Whether you’ve already purchased a website template or are still shopping (psst. check out our especially beautiful Showit website templates here), there are a few things we recommend doing before beginning to customize your template.

While these steps aren’t necessary, it can make the rest of the process go a lot more smoothly!

1. Outline your Website Content

A website outline allows you to plan out the overall structure of your website before diving into the details.

Start by deciding what pages will make up your site, and what they will be named in your navigation. Then, outline the sections of each page, and come up with a high-level summary of what type of content will go in each.

2. Write your Website Copy

This is where a lot of people get tripped up! It can feel really overwhelming to try to design your new website and write the copy at the same time.

That’s why we strongly suggest writing your website copy in a separate document, not inside your website template. 

Use the outline you created in Step 1 as a guide, and fill in your content for each section. Refer to the template to determine how much copy you need.

And don’t feel like you have to write your entire website before you start designing. It may be helpful to draft copy for one page at a time, moving back & forth between writing and designing.

3. Create a Moodboard

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated trying to decide on colors or fonts for your brand, you’re not alone! Luckily, there’s an easy solution. Creating a moodboard will give you a guiding light to follow as you dive into details like color, fonts, graphics, and photos.

If you don’t already have a moodboard, start by creating a Pinterest board. Pin photos and graphics that represent the overall vibe you want to come through in the brand and website. 

Then, narrow to 5-10 images that best represent the look you envision for your brand and website. Use this board to inform the colors and photography you use on your website.

4. Gather Photos

If you already have photography that represents your brand, gather all the images you may want to use on your site into one folder. 

If you don’t already have brand images, Unsplash and Pexels are great sources for free photos. Refer to your brand board to choose the style and color of images that will match your site.

5. Resize and Rename Photos

High-resolution photos will slow your site down, which also negatively affects how you’re ranked on search engines. To keep your site fast and findable, you’ll want to resize all your images prior to uploading them into the Showit Media Library.

Kraken.io is a free tool that will allow you to resize images in batches. 

You may also want to rename your images using keywords relevant to your site in order to optimize it for SEO.

Once you wrap up these steps, it’s time to start customizing your template!

Next Steps

Still template shopping?

Browse our selection of Showit website templates designed for the modern creative.

Ready to dive in?

Check out this article: Getting Started with Showit: How to Customize your New Website Template