It's obvious that most VA's should have a website. I am wondering how long should one take to put there website up? Especially, if you are a newbie. What if you can't afford to put up a website right away. What one should do instead of the website?

Diane

These days all businesses must have a website. I know people who's dogs have their own website!

Many folks here are into Wordpress and seem very happy with it. I've had my website on Go Daddy forever (maybe 10 years). A few bucks a month, easy to use and it suits me - I'm so busy I really don't have the time to learn Wordpress and I work on the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid).

As a newbie you might want to learn and use Wordpress and there are many folks here who can help you with that.

Good luck in your venture!

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The Wordpro Wizard
www.wordprowizard.com

Thank you, word press is a good idea. I use to play with it all the time.

Diane.

I keep seeing people talk about word press. What is Word Press exactly?

WordPress started as a blogging format, but now many people use it as the back end of a portfolio site, ecommerce system and more. You can easily set up from one to one hundred pages and, best of all, it's easy to learn how to add content.

You can easily set up a free website at WordPress.com. When you're ready to move your VA website it's very easy to transfer the files. If you need a little help - there are WordPress VA's who are willing to answer your questions in the Website forums!

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WeeWebWork
Helping you grow your online presence--one step at a time.

Diane, I'm at the same phase as you are. Funny thing is, I have been building a website for 3 others, but don't have one for myself.

Vista Print was pretty easy, however the unlimited package is $19.95 a month.

I'm wondering about a company called Yola.com. They have a free package. I don't know anything about it. If anyone has used it, will you post whether you like it or not?

I have worked with WordPress for one agent and like it. Haven't thought of using it for a website. Something to think about. If anyone on the forum has built a website using WordPress, I'd love to see what can be done with it.

Thanks,
Janet

Here is a list of prominent WordPress users. From one page wonders to The New York Times.

-- http://wordpress.org/showcase/

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WeeWebWork
Helping you grow your online presence--one step at a time.

Thanks for all the good information. I will do some reserach.

Sherriann,

I just started a WordPress blog and it was simple to turn it into a website. Thanks to this thread, I am working on it this weekend. It was easier than I thought. In the past, I have only paid attention to using it as a blog.

Janet

Hi Diane,

I don't usually recommend going this route for various reasons, but you might look into: Office Live, Weebly, Yola, Webs, WebStarts, or Google Sites (just to name a few) to get you going.

These all offer free versions, most with ads and limited capabilities, but could be a start to get you out there on the web. Then when you are able dollar-wise I would most definitely (strongly suggest) go with a hosting provider for a more professional route (e.g. BlueHost is what I use for all my sites) with your dedicated URL instead of having to use for example: www.mysite.officelive.com... (or something similar).

HTH a bit,

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites