How to Set Up Your own Virtual Assistant Website

There are some definite requisites needed to create a great website for your virtual assistant or online service business that will make it look great and convert visitors into clients. Take the time to do it right.

Yes, you do need a website

It’s hard to believe that there was a time before websites existed, with all of their information and power at your fingertips. They are so ubiquitous that it’s hard to imagine functioning as a business without one. And yet some still try to do exactly that. 

Building your virtual assistant website doesn’t need to be a behemoth project with a hundred pages and sparkly blinky attention getters, but it does need to convey what your business is about and why someone should choose you over all the other options, and it needs to look clean and professional. 

Even if it’s just a super basic one page informational site, it can and will make the difference between being found and hired versus sitting in a dimly lit room, waiting for the phone to ring. So much information can be conveyed so simply — who you are, where you can be reached, what your hours are, why you’re the very best at what you do, your vibe or voice or tone — all on a basic but engaging website.

First, choose and purchase a domain name

You’ll need a domain name for your website. Prices vary depending on how common a name is, or whether or not someone already owns it. You might find that the name you want is already spoken for and they want $5,000 for it. It’s maybe best if you go into it with an open mind and don’t be too set on just one domain name choice. 

Check out our article on choosing a domain name for helpful tips on picking the perfect one. We recommend Namecheap for domain names, they have the best prices and domain security features. 

Invest in hosting 

After you’ve built your site, you need to find a place to host it. You are essentially renting space on a server somewhere that will keep your site connected to the internet 24/7. There’s thousands of different businesses touting their hosting services, and just like anything else in life, some are good and some not so much. 

A good hosting service will be speedy, well maintained and secure. Poor quality hosting will be reflected in your users’ experience, with slow (or no)  loading, frequent errors and service interruptions, and in the worst case scenario, weak or nonexistent security for your site’s and clients’ sensitive information. 

After trying a lot of different hosting services in our career, we recommend Siteground for their affordable pricing, security measures, and excellent customer service. They are responsive and will live chat you through any of your issues. 

Signing up is easy, and for most virtual assistant business websites the Start Up plan is just fine. If you think you will build and host sites for clients in the future, we recommend the Grow Big plan, as that allows you to host multiple websites. 

Install WordPress

Despite what you may have heard, WordPress is actually free! The confusion is caused by WordPress.com, which is actually a hosting company that sells hosted websites. The entry level websites they sell are heavily branded and give you zero flexibility.

You can’t install your own plugins until you are paying for the $25/mo tier, and can’t accept payments through your website until you’re on the $45/mo tier 🤯

WordPress is a free, open-source platform with a strong and engaged community. Every reputable host will allow you to install this free WordPress platform to your website, often with just one click. Siteground makes it especially easy. 

Choose a Theme

There are thousands of free themes that you can choose from once WordPress is installed on your site. You can easily choose and activate any one of these and start customizing. If you’re looking for a more unique theme, we recommend browsing the WordPress themes at Creative Market. They have hundreds of premium themes built by professional designers and developers that will give your business website a more unique look and feel. 

If you’re even slightly technically savvy, we highly recommend designing your own website with the Divi Builder. This powerful tool allows you to build any design you can dream up with flexibility and ease. There is a bit of a learning curve with Divi, but once you’ve learned to build sites with it, you’ll never turn back. In fact, Divi skills are highly in demand and you can market yourself as a Divi specialist. Check out our YouTube channel for our Divi mini-lessons.

Build Out Your Site

You’ll want to build the most important pages first, unless you choose a one page theme. A fairly standard setup is:

• Homepage
• About Page
• Services Page
• Contact Page

We have written extensively about what belongs on each of these pages.

Alternative Websites

While the process listed above will certainly be the most cost effective, there are many other ways to create beautiful business websites. While Wix and Squarespace are options, we review why they might not be best for your business. 

Virtualcopia — highly functional websites for virtual assistants and online service providers

At Virtualcopia we believe that every service based business needs and deserves a high quality website, and we strive to make that possible for every entrepreneur, at any stage of development. We want every new business owner in our collective to succeed, and a great site is absolutely essential to that end. 

We build in crucial functionality such as e-signing and in-site payment options for reasonable prices that are at or below the big web designers’. 

You also automatically become part of our business collective, where people just like you are learning and growing their businesses together. It’s a place to exchange ideas and support and encourage each other, with access to tools and templates that help get you up and running. We say it all the time — we believe in collaboration over competition, and truly want our Collective to succeed.