You found Showit template you love. The demo is stunning—the fonts, the layout, the way it all feels. You can already picture your images in there. So you buy it, you open the share key, and you’re really, really excited.
Then months pass. You’re still tweaking. The sections aren’t quite doing what you imagined. You’ve rewritten your homepage copy four times because nothing in the template told you what to actually put there. And when you finally launch, the enquiries don’t really change.
After ten years designing websites and working on SEO for photographers, I know this story well. And I know exactly what separates a template that works from one that just looks the part.
This post is going to give you the deets on what to look out for—the things that actually matter when you’re choosing a Showit* template for your wedding photography business—so that by the time you’re done reading, you can make a confident decision instead of just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
I bought a beautiful Showit template. But did it book me any clients?
Before I owned a brand and website studio, I was a photographer. And I did exactly what you might be doing right now: I found a template I loved the look of, bought it, and felt like everything was finally going to fall into place.
It was absolutely beautiful. Clean, elegant, the kind of design that makes you feel like a proper business.
But the experience of using it was a different story. Every time I tried to customise it, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was changing or whether I was about to break something. The elements weren’t labelled clearly. There were no tutorials. I muddled through on my own, and what should have taken days took months!
And even when I did launch it, nothing shifted. Because here’s what nobody told me at the time: the design had no SEO structure built in. No guidance on heading hierarchy, no help with the kind of page structure that helps Google understand what your site is about and who it’s for. There was no copy direction either—no explanation of *why* each section existed or what a visitor needed to feel at each stage of the page before they’d be ready to hit enquire.
And considering I knew absolutely nothing about any of this at the time, my website flopped.
It was beautiful, but not built to sell.
{If any of this sounds familiar, my free guide covers the five website mistakes that are most likely costing you bookings—and exactly where to start fixing them.}
In reality, that “affordable” template ended up costing me more than a premium one would have because I got nothing back from it. A template that’s a few hundred dollars with zero return is more expensive than a template that’s a thousand dollars but actually works to consistently book the right clients. One is a cost, the other is an investment.
That experience is a big part of why I built EverBooked the way I did. And it’s also why I think it’s worth talking honestly about what you should actually be looking for.
What makes a Showit template worth buying
When you’re shopping for a template, it’s easy to get drawn in by the aesthetics—and that’s fine, because design matters. And as a photographer, you’re naturally attracted to visuals! But design alone won’t book you clients, and that’s the whole purpose of your website.
Here’s what to look for before you commit:
A layout that guides visitors towards booking
Your website isn’t just a pretty portfolio. Its job is to take someone who’s just landed on your site and walk them step by step toward getting in touch. And when they reach that stage, they should be confident to book.
That means every page needs a clear hierarchy: who you are, what you offer, who it’s for, why you’re the right choice, and the one thing they need to do next.
If those elements are missing, buried, or in the wrong order, your visitor won’t know what to do next and they’ll leave without enquiring—and find a photographer whose site makes the decision easy {because booking high-value clients is more about making the process clear and easy than it is for fancy design}.
When you’re previewing a template, ask yourself: does this have a direction? Can I follow the flow of it from page to page, section to section? A great template makes the answer obvious.
The single most important part about a website? It should be idiot-proof to navigate.
SEO structure {and bonus points for education}
SEO is just the term for what makes your website show up on Google when someone searches for a wedding photographer in your area. {If you want to go deeper on this, I’ve written a simple SEO guide for photographers that breaks it all down without the jargon.}
And it doesn’t happen by accident. It depends on the underlying structure of your site—things like how your headings are organised, how your pages are named, and whether the technical foundations are clean enough for Google to make sense of them.
A template with good SEO structure built in gives you a head start. And a template with SEO structure and education? That’s gold and it’s your fastest route to increased bookings.
One without it means you’re launching a beautiful site that goes nowhere. And that’s a huge waste! SEO is what lets you show up when potential clients are actively searching for a photographer {ready to book!} even when you’re nowhere near your phone.
That means enquiries coming in while you’re in your editing cave, sleeping, or spending time with your family—without you having to be permanently switched on. *cough* Instagram *cough*
When you’re looking at templates, please, please check whether SEO is mentioned as part of what’s included. Not as an afterthought, but as something genuinely considered in the build.
Copy guidance, not placeholder text
A good template doesn’t just show you where to put words, it helps you understand what those words need to do.
e.g:
→ Why is this section here?
→What does a visitor need to feel at this point in the page?
→How can we move a visitor forward here?
When a template comes with copywriting guidance—a planner, prompts, or example text that explains the intent behind each section—you’re not starting from scratch. You’re filling in something that already has a solid foundation.
That difference is huge, especially if writing about your own business doesn’t come naturally.
Customisation that doesn’t require a developer {or a full weekend of frustration}
Showit is a drag-and-drop builder, which means customisation should feel relatively intuitive. But the experience varies a lot between templates depending on how they’ve been built.
Some are clean and logical under the hood; others are a mess of unnamed elements and overlapping layers that make every small change feel like defusing a bomb!
What to look for: clearly named elements so you always know what you’re changing, an experienced designer so you know the backend is going to be messy and overlapping, and video tutorials that walk you through what to do step by step.
A launch roadmap that tells you exactly what to do and in what order makes an huge difference too—it can take your launch from months of second-guessing to actually live within days.
Timeless design, not trendy
Design trends move fast. What feels current today can start to look dated within a couple of years, and if a template has been built around a very specific trend, it’s not usually easy to refresh without starting over.
Look for something with a clear, elevated aesthetic that isn’t trying too hard to be trendy. Clean design rooted in good principles tends to age well. And that matters because you want a website that still feels right in three years, not one you’re already thinking about replacing.
Support that doesn’t stop when you buy
This is the one most photographers don’t think to check until they need it. What actually happens after you buy? Is there a:
- Help resource?
- Email support? {not just from Showit}
- Roadmap?
- Way to get answers and a fix if something isn’t working?
A lot of templates come with a share key file and not much else. And that’s exactly why so many photographers end up with an unfinished site sitting in their Showit app. Because when you hit a wall and there’s nobody to help, it’s easier to put it down than push through.
Check what support is actually included before you buy. It’s essential.
The thing most photographers miss when they’re website template shopping
Here’s the honest truth: when most photographers are choosing a template, they’re usually only looking at the design. They’re imagining their photos in it, thinking about whether the vibe feels right, checking if it’s their aesthetic.
And all of that matters—your website needs to feel like you.
But {you’ve probably guessed if you’ve read any of this post so far} a template is not just a visual. It’s the foundation of how you communicate your value online. And consistently booking the right clients—the ones who inquire already trusting you, who don’t push back on your prices {I wrote a post about how to raise your prices as a photographer that goes into this in more detail}, who are a genuine joy to work with—that comes from how clearly your value is communicated.
Your website communicates your value before you ever speak to a potential client—and what a visitor understands, feels, and decides in the minutes they spend on your site determines whether they enquire or move on to the next photographer they find.
A beautiful template with weak structure, no copy guidance, and no SEO foundations isn’t helping you do that. It’s just giving you something nice to look at.
And a template that doesn’t work isn’t a bargain at any price—it’s a wasted investment.
Your website template is a long-term tool. Done right, it can support consistent inquiries, attract the clients you actually want, and grow with your business for years.
That’s only possible if you choose it based on what it *does*, not just how it looks—and from someone who has genuinely built it with strategy in mind, not just aesthetics.
The best website templates for photographers
Every EverBooked signature template is built around one idea: a website should be beautiful, engaging and strategic to actually work for you and increase your bottom line. Because if your website doesn’t increase your income, what’s the point?
That’s why alongside the template, every purchase includes the Accelerated Launch Roadmap—a complete step-by-step system that takes you from the moment you open your files to the moment you go live, in just five days—without second-guessing or procrastinating {where are my fellow procrastination queens at?!}
Inside the roadmap, you’ll find everything you need to get your site live fast, and set up to actually increase the right bookings:
- Showit Video Tutorials: Short and focused Showit walkthroughs each covering one specific topic, with timestamps so you can find exactly what you need without sitting through hours of video
- Copywriting Planner + Guide: Tells you what to write in each section of your site and why it’s there, so your words work to convert your audience into clients
- Trained Copy Chat Bot: Built specifically to help you write your website copy {and works with the copywriting planners}, so you’re never staring at a blank page
- SEO Planner + Education: Simple, clear guidance so your site is set up to be found on Google from the moment you launch {without overwhelm—SEO isn’t just for the tech bros!}
- Sales Strategy Guide: Walks you through structuring your site to convert visitors into enquiries, not just impress them {inc. what to include in your navigation, what pages you need, etc}
- Image Prep Guide: Everything you need to get your photos optimised and ready before you start building
- Launch Checklist: A clear list of everything that needs to be done before you go live, so nothing gets missed
- Blog Toolkit: A solid foundation for when you’re ready to start creating content and driving more organic traffic to your site
Each template also comes with 28 pages to mix and match as your business grows—and every element inside is clearly named, so you always know exactly what you’re changing {with no awkward overlaps!}
There are currently three collections to choose from, each with its own distinct vibe:
Browse the full Showit template collection →
When you find a template that ticks all of those and also feels like you {or has the potential to when you’ve added your own images and branding}, that’s the one. Because your website should be working for you long after you’ve launched it: attracting the right enquiries, communicating your value clearly, increasing your pricing, and helping you build the kind of photography business you actually want.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. I only ever recommend tools I genuinely use and love.
