People form impressions incredibly quickly online. On average, it takes just 0.05 seconds for visitors to your website to decide whether or not they like it. That’s why having a well-maintained website is so important for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

If it looks professional, is easy to navigate, and offers useful content, visitors are more likely to trust your company and make a purchase. But with all the other demands of running a business such as managing accounts, handling customer service inquiries, and keeping up with day-to-day operations, taking care of a website can feel like an additional burden. That’s where a virtual assistant can help.

Virtual assistants (VAs) are independent professionals who work remotely to provide support to their clients to help them save time and put their skills to greater use.

They can help you with website tasks such as creating content, maintaining your blog, performing regular updates, and monitoring analytics.

So, what can companies expect when it comes to hiring VAs to help manage their website tasks?

4 Ways A Virtual Assistant Can Help You Manage Your Company Website

With so many day-to-day tasks involved with running a website, you'll find that ticking them all off can take a serious chunk out of your working hours, or things can easily slip through the cracks. Having an extra pair of hands to help you cover them can make a huge difference.

However, it's important to bear in mind that more specialized tasks like technical support, web development, digital strategy, or a complete graphic design overhaul for your web pages are best suited for experts or specialists in that area.

But for any other routine task that could easily be done with the right instructions, virtual assistants can take it off your plate.

Creating high-quality content and keeping it fresh

Few things are more important to website visitors than content. Quality blog posts, product descriptions, and other articles are essential to keeping visitors engaged and coming back for more. On the other hand, outdated content can be a huge turnoff for visitors and can cause them to question the legitimacy of your site.

In addition, search engines like Google give priority to sites with top-notch, refreshed content. High-ranking sites are typically the ones that constantly add new pages and update existing ones. It's not surprising that 44% of content marketers cite the improvement in quality and value of their content as the key to success.

A virtual assistant can help you create high-quality content for your website. They can ensure all information on your website is accurate and up-to-date and regularly review existing material to make sure it’s still relevant.

See: How To Successfully Outsource Your Content Writing To A Virtual Assistant

Optimizing your business website for SEO

Did you know just 9% of all content on the internet receives traffic from Google? That’s why it’s so important to optimize your website for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO refers to the process of making your website more visible on search engine results pages (SERPs). Given that 71% of web traffic is captured by the first page of Google, the importance of ranking highly cannot be overemphasized. Without optimization, a website can get lost in the shuffle and fail to generate traffic from organic sources.

A virtual assistant can help with basic keyword research, writing meta descriptions, and adding alt text to images to help make your site more SEO-friendly.

Other issues, like broken links and low page speeds, can contribute to a poor SEO ranking. A virtual assistant can perform regular checks to help identify and even resolve these issues, where possible.

Maintaining support pages

Having well-maintained and up-to-date support pages allows potential clients and customers to quickly find the information they need, as well as get answers to their questions or queries regarding your products or services.

With an experienced virtual assistant, you can be sure that your company’s support pages are maintained and updated regularly. They can take on various tasks such as updating FAQs, moderating comments and reviews, or responding to customer inquiries. Virtual PAs can also help ensure that your website’s contact information is up-to-date so customers know how to reach you if they need additional assistance.

Integrating with social media

Most business websites today encourage their customers to connect with them on social media. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, it's a way to engage users on platforms that they use daily and can thus see your offers more frequently. Additionally, social media encourages users to share your content, which can drive more traffic to your website. And when you have special offers or notifications on your website, linking this information to your social media posts can help you get the word out faster.

A virtual assistant can help manage the coordination between social media and your business website. They can set up automated posts and respond to user comments on various platforms in a timely fashion. They can also monitor your accounts for any relevant keywords or hashtags and use them to generate leads. Virtual assistants can also help you launch campaigns and promotions on social media, which can drive more traffic to your website.

And let's say, for example, you need to compile reports on social media analytics, your virtual assistant could save you the time-consuming job of gathering all the data you'd need from your posts.

See: How A Virtual Assistant Can Help With Your Social Media

How Can Hiring A Virtual Assistant Benefit Your Business?

Focus more on core responsibilities

While having a high-ranking website is important, it's hardly your most important responsibility as the head of your business. The website typically exists to support your primary products and services, not the other way around. Devoting too much time and resources to website upkeep can result in other essential tasks being neglected.

Hiring virtual assistants can help lighten the load and free up more of your time and energy to dedicate to the more impactful aspects of running your business, such as strategy, management, and development.

Enhanced productivity

With more time and resources to focus on more strategic business operations, you can maximize your productivity and increase efficiency in other areas.

Not only that, a skilled virtual administrative assistant for your small business can help you streamline processes and systems, ensuring that tasks are executed more efficiently. This translates to greater output and improved productivity.

Lower costs and higher earnings

Compared to hiring a full-time employee, most business owners find virtual assistants to be a much more cost-effective solution because you only pay for a VA’s productive time completing your tasks, right down to the minute.

Not only that, but working with a virtual assistant means you don’t have to worry about any costs associated with health insurance, vacation days, office space and equipment, or any other employee benefits. Altogether, businesses can save up to 90%.

And according to a recent study of 143 CEOs on the Inc. 500 list—an annual ranking of America's fastest-growing private companies—business owners with “high delegator skill” generated 33% more revenue compared to those with lower levels of delegator skill.

Similar findings were also reported in a 2016 study of US lawyers. Researchers found that those who delegated work to associates earned around 20% more than they would otherwise, with top lawyers (who have the most skill to leverage, according to the researchers) earning at least 50% more.

Increased likelihood of growing your business

In the same study by Gallup, CEOs with high levels of delegator skill were 57% more likely to be planning on significantly growing their business in the next five years compared to those with lower levels of delegator skill.

This is likely due to the compounded impacts of the previous points—the fact that delegation provides more opportunities to focus on strategic planning, decision-making, and execution, a higher quality of work yielding better results, and extra revenue being reinvested back into the business.

How To Get Started With Your Website Virtual Assistant

Now that you know how a good virtual assistant can help you maintain a successful website, you may be considering hiring one.

Here are the most crucial steps to help you maximize the benefits from their support from day one.

Know what you need

Are you looking for someone to simply manage updates and content creation? Or do you need help with digital marketing and customer service as well? Every business (and website!) is different, so the first step is to decide which tasks you'll outsource.

To get the best results from working with a virtual assistant, prioritize recurring tasks that need to be dealt with regularly—preferably on a daily basis.

Document your tasks

A critical next step is to break down the task for your assistant.

What would someone need to complete it? Do they need access to particular emails or websites? Is there a specific software or program they should use?

Similar to writing a job description for a new employee, this helps your virtual assistant understand what is expected of them. If you put it all in writing, there is less likelihood of needing to repeat your instructions over and over as your assistant can consult your guide document as needed.

Be there for them in the beginning

As your virtual assistant will be working remotely and it's unlikely you'll ever meet in person, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that not as much care and attention need to be paid to helping them find their feet when they start working with you.

Although they'll come equipped with a solid skill set and plenty of experience, it's still likely that your virtual assistant will need to ask you questions and double-check details to make sure they’re on the right track. So just like any other hire, you'll need to be there for your assistant in the early stages of the process to provide support and clarification.

What's the bottom line?

With all of the tasks that go into running a website, it can be tough to stay on top of everything. That's why hiring a virtual assistant can be a real turning point in any business's journey to success.

With a VA by your side to handle routine tasks and ensure that your website is up-to-date and performing well, you're free to focus on your business goals.

If you want to take back control of your time and get more done each day, speak to our expert team to get started with a virtual assistant. We’ll set you up with a dedicated professional based on the skills and experience you need.

Or try us out for free today!