Our latest episode offers very clear advice: Do NOT Let AI Build Your Website, with Alison Rothwell. A digital strategist and founder of VA Website for You, Alison also picked up a Silver Award at the 2025 Best Businesswomen Awards. With nearly twenty years running her own business and a background spanning government communications, PR and digital marketing, she brings a wealth of knowledge to this conversation.
We discuss why relying solely on social media is a genuinely risky strategy for any business. Alison moved on to explaining what a well built website created by humans should actually do for you. Furthermore, there is an essential piece about why owning your own corner of the internet matters more than ever in 2026. There is also a brilliant and candid conversation about AI. Not just around websites. Alison relates the hilarious story of a business owner who asked an AI tool for a summary of his own company. The result was an entirely fictional origin story.
Alison and Debbie also get into the thorny subject of AI generated award entries and why evidence will always matter more than polished prose. Vitally, Alison tells us why awards have become a permanent fixture in Alison’s marketing calendar rather than an occasional afterthought.
Oh, and she once did an entire project on making someone completely unfindable online. Which might be the most intriguing client brief we have heard on this podcast yet.
About Alison
Alison Rothwell helps virtual assistants and service-based business owners build professional, credible online presences that actually generate work.
After more than a decade supporting microbusinesses through her WordPress consultancy WP Fiddly Bits, she identified a consistent gap. She found capable, experienced professionals trying to grow their businesses without the right foundations in place. No proper website, no visibility, and no clear system for attracting clients.
That insight led her to create VA Website For You, a productised website service that gives virtual assistants a marketing-ready WordPress website quickly, affordably, and without the usual tech overwhelm.
Alongside her business, Alison serves as a Trustee at an Academy Trust, contributes to the WordPress Marketing Team and has also presented at WordCamps.
Her work is grounded in a simple belief: marketing should be built on evidence, systems, and real experience, not trends or theory.
In 2025, Alison was proud to receive Silver at the Best Business Women Awards, recognising her impact and her values-led approach to business.
{1:48} Why Alison started her own business.
{5:42} How Alison came to work in the VA niche.
{7:54} Why people still need a website in 2026.
{11:03} Why people don’t need AI but do need a pro designer to build their webites.
{14:53} When awards first appeared on Alison’s radar.
{17:25} The benefits Alison has enjoyed by entering awards.
{18:15} Making awards a constant part of the marketing plan.
{19:31} How Alison has stayed visible after nearly twenty years in business.
{21:22} Her plans for the next few years.
{24:55} Why using AI to complete award entries is a bad idea.
{27:52} Why clients pay for years of experience.
{29:17} Alison’s clients outside the VA space.
Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk
Connect with Alison: https://vawebsiteforyou.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonrothwell/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virtualassistantwebsites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonrothwell
