Choose the Best Website Platform for Your Virtual Assistant Business
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Ready to create a website for your virtual assistant business but no clue where to begin?
Been there, done that! There are lots of options to choose from, which is great! But on the flip side, it can feel overwhelming to decide on which website platform is best.
Hi there! Welcome to the Desire to Done podcast! I’m your host, Billie Gardner.
Over the years, I’ve tried many different website builders…I’ve coded my own site, used templates, tried shopping platforms, and finally happily settled with Divi on WordPress.
Thanks to all the options out there, building a beautiful website is easy and inexpensive. There’s really no excuse not to have a site in this day and age.
My goal is to help you find the right website platform for you and your business so that you can quit stressing and get designing! I’ll be breaking down the most popular website platforms, sharing the pros and cons, and explaining which is best for your needs.
Since we’re on the topic of designing, you also might want to check out my most recent episode on branding. I’ll link to it in the episode description.
Let’s first talk about WordPress.
WordPress is known as the mother of all website platforms.
Just to be clear, we’re talking about WordPress.org, NOT WordPress.com. They may sound like they’re similar, but they’re not.
With WordPress.org, you own your site, have a custom domain, and can customize your site with plugins. So when I reference WordPress, I’m talking about the self-hosted website platform WordPress.org.
The pros of using WordPress are that you can supercharge your site with plugins. Plugins allow you to add a large variety of features to your site, making it very customizable. For instance, if you want to add a bar to the top of your website announcing a new service, you can add a plugin to do this.
It’s also said to have a higher SEO ranking than other website builders. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and will help you to increase your website traffic. This basically means your site is more likely to show up higher in Google searches. You can also add SEO plugins like Yoast SEO to help you improve your SEO even more.
Another pro is that with WordPress YOU own your site. You aren’t relying on a website builder to stay in business. You own the site and can switch hosting providers as you like without having to redesign your site.
You can also customize the crap out of it. If you’re a creative person and you have a certain vision of what you want your site to look like, you’ll want to choose WordPress and a drag & drop editor like Divi, Beaver Builder, or Elementor. Another option is purchasing a WordPress template from Bluchic, which has some templates based on the Elementor theme. They really have some cute templates that are perfect for Virtual Assistants.
Overall the big plus is that your creativity is not inhibited with a WordPress website.
The cons of using WordPress are that you have to be good about updating your themes and plugins regularly. Doing so will keep your site secure and running smoothly. It’s not a big deal, it’s just a little maintenance that you have to do.
You also have to keep in mind that sometimes themes and plugins will clash and not work properly on your site (or cause it to “break”). This is fixable, but when you do any updates, check your site to make sure everything looks good before running off.
You might also run into tech issues that you have to fix yourself. Since you own your site, you’re responsible for fixing any tech issues. The good news is, normally, it can be fixed by contacting your hosting provider. Which is one reason why you need a kick-butt provider like SiteGround.
And it’s your responsibility to make your site secure. There are some best practices you need to follow, such as using a unique username and strong password, not sharing your login details with ANYONE, and adding a security plugin to block hackers.
Overall, the big downside to building a site on WordPress is that it’s not the best platform for non-techy people, and there is a learning curve.
If you’d like step-by-step instructions on how to purchase hosting, install WordPress, connect your domain, and update plugins, you’ll find it all inside the Introvert VA Club. It also has trainings on Divi and SEO! Go to introvertvaclub.com to sign up, and you’ll have access to all these trainings, a community, and tons of other resources.
If you know WordPress isn’t for you, congrats…you’ve narrowed down your choices a bit!
If you want something easy to set up and maintain, I recommend Squarespace, Wix, Strikingly, or Weebly. They are all basically the same – you choose a template and design your site. You don’t need to mess with hosting or updating your site, it’s done for you.
The pros of using a platform like Squarespace, Wix, Stringingly, or Weebly is that they’re easy to set up if you’re in a hurry. If you don’t have time to build a site and you need one like yesterday, these website builders will be the quickest way to get yours up and going.
They have beautiful, modern templates. You can simply add your photos, graphics, and website copy and have a site in about a day.
The cons are you don’t own your site. If something happens and one of these companies closes down, you’ll need to rebuild your site elsewhere. It’s likely not going to happen, but it’s a possibility.
And you are limited by what the platform offers. You can only do so much customizing, which can be very frustrating when you want something specific, and it’s not available. For me, that’s a really big downside.
Now that you know your options, what did you choose?
Still can’t decide? Sign up for some free trials and give them a whirl. You’ll likely learn right away which platform is the one for you.
For instance, Wix is easy to use, but I feel very limited by what I can do. I need to have a site that gives me the ability to change the look whenever I want. This is why I chose WordPress and Divi.
No matter which way you go, remember you can always change your mind. Choose the best platform for you and your needs now and run with it.
If you need help designing your site, I have a freebie for you! It’s a web design questionnaire and checklist! I’ll add a link to where you can find it in the episode description.
I’ll also add links to the website builders I mentioned today.
Thanks for listening! If you haven’t already, please follow or subscribe to be notified of future episodes. Talk to you soon! Bye!
