Before you hit the publish button on your Showit site, there are a few things to tick off your “to-do” list first. How to get your Showit Site Ready for Launch will guide you through the final steps that will make you feel confident your website (and you!) is ready to launch.

Wait, want to learn more? Check out our entire – How-to Use Showit Series below.

• 1. How to Create a Showit Subscription
• 2. How to Import Your Showit Template
• 3. How to Update Text in Showit
• 4. How to Import & Update your images in Showit
• 5. How to Update Images in Galleries & Canvas Views inside Showit
• 6a. How to Update Master Fonts in Showit – Site Styles Part 1
• 6b. How to Update Master Colours in Showit – Site Styles Part 2
• 7. How to Update Site Canvases in Showit
• 8a. How to add my Instagram Feed to a Showit Website – Links Part 1
• 8b. How to Link to Email Addresses in Showit – Links Part 2
• 9. How to Link to your Social Media Accounts in Showit – Links Part 3
• 10. How Blogging works with Showit
• 11. How to get your Website Ready for Launch – (this is the blog you’re reading)
• 12. Countdown to Launching your Showit Website
• BONUS – After your 14-day free Showit trial – use our affiliate link to get your first paid month for free!

For a successful launch, there are must-haves and other extras that give you and your website a professional look and feel. We’ve covered both of them in this post.

1. The Must-Haves

• Terms & Conditions + A Privacy Policy
• Learn more about Ts&Cs in this blog – Is your website breaking the law?
• A Domain Name

2. Optional Extras

• Custom Email Address

Step 1
How to get your Showit Website Ready for Launch – Must-Haves

Terms & Conditions + Privacy Policy

We’re using our Wanderlust Weddings template as an example for you to follow along with.

1. Navigate to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy page on your template
2. Highlight the placeholder text on the page.

Step 2
How to get your Showit Website Ready for Launch – Must-Haves

Terms & Conditions + Privacy Policy

Updating this Section

If you DO HAVE customized Terms & Conditions and a Privacy Policy already, insert it into the text placeholder on the page. (As shown above).

If you DON’T HAVE Terms & Conditions and a privacy policy, we use and highly recommend thecontractshop.com They specialise in contracts for creatives and make them easy to update.

Let us know when you use our link, and we’ll send you a BONUS thank-you gift. We’re affiliated with thecontractshop.com because we’ve tried, liked and trusted them (We know you’ll love them too!).

In all cases, it’s best to seek legal advice specific to your country and business.

Not even sure what Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies are? This blog will help.

Step 3
How to get your Showit Website Ready for Launch – Must-Haves

A Domain Name

What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is a name you want your website to appear under when people search or type in your web address.

Examples of Domain Names
• www.google.com
• thetemplateemporium.com

Insider Tip:

When searching for a domain name, you may find that most of the ‘.com’ names are gone. Don’t worry! There are over 400 other extensions you can use.

Get creative and register your domain with interesting addresses like
.photo (e.g. elegantweddings.photo) or
.art ( e.g.elegantpapercraft.art)

Some domain name registrars even help you narrow down suitable extensions using categories.

Securing Your Domain Name

How Do I Get a Domain Name?
You register a domain name at a domain name registrar.

Which registrar should I choose?
Showit recommends three for their dependability and ease of use.
Google Domains, GoDaddy and Hover.

Insider Tip:

With all domain name registrars, watch out for the upsell! You don’t need hosting (Showit give you hosting) or extra domain names such as .org and .net (unless YOU want them). It’s like the ‘Do you want fries with that’ of the internet.

Want to know more about Domains? Check out this blog Why do I need a Domain name? (and what do I do with it?)

Step 4
How to get your Showit Website Ready for Launch – Optional Extras

Custom Email Address

Why would I need a custom email address?
If you want to make your business and website, look more professional and feel trustworthy, then an email address that matches your domain name will help!

E.g. Sarah registered her domain name as sarahspapercraft.com.
Now Sarah owns this domain she can opt to register an email address
that reflects her domain name.
e.g. hello@sarahspapercraft.com or info@sarahspapercraft.com

What’s the cost?
Some domain name registrars offer free email addresses when you purchase the domain name through them, or the ability to buy one through them. They can also set up a custom email address for you.

Other places to purchase custom email addresses outside of your domain registrar are Google, Microsoft or Zoho mail, and vary in price from $1 to $25+ per month.

Tell me more!
With external email address suppliers, you need to verify that you own the domain name. This process is often automatic, and all you have to do is sign in to your domain registrar through them.

Showit has a page dedicated to Custom email addresses and can help
configure some options. Visit here for more information.

Insider Tip

It’ll be much easier if you can get your domain name registrar like Google or GoDaddy to also set you up with a custom email address. Most will offer a free setup service.

Remember to pass your new custom email address onto the Showit team so they can point your contact forms to this new address.

Custom Email Address – Helpful Register Links

Most providers have their own excellent step-by-step guides and live help. Showit will also help configure some custom email providers to your account.

Google Workspace (previously known as G-Suite)
If you registered your domain name with Google, this will be the easiest setup.

Microsoft Office 365
Make sure the plan has Business Email in the description. If you want access to Word, Powerpoint, Excel etc. this could be a good option for you.

Godaddy now uses a version of Office 365 for its email platform. If you registered a domain name with them, this would be the easiest option.

Zoho
This is the cheapest option but may not be as feature-rich or compatible as Google or Microsoft offerings.

Insider Tip

Some Google or Microsoft email plans offer you Google Workspace or Microsoft Office programs included in the monthly fee. This could save you money if you were considering buying them separately for your business.

You Did it!

You know all the must-haves and optional extras required before you launch your site.

After your 14-day free Showit trial – get an additional paid month for free!

Ready to start creating your website with Showit? Hit the button below and get your first subscription month for free.

Full disclosure, this is our affiliate link. So if you join Showit, you’ll be supporting us which helps us produce more content like this, at no additional cost to you.

Where to now?

The time is nearly here – Launch time! The final thing you have to do is link your domain name to your website. We’ll show you how next week in Countdown to Launching your Showit Website.

Like this Blog Post?

PIN IT FOR LATER. And for more helpful tips follow us on PINTEREST.