The Biggest Mistakes Photographers Make When Customizing a Showit Template

Written by Kelsie Pinkerton, a former wedding photographer of 20+ years now designing Showit websites built to help creatives get found, connect, and book right fit clients with ease.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

With so many beautiful template options available, a lot of photographers assume the hardest part is choosing the right template for their business. This part is definitely important.

But in reality?

The way you customize your template is what decides whether your site feels cohesive, guides people toward inquiry, and actually supports your business goals.

If you’re still on the hunt for the right template for your brand, this will help you avoid a lot of these mistakes upfront: How to Tell if a Showit Template Will Actually Help You Get Found (Before You Buy).

Mistake 1: Changing the Structure Instead of Refining It

This is the most common one.

You open your template and start:

• Moving sections around
• Deleting blocks
• Rearranging layouts
• Changing the flow before understanding why it was built that way

The result? A site that looks customized but quietly loses its strategic flow.

Most strong templates are built with conversion strategy in mind – a specific content order, intentional pacing, and conversion points placed where they naturally make sense.

Instead of jumping in and immediately changing everything, start by understanding the structure. Then refine the content, set your site wide design settings, swap images, adjust spacing, and make it feel like your brand.

If your goal is to make your site feel custom without breaking the structure, this walks you through it: How to Make a Showit Website Template Look Custom (Without Breaking the Design).

Mistake 2: Making It “Prettier” Instead of Clearer

This one is subtle.

You tweak the fonts, colors, spacing, and layouts trying to make the site feel more elevated or aligned with your brand.

But in the process, you might accidentally:

• Reduce readability
• Disrupt the hierarchy
• Make the page harder to skim
• Distract from the actual message

And that impacts how long people stay, how quickly they understand what you do, and whether they take the next step.

In fact, people decide how they feel about your website in a fraction of a second — often in as little as 0.05 seconds. And if they don’t instantly feel they’ve landed in the right place, they may never see the rest of your beautiful site.

If your site isn’t booking the way you expected, this guide can help you troubleshoot: Homepage Blueprint that Books.

Clarity will always outperform aesthetics when it comes to conversion.

Mistake 3: Removing Sections Without Replacing Their Purpose

You might not love every section in your template.

That’s totally fair. Templates are often designed to give you versatility and options, so you’ll likely find pages and sections you’d rather not use.

But every section is usually doing something — even if it’s subtle.

Things like:

• Building trust
• Answering objections
• Guiding the reader to the next step
• Reinforcing your positioning
• Helping someone feel ready to inquire or buy

When you remove a section, ask: What job was this doing?

Then either keep it and adjust it, or replace it with something that serves the same purpose.

Otherwise, if you chip away at the thoughtful, baked-in strategy, your site can start to feel incomplete — even if you can’t quite pinpoint why.

Mistake 4: Ignoring SEO Structure While Customizing

This is a big one, especially in Showit.

When you customize, it’s easy to:

• Create multiple H1s
• Remove heading hierarchy
• Replace structured text with design elements
• Forget about page titles entirely
• Upload non-optimized images with vague file names

Remember: your H1 is your main page headline, your page title in the SEO panel is what can show in Google, and your structure helps both readers and search engines understand your site.

If you’re not sure what “SEO-friendly” actually means in practice, start here: What “SEO-Friendly” Really Means in a Showit Template (and What You Should Look For).

And if you want a more step-by-step breakdown of SEO setup in Showit, this is a helpful read: How to Set Up Your Showit Website So It Actually Shows Up on Google.

A beautiful site that no one can find is a major missed opportunity for your business.

Mistake 5: Not Finishing the Site

We have all done it. Abandoned that super important project that we know would make a difference if we could just get out from under the crushing overwhelm and finish the dang thing.

You start customizing. You tweak. You refine.

You get stuck. And then it just… sits.

Un-shared and unavailable to your dream clients.

Missing:

• Final copy
• Images
• Links
• Mobile adjustments
• SEO settings
• Clear calls-to-action

I want to encourage you right now.

Finished is better than perfect.

Truly. A live, slightly imperfect site will always outperform an unpublished, half-finished perfect one.

I’m not encouraging you to rush through the important pieces. I am encouraging you to be realistic about when the site is strong enough to launch, learn, and improve from there.

Mistake 6: Trying to Make It Look Like Someone Else’s Brand

Again…we’ve all been there. With every gallery, page, or design element you see and love.

Suddenly you’re changing layouts, swapping fonts, reworking the whole feel, and getting totally distracted trying to force your template into someone else’s direction.

But your business, your work, and your audience are different.

Templates work best when they’re aligned with your brand from the start, then customized within that direction.

And, to say it again – done is better than perfect. I promise.

If you’re still choosing a template and trying to figure out what will actually fit your business, this post may help: How to Choose the Right Showit Template for Photographers (Without Overthinking It).

Mistake 7: Skipping the Strategy Piece Entirely

This is the underlying issue behind most of these mistakes.

If you’re only thinking about how things look — and not what they’re communicating, how they guide someone, or what the next step is — the site will not be as helpful in growing your business. Even if it’s beautiful.

Your website needs to answer real buyer questions:

• Am I in the right place?
• Do I trust this person?
• Do they understand what I need?
• What should I do next?

If you want a clearer picture of what your website actually needs to convert, this is a great place to start: What Every Photographer Website Needs to Actually Book Clients (And What Most Templates Miss).

The Pinkerton House Perspective

Templates aren’t the problem.

Customization isn’t the problem.

Lack of clarity and strategy is the problem.

The best websites don’t feel complicated. They feel intentional.

They guide you. They make sense. They quietly move you toward trust.

That’s what a good template is designed to do.

And that’s what thoughtful customization protects.

If you want to start with a template that already has the structure, flow, and SEO foundations built in, you can explore the Showit Website Template Shop.

And if you’d rather skip the second-guessing and have your template customized for you, Website in a Day was created for exactly that.

FAQs About Customizing a Showit Template

Can I completely change a Showit template?

You can, but the more you change, the more you risk losing the original structure and strategy that made the template effective in the first place. Most of the time, it’s better to customize thoughtfully rather than rebuild from the ground up.

How much should I customize a template?

Start with copy, imagery, colors, fonts, and brand details first (they can go a long way toward making the site feel like yours). Then, if needed, approach structural changes with caution and intentionality. If you want more guidance, read How to Make a Showit Website Template Look Custom (Without Breaking the Design).

Why does my site feel “off” even though it looks good?

It’s usually a structure or clarity issue, not an aesthetics issue. Your site might be pretty, but if the message, flow, or next step isn’t clear, visitors can drop off. This post goes deeper into that problem: Why Your Photography Website Isn’t Booking Clients (Even Though It’s Pretty).

Can I still rank on Google if I customize a template?

Yes, as long as you keep your template’s clear headings, page titles, image optimization, internal links, and overall structure in tact. Customizing a template doesn’t hurt SEO by itself — careless customization can.

What should I avoid changing in a Showit template?

Be careful with major structure changes, heading settings, mobile layouts, key conversion sections, and anything that affects how readers move through the page. Before deleting or moving a section, ask what job it was doing and make sure you have a plan to replace it.

What if I don’t want to customize it myself?

That’s where Website in a Day can help — using a strong template foundation but customizing it for your brand, offers, and content so you’re not working through every decision alone.

A Thoughtful Next Step

If you’re in the middle of customizing your site, take a step back and look at it as a whole.

Ask:

• Does this flow make sense?
• Is it clear what I do and who it’s for?
• Is there a natural next step on each page?
• Have I protected the structure instead of accidentally working against it?

And if you’d rather not make all of those decisions on your own, starting with a strategic template — or having it customized for you — can make the entire process feel a lot simpler.

Because the goal isn’t just a beautiful site. It’s one that actually helps you reach your business goals.