After writing about how to become a virtual administrative assistant, I’ve had a few people ask me how to create a virtual assistant website. It’s an excellent question because it’s imperative that you have your own website if you want to be successful as a virtual assistant.

The “30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success” course will help you to set the foundation for your virtual assistant business but having a professional looking website where you can send potential clients could possible be the difference between a flourishing and profitable virtual assistant business or one that doesn’t get off the ground.

I would love to see you succeed in your virtual assistant business (maybe I’ll even need to hire you one day!) so I’ve written this tutorial on how to create a virtual assistant website that’s eye-catching and looks professional.

And while I don’t recommend using a free service to create your virtual assistant website, I also know that money doesn’t grow on trees, so I’ve made sure this tutorial allows you to create your site as budget-friendly as possible without sacrificing on quality and style.

You might’ve heard stories of websites costing upwards of 10k – if so, don’t worry! Follow my tutorial and your virtual assistant website will cost a FRACTION of that!

How to Create a Virtual Assistant Website (Without Spending Thousands of Dollars!)

I’m going to recommend that you set up all the technical stuff through Bluehost, because they make it incredibly easy, they’re budget-friendly and their customer service is second to none.

I’ve written the guide as a step-by-step tutorial that you’ll follow with Bluehost open in another window, so click here to go to Bluehost (the link will open in a new window) and follow along below.

1. Get Hosting

Now you’ve decided on a domain name, you’ll need somewhere to host your website. Basically your host is just a big computer that holds all of the thousands of files and pages that make up your website.

It’s kinda technical and you honestly don’t need to know much about hosting (Bluehost customer service will handle pretty much any issues that might come up.)

Now, onto the fun stuff! Here’s how you buy hosting and your domain name:

If you haven’t already done so, click here to go to Bluehost.com

You’ll see there are 3 different packages but you can just start with the basic plan for now – that’s all you need in the beginning.

You’ll see that the price per month is $3.95. You’ll need to pay upfront for 36 months to get this price, and I recommend you do so for the following reasons:

You’re taking advantage of the lowest price, and it’s locked in for 36 months
Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide you don’t want to have a website after all, you can get your money back
You’re committing to yourself that you really want to start a business and make money doing it

2. Register a Domain Name

Now you’ll need a domain name. Your domain name is the web address that you’ll be sending people to, so mine is: TheMillionDollarMama.com. The good news is, you get a free domain name with your Bluehost account!

As a virtual assistant, you could easily go with your own name if you’d like, or you can choose a business name – it’s totally up to you. The one thing I would recommend is trying to go with a DOT COM domain and to avoid using dashes or numbers in your domain name, to make it easier for people to remember.

Now you’ll need to enter your billing information.

You’ll also see that there are some extra services that you can choose to purchase.

The only one I recommend is the “Domain Privacy.” Domain privacy means that your personal details (address, phone number, email address) remain private.

Now just hit the green submit button.

Congratulations!

You’re now the owner of a shiny, new website.

3. Install WordPress

Now you need to install WordPress so you can start blogging.

And here’s another great feature Bluehost – they’ve made this part super easy.

Choose any of the free themes to get started (don’t worry too much, you can easily change it later.)

As soon as WordPress has been successfully installed, you’ll be sent your login details.

Now just type www.yourshinynewwebsite.com/wp-admin into your browser and log into your new website.

4) Log In and Make Yourself at Home

Ok, so now you’re in the back end of your website. You might be feeling a bit daunted, but fear not.

I’m not going to lie and say that there is no learning curve with WordPress, because they’re is. But it’s honestly not as hard as it might appear at first.

My best advice is to use Google and YouTube for any question you might have. It’s the best way to learn, and it’s free.

5) Get Your Site Looking Professional

Right now, your website is looking pretty stock-standard. There’s really nothing that’s making it stand out, it’s just a shell.

So what you’ll want is a theme.

There are paid themes and free themes for WordPress, but I recommend you go with a paid theme if you can afford it.

Why would you pay for a theme if you can get one for free?

That’s a good question.

It’s pretty much a case of “you get what you pay for,” but here are some of the benefits of a paid theme:

More customizable – thousands of people use free themes, so you run the risk of your site looking the same as thousand of other sites if you use a free theme. And you want your website to stand out, not to blend in, right?
Paid themes come with a support team that can provide invaluable support/tips/setup help. Free themes don’t offer any support.
Free themes are more secure/safer than paid themes. Unfortunately, there are some not-very-nice people out there who want to hack into your site and rip you off. One of the ways they do this is by installing malware in their free themes.
Paid themes are regularly updated to keep up with the latest WordPress updates/bug fixes/issues, etc.

Where To Buy a Paid Theme:

You might’ve heard of the name before, because they’re incredibly popular, but one of the best places to buy a paid theme for your new website is through Studiopress.

You’ll need to purchase the Genesis Framework and a “child theme.” If this sounds confusing, think of it like this:

The Genesis Framework is the skeleton of your site, the glue that holds everything together. It’s essential, but it looks ugly and can’t function without a “skin”
A Child Theme is the “skin” of your site. It’s what makes your site look pretty. It can’t function without the Genesis Framework, so you’ll need both of them.

Up until recently, I used the Market Theme for my site, and I really loved it. The only reason I switched was because there were a few things I wanted to do that another theme suited better.

All of the StudioPress themes come with complete, step-by-step setup instructions and forums where you can find the answer to almost anything (and if you can’t, just ask.)

If you’re going to add blog posts to your site (which I recommend you do, to help increase traffic) then you’ll have a lot more themes that’ll work for you. Otherwise you’ll need to choose something that has a static homepage only.

Now you’ll need to start customizing your theme to make it look exactly how you want it. Make sure you list all of the services you offer, install a good contact form plugin so people can get ahold of you easily and write a compelling “about me” page so people know who the person behind the website is.

Good luck with your virtual assistant business!