Your website is either bringing in clients… or it’s just sitting there collecting dust.
If you’re a dietitian or nutritionist who’s been relying on Instagram posts, DMs, and a decade-old Squarespace website to make sales… it’s time to shift. Not just because “everyone needs a website,” but because your expertise deserves a legit online home. One that actually fills your calendar.
And no, you don’t need to jump into a 5-figure custom design right away. You just need a polished, professional, growth-ready site that does more than look pretty.
So, let’s look at the options:
Showit Website Templates: Creative Flexibility Without the Code
Showit templates, such as the Karina Template, are crafted for dietitians, health coaches, and nutritionists, yet are highly customizable for any industry. They are described as clean, fun, and fresh, aiming to leave a lasting impression.
- Unique Features:
- Comprehensive Pages: These templates typically include 10+ customizable pages, such as a main blog, blog post, coming soon, 404, thank you, legal, homepage, about, services, sales page, and contact pages. A sales page is specifically included to promote courses, memberships, or high-ticket offers.
- Ease of Use: Showit is lauded for being user-friendly and fully customizable without any coding. It operates as a drag-and-drop builder, making edits, building sections, and rearranging content incredibly easy. Many users praise its intuitiveness and how much easier it is than other site builders.
- Resources and Support: Purchases often include a “Start to Showit” online course with over 30 video tutorials, a website workbook, a pre-launch checklist, and an SEO guide to help you rank higher on Google. One free month with Showit may also be provided.
- Design & SEO: Templates are professionally and strategically designed and SEO optimized for ranking on Google. While SEO success depends on various factors, the course and guide provide essential knowledge.
- Mobile Responsiveness: They feature responsive design for mobile and tablets.
- Platform Compatibility: Showit templates are exclusively compatible with Showit and integrate with WordPress for blogging. They are not compatible with Squarespace, Wix, or other platforms.
- Cost & Additional Needs: The Karina template can be purchased for a one-time payment of $498 or two monthly payments of $275. Beyond the template, you’ll need a paid Showit subscription and a private domain name. Additional features like newsletters, appointment schedulers, or online shops would incur extra costs, potentially requiring third-party systems like Shopify Starter or ThriveCart for e-commerce.
- Speed of Launch: With pages already designed, you primarily swap out content, colors, and images, allowing for a launch within weeks. Some users have launched in as little as one week.
Squarespace Website Templates: Professional & Polished Foundations
Squarespace templates, such as my “Well-Fed Website” or those from Well Sites, are built for dietitians by designers who understand their specific needs. They aim to provide a polished, professional, and strategic online presence to help dietitians book clients and grow their business.
- Unique Features:
- Targeted Design: These templates are strategically designed to convert visitors into clients and help you make an impact. They emphasize building trust and showcasing expertise.
- Core Pages: “The Well-Fed Website” includes five essential pages: Home, About, Services, Blog, and Contact. Well Sites offers multiple templates (e.g., Awaken, Energize, Renew) with varied layouts and also a one-page “Sage Mini” option.
- No Coding: A key benefit is that no coding or tech headaches are involved, making customization straightforward. You can easily change fonts, colors, and layouts with a few clicks.
- SEO & Mobile: Templates are fully mobile-responsive and built with SEO-friendly structure and layout best practices. While SEO success depends on your content, additional training may be available.
- Copy Strategy: Well Sites templates are built with copy strategy needed to sell your services, designed by a professional copywriter to convert visitors into paying clients.
- Platform Compatibility: These templates are built exclusively on Squarespace 7.1. They are installed as a brand-new website in your Squarespace account and cannot be added to an existing Squarespace site. If you have an existing site, content won’t automatically transfer, and you’ll need a separate Squarespace subscription for the new template.
- Cost & Additional Needs: “The Well-Fed Website” offers a “Template Only” option for $99 or “Template + Trainings” for $299. Well Sites templates are generally $497 (with some mini-templates at $197).
- Beyond the template purchase, you’ll need a domain name and a Squarespace plan (Business Plan or higher often recommended for full features). You may also need a free Canva account for graphics, and a website privacy policy, terms & conditions, and disclaimer.
- Support options vary, from video tutorials and resources to optional Slack support for an additional monthly fee.
- Speed of Launch: Many templates promise a launch in a weekend with guided training. Well Sites suggests launching in a matter of days.
WordPress Templates: Power and Customization
WordPress templates, such as the “Honeycrisp” theme, are premium themes specifically developed for self-hosted WordPress.org websites for registered dietitians and nutritionists.
- Unique Features:
- Extensive Pre-Built Pages: Honeycrisp features 17 pre-built, 100% customizable pages, including multiple homepages, services pages, contact options, a sales page, insurance FAQ, lead magnet, thank you pages, and legal pages.
- Niche-Specific Elements: It offers a Recipe Custom Post Type with fully formatted and styled recipe archives and templates, which is highly beneficial for dietitians. It also includes a blog archive and pre-built sidebar.
- Block Library: A Block Cloud Library with 70+ pre-styled Gutenberg blocks allows for easy customization and building new pages from scratch.
- Branding Tools: The theme includes 13 pre-made Canva logo templates and a favicon template to help with branding. It also offers helpful website copy templates for core pages.
- SEO & Mobile: All pages are fully mobile optimized and built following basic SEO principles, with additional guidance in the theme documentation.
- Platform Compatibility: This theme is designed for self-hosted WordPress.org websites and requires the free Kadence Theme, Kadence Blocks plugin, and Starter Templates for Kadence plugin. It is not recommended for WordPress.com websites due to potential formatting issues.
- Cost & Additional Needs: The Honeycrisp theme costs $249. You’ll need hosting and a domain name purchased from your preferred host/registrar, and a free WordPress.org installation.
- Installation & Support: You purchase the theme, download files, and then follow in-depth tutorials to install and customize it. Technical support is provided for 12 months. Basic or Premium Theme Installation packages are optional add-ons, and hourly support is available.
- Installation Process: It’s highly recommended to install this theme on a fresh WordPress install to avoid conflicts with existing website elements. You can customize it on a temporary domain before connecting your actual domain.
- Speed of Launch: While not guaranteed to be “lightning fast” for everyone, the designer states it comes together “pretty darn quick” due to much of the difficult work already being done.
What Dietitians Need to Consider When Choosing a Website Template and Platform:
Choosing the right template and platform is crucial for your business’s success and your peace of mind.
- Your Technical Comfort Level: Do you prefer a drag-and-drop interface with no coding (like Showit or Squarespace)? Or are you comfortable with a more robust system like WordPress, which, while offering extensive tutorials, might have a steeper learning curve for some?
- Budget: Consider not just the template purchase price, but also the ongoing costs of the platform subscription (Showit, Squarespace), domain name, hosting (for WordPress), and any additional features like online shops, scheduling tools, or advanced SEO training.
- Desired Customization and Control: All these templates offer significant customization. Think about how much you want to tweak layouts, fonts, and colors versus just swapping out content.
- Specific Business Needs:
- Blogging: All platforms support blogging.
- Sales Pages: Showit templates specifically include sales pages. WordPress templates also feature sales pages. Squarespace templates may be adjusted for this.
- Online Shop/E-commerce: Showit allows for third-party integrations, but if your business is primarily e-commerce, a dedicated e-commerce builder might be better. WordPress themes can also integrate.
- Recipes: The Honeycrisp WordPress theme has a dedicated recipe post type, which is excellent for dietitians.
- SEO Strategy: A strong online presence requires being found. Ensure the template and platform provide built-in SEO tools, guidance, or a good foundation for optimization. Remember that SEO success heavily relies on the quality of your content and consistent effort.
- Time Commitment: How quickly do you need to launch? Some templates promise a “weekend launch”, while others suggest “weeks” or “lightning fast”. Even with templates, you’ll need time to add your content, images, and make tweaks.
- Support and Resources: Evaluate the tutorials, courses, documentation, and customer support offered. This can range from video lessons and workbooks to live chat, email, or community support groups.
- Existing Website: If you already have a website, particularly on Squarespace or WordPress, understand if the new template requires a fresh installation (Squarespace templates generally do, meaning content won’t transfer automatically) or if it can be applied to your existing site.
The Downsides of DIYing vs. Hiring a Professional:
For many dietitians, using a template is a strategic “stepping stone” until they’re ready for a custom website. It offers significant advantages over starting from scratch or not having a website at all.
Benefits of the DIY (Template) Approach:
- Cost-Effective: Templates are a more affordable alternative to custom website design, which often comes with a “hefty price tag”.
- Faster Launch: Templates drastically reduce the time to launch your website, moving you from months of development to weeks or even days. This means you can start attracting and booking clients sooner.
- Eliminates Overwhelm and Guesswork: With a pre-designed structure and pages, much of the difficult work is already done for you. You don’t have to figure out layout or design best practices from scratch.
- Empowerment and Control: Templates allow you to easily edit and expand your site yourself, without needing to hire a designer for every small update. You retain full control over your content and design choices.
- No Coding Required: For those without coding skills, these templates provide a powerful, professional website solution without any need for technical expertise.
Potential Downsides of DIYing:
- Time Investment: While faster than building from scratch, DIY still requires your time and dedication to add your specific content, images, and brand elements.
- Learning Curve: Any new software has a learning curve. Although comprehensive tutorials are provided, you’ll still need to dedicate time to learning the platform’s features.
- Limited Customization (Compared to Full Custom): While templates offer extensive customization, a truly custom-designed website offers unlimited design possibilities tailored exactly to your unique brand and complex functionalities not easily achievable with templates.
- SEO Nuances: While templates offer SEO-friendly structures and guidance, deep SEO strategy and implementation might require specialized expertise that goes beyond what a template course can provide. A professional can offer ongoing optimization tailored to your specific market.
- Content Creation: You are responsible for providing all your own website copy and images. If you struggle with persuasive writing or photography, you might still need to invest in these services separately.
- Ongoing Platform Costs: Remember that beyond the one-time template purchase, there are recurring monthly or annual costs for the website platform and domain name.
- Digital Product Limitations: Website templates are typically non-refundable due to their immediate digital delivery. Ensure you are committed to the platform before purchasing.
At the end of the day, the best template is the one that helps you stop leaking leads and start booking clients.
Templates aren’t a “lesser” option — they’re a smart stepping stone. But not all templates are created equal. You want one that’s strategic, SEO-friendly, and actually built for businesses like yours.
So whether you’re team Showit, Squarespace, or WordPress, here’s the bottom line:
✔️ You need a site that positions you as the expert you are.
✔️ You need to show up in search (not just stories).
✔️ You need to make it ridiculously easy for the right clients to say “YES.”
The sooner your website reflects where your business is going (not where it started), the faster you’ll get there.
