website Health Series, you’d be well aware by now that there is a lot that goes into creating a website that converts—but what you might not know yet is that your job doesn’t end there. 

Of course, your website is a huge part of what makes your online business successful: it helps you attract the right clients, communicate your value, share information, increase your overall visibility, and make you look credible…

But there’s one essential thing we haven’t yet discussed:

What happens after someone visits your website?

Because, to be frank, not everyone is going to inquire with you the first time they visit your website. 

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! 

Even if you had the best website copy, the most beautiful website design, and the easiest website to navigate, there are still tons of reasons why someone might not inquire—most of which have nothing to do with you at all. 

Maybe they don’t currently have the budget. Maybe they’re not ready to move forward with their project just yet. Maybe they’re planning for their year ahead. Maybe they’re not sure what kind of solution they need from you just yet. The list goes on and on… 

Think about it: if every single person who visited your website inquired about working with you immediately, you wouldn’t even be able to keep up with the sheer volume of work.

(And if that were the case, you’d definitely need to raise your prices. But that’s a conversation for another day.)

Even if a viewer doesn’t decide to inquire at that specific time of their first website visit, that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in working with you.

As we said: there are plenty of reasons why someone may not be ready to take your desired action NOW, but that definitely doesn’t mean there’s no chance they won’t make that decision sometime in the future, whether it’s 12 days from now or 12 months from now.

That’s why you’ll need to make sure you don’t lose their interest.

Inviting your readers to continue their relationship with you AFTER they spend time scrolling through your website is just as vital to the success of your business as having a conversion-friendly site is.

They’re already there, immersed in your brand—they’re simply not ready to make a decision yet. But you want to be there, top of mind, when they ARE ready to make one, so you’ll need to ensure they have plenty of ways to stay connected with you.

#1 – Prompt them to download your lead magnet

Email marketing is THE best way to continue your relationship with your visitors because it makes for a much more personal connection. 

By creating a lead magnet—aka an element of free value (like a PDF guide, a tutorial, a checklist, a video lesson, a sample, or a template) that someone trades their email address for—that is strategically aligned with the services you offer, you’re giving your readers a chance to opt into something much less binding than submitting an inquiry or creating an account.

You’re also providing them with the perfect opportunity to learn from you and get to know you better while providing yourself with valuable information about who is interested in a given topic (something that will greatly benefit you if you ever launch a new product, create a new service, or make a resource relevant to it!).

Now feels like a great time to invite you to download our free Website Launch Checklist! If you’re liking this blog series, you’ll LOVE this checklist about everything you need to get your website launched properly. 

>> Click here to download the Website Launch Checklist!

#2 – Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter

Speaking of how beneficial email marketing is: if you have a regular newsletter, you’ll definitely want to make sure there are plenty of places on your website for potential new subscribers to opt in.

There is no better way to stay at the forefront of a potential client or customer’s mind than to show up in their inbox on a consistent basis.

We recommend adding an inline form opt-in in the footer of your website, on your homepage, on your About page, and on your Contact page—as well as creating a landing page specifically for your newsletter!

Another great way to get more people on your email list is by adding a pop-up form to capture your readers’ attention as they scroll through your site. (Click here to learn how to do this in Showit!)

We also love when creatives add a landing page for their newsletter,  because it’s an awesome place to share what your newsletter is about, how often you send it, and why someone would want to subscribe. 

Insider Tip: Don't overthink Opt-Ins. Snag an add-on to your website and the work is done.

And, if you have them, you can also share reviews from your subscribers to entice new ones to sign-up or share past newsletters you’ve sent to give potential new subscribers an idea of what they’d be signing up for.

#3 – Share relevant blog posts for them to read

You already know how much we love blogging as a form of strategic content marketing because the benefits are seemingly endless—one of them, of course, being how it influences a viewer’s time spent on your website.

When you have lots of blog content for people to browse, you’re effortlessly able to keep their interest much longer than someone whose website doesn’t have a blog.

Blogging also lets readers learn more about how you sound, what it could be like to interact with you on a more personal level, and it lets you show off your expertise; all of which could be factors that may positively influence someone’s decision to work with you.

We recommend putting a section of “featured blog posts” on all of the core pages of your website (Home, About, Services, and Contact) as well as your Portfolio, Gallery, or Resources pages, if you have them. 

When deciding which blog posts to showcase on each page, consider what your readers might be thinking about / wanting to learn about when they’re browsing that specific type of content. 

While scrolling your homepage, your readers likely have big-picture questions, such as: 

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• How can your services help me?
• What’s the benefit of working with you?

On this page, it would make sense for you to share blog content that helps your new viewers better understand the answers to what they’re wondering. 

Once they get to your About page, it’s clear that your readers are interested in learning more about why you might be a good fit for them. The blog posts you share on this page can be a bit more personal, like ‘reasons to work with me’ or ‘why I got started’, or ‘inside my client process.’ Help them get to know you & your brand voice to have a brand experience better!

When browsing your Services page, your readers are likely much closer to making a buying decision. 

So, in sharing blogs on this page, we recommend choosing posts that address their objections, offer information about the benefits of your services, showcase your expertise in your field, or provide insight into which decision may be right for them (ex: a DIY resource vs. a done-for-you service, etc). 

Then, when your reader makes it to the Contact page, they’re deciding if they’re either going to inquire or not. 

With the blogs you share on this page, you could either convince them, with posts about how necessary your specific solution is, or what makes you the right person for the job, OR you could choose to provide them with useful, educational content that they can then use and implement on their own, if they’re not quite ready to work with you yet. 

On your Portfolio or Gallery pages, we recommend sharing case studies about your project to give readers a glimpse into what it’s like working with you and what their end result can potentially look like. People love experiencing the BTS of something they’re considering investing in.

#4 – Invite them to “save” your content on Pinterest

Not only is this a great tactic to include as a call to action in all of your blog posts / helpful content—but it’s also a perfect way for you to get more visibility. 

When someone saves your posts to Pinterest, it’s a win-win situation: they get to save the content they found helpful so they can refer back to it later, AND you get the benefit of your content being shared with anyone who follows them, as well as anyone who may be searching for that same content.

#5 – Encourage them to follow you on social media 

And, finally, the easiest way for readers to continue their relationship with you is for them to follow along with you on Instagram, or TikTok, or wherever you’re the most active online.

This is a very low-stakes way for someone to casually keep in touch with you—but it’s not necessarily the most effective, measurable, or conversion-friendly. 

So, when you post on social, you’ll want to be conscious of how what you post has a direct effect on the actions your followers take. If you want to get REAL RESULTS, you’ll have to put some real effort into creating a content strategy that works. 

And, good news: that’s how we’re bringing Showit’s Website Health Series to a close. 

Want our advice on what makes the best content strategy, designed for conversion?

Head over to the final post in our 10-part Website Health Series to learn everything you need to know about creating a content strategy that keeps the business flowing, keeps your community engaged, and keeps making you money. Head to Part 10 for the final check-up to having the fittest website on the web.

This post is for all the creators out there who haven’t yet jumped on the blogging train—or creators who have fallen off the blogging train as of late—we’d love to know: how come?!

Is it because you feel like blogging is reserved for holiday cookie recipes?

Maybe you don’t know what to write about?

Perhaps you don’t think anyone would read your posts?

Whatever the reason, we’re here to change your opinion about blogging, in an effort to help you get more of your dream clients to your site—because, yeah, writing and consistently uploading blog posts is one of the most underrated content marketing tools of our time. 

Having a strong online presence is essential to reaching and engaging with the right people, this you already know from reading the first 7 blogs in our Website Health Series

Blogging is how you strengthen that presence, then bring it to life, and invite people into your content.

Whether you’re a business owner, freelancer, or simply an individual with a message to share, creating and consistently updating a blog for your website is not only one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience and establish your brand but also to help the right people find you organically.

First things first: The SEO benefit is unmatched

We’ll get to all of the reasons why blogging is THE BEST content marketing tool for your business in just a second—but first, we need to discuss how perfect the combination of blogging and search engine optimization is.

There is quite literally no better tool for improving your SEO than blogging, for so many reasons:

It gives you an opportunity to create the exact content that your community is searching for, helping you position your content (and your brand!) as the answer to their burning questions. 

It allows you to effortlessly integrate keywords into your content.

Every new blog you post counts as a piece of “fresh, relevant content” – which is something search engines love and prioritize when recommending websites to their users in search results.

#1 – Blogging helps you demonstrate your expertise

Blogging is the most convenient way to show your community how much you know about a given topic—and it’s also the most convenient way to provide them with useful information that helps them know you’re someone worth trusting.

And that’s why…

#2 – Blogging helps you establish credibility 

One of the best benefits of blogging is that it makes you more credible. 

It’s simple, really: you write a blog post about a given topic in your industry, showcasing your unique perspective, or method, or tips. Someone searches for that specific topic, or stumbles upon it through social media or Pinterest.

They read your blog, take in the information, and form an opinion about you that feels something like this:

“Wow, that was so helpful. They really know a lot about that subject. What a trustworthy expert; they must be so good at what they do.” 

Or—even better!—something like this:

“Those tips were great; I can’t wait to implement them. What a great source of information; I think I’ll come back to this creator next time I want to learn something. Oooh, or I’ll subscribe to their newsletter—I bet they post great content there, too. Or maybe I’ll just work with them one-on-one so they can do it FOR me, since they know so much about it!”

All that from just a blog post?! Are you in??

#3 – Blogging boosts your visibility & increases website traffic

With every blog you post, you give Google another page of your website to index, making you increasingly more discoverable every time you create a new piece of content.

By optimizing your blog posts for SEO—aka writing about content that you know people are searching for—you’re increasing your chances of ranking higher in search results, which brings more people to your website to browse your content. 

Then, when Google sees more people flocking to your website, they’ll notice that everyone’s loving it, and send even MORE people your way (because, as we learned in Part #3 of this series, Google loves nothing more than pleasing its users by giving them exactly what they want). 

Basically, blogging gives you an upper hand in Google’s popularity contest. 

#4 – Blogging is a ridiculously cost-effective marketing tool

Compared to other advertising efforts, blogging is ridiculously cheap—and drastically more effective.

Think about the last time you Googled something. Which link did you click?

We’re willing to bet it wasn’t the ad at the top of the SERP—it was likely one of the first few links in the organic search section because you can see right through the fact that the brand paid for their ad to be at the top of the page.

People trust PEOPLE, which is why they are significantly more likely to turn to a blog post for the answer to their question (written by a person who is actually, actively involved in the industry they’re hoping to learn more about) than they consult a brand that paid for the top ad spot.

Studies show that blogging generates 3X more leads and costs an estimated 62% less than traditional outbound marketing methods—making the decision to start blogging NOW a complete no-brainer.

(Side note: if you’re ready to get started, Showit is one of the best website builders for blogging, because we partner with WordPress to provide you an easy yet robust, optimized blogging platform to help you get your content out there!)

#5 – Provides long-term benefits

It’s easy to feel like no one’s out there reading your posts when you’re sitting at your desk writing them, but the reality is this:

People are searching for the exact content you’re writing. And people will CONTINUE to search for that content for YEARS to come. 

Take our blog post about blogging for SEO, for example. We posted that on Showit’s blog back in May of 2022, and it has consistently been one of our most popular posts ever since because people are regularly looking for information about how to blog to improve their SEO…

One blog post can bring in tons of business for you for a long, long time—but you’ll never reap the rewards if you don’t get started. 

All it takes is a little bit of keyword research, a couple of hours spent planning, writing, perfecting, and proofreading, and you could have yourself the most perfect, qualified lead of a dream client knocking at your virtual door faster than you can say “SEO.”

#6 – Gives you a platform to share your message

While your website copy will naturally do a great job explaining in detail who you are, what you do, who you serve, and how you can help them, it isn’t necessarily the best medium for providing a large volume of information.

Your website copy’s job is to convince someone to take your desired action—but what about when you want to simply share an element of educational value, entertainment, or context?

People love to consume content that answers their questions, and they love to work with people who seem like the go-to experts about a given topic, but in order to serve your community in that way—and help them understand that you do have lots of value to provide—you’ll need a medium to do that.

Because you can post endless blog posts to your site, with no limit on how many characters (cough, cough Instagram) you write, or how long your content can be (side eye, TikTok), blogging is the best way to share your message with your readers – and all the potential new readers who will find you from search results!

Since you’ve got blogging on the brain now—we wanted to answer the most common question we get about blogging…

Which website builder is best for blogging?

While the answer to this question is, of course, subjective—everyone has different needs when it comes to a blogging platform, depending on the specific type of content you create—we still think that WordPress is the absolute best option for content writers of all types.

(Have Qs about how blogging with WordPress works on Showit?! Read this post!) 

For more content marketing tips, visit the next blog post in our Website Health Series—we’re telling you everything we know about how not to waste your readers’ interest.

In the second-to-last blog post of our Website Health Series, we’re sharing with you 5 ways to continue the relationship with your readershttps://showit.com/website-tips/dont-waste-their-interest-5-ways-to-keep-visitors-engaged-after-they-browse-your-site/ after they scroll through your website. And trust us when we tell you: you won’t want to miss Part 9!