Welcome to Part 3 of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to automate traffic to your site using the WordPress CMS.
In Part 1 of this series, we described the process, and explained why using an expertly configured WordPress website is the key to automating traffic to your website …
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do is add new content regularly to bring web traffic!)
In Part Two, we discussed the setup phase. We helped you understand the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set things up if you already have a website, and what to do if your website was built with WordPress.
(In Part 2 we show you how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
In this section, we will discuss the configuration stage of the traffic automation process. We explain how to configure a WordPress site to ensure that traffic will automatically start flowing simply by regularly posting content to your website.
WordPress Web Traffic System – Configuration
Finding ways to attract more visitors to one’s website is often cited by business owners as their greatest challenge online. Businesses are becoming so much more competitive worldwide and are researching every advantage they can to increase their competitiveness online.
The ability to generate traffic on demand is a tremendous advantage. With an expertly configured website, you have a flying start and a significant advantage online.
The Difference Is In The Configuration Stage
There is a difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a site that has been professionally set up by an expert website developer but not necessarily configured to take advantage of everything WordPress can offer.
Here is a simple way to describe the key difference:
An expertly configured WordPress website gives you a professional web presence and online business marketing automation!
(An expertly configured website gives you a professional web presence with an automated online business marketing system!)
Not only does it take extra labor to build and integrate an automated online business marketing system into your website, but also a special type of expert knowledge.
Let’s illustrate this with a joke.
Knowing Where To Tap
Everything is going well in the gizmo assembly line when things suddenly comes to a halt.
As no one can figure out what’s happened, the plant manager decides to call in an expert to try and fix the problem.
Promptly after arriving, the expert walks directly towards the control box. After staring silently at the electronic components for no more than 5 minutes or so, the expert then produces a tiny little hammer from his pocket and makes a very gentle tap near the left edge of the unit.
Immediately, the plant returns once more to normal.
The manager is filled with joy as he thanks the expert, who leaves just as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days after resolving the incident, the manager receives a service bill for $5,000.
With great anger, the factory manager rings the expert. Demanding to know why they have been charged so much for less than 5 minutes work, he promptly requests an itemized invoice and hangs up.
The next day, an invoice arrives in the manager’s in-tray. Upon opening it, this is what he sees:
The number one challenge most businesses face online is being able to drive new traffic to their sites.
In the above story, how much money did the widget plant stand to lose when the machines stopped working and no one in the business had the expertise required to fix it? Did the expert in our story not have every right to demand fair compensation for years spent developing the knowledge and expertise that enabled him to quickly avert a potentially costly crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a site set up and configured so all you ever had to do is publish new content and Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and dozens of other web properties would be instantly notified, how much time and money would you save?
(How much time and money would you save if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your website?)
While the solution to many problems is often quite easy once implemented, it rarely is that simple or easy when you are trying to figure things out.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site requires more than adding some pages with content and configuring basic settings. It also involves knowing where to tap! In other words, knowing things such as:
- Which programs need to be installed to add various functionalities to your site.
- Which accounts you need to set up to achieve desired results
- Which settings need to be configured in order to make sure things will function to plan, etc.
(Driving traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires knowledge and expertise)
Although this part of the WordPress traffic automation system may not seem technically difficult, it can be quite complicated. This is because it’s not as simple as installing a piece of software, clicking on a button or two, or tweaking some options and settings in your dashboard area … it’s all of this and so much more.
The configuration phase is a process that involves your web hosting server, your WordPress site, and various external sites …
(Expertly configuring your website involves more than just configuring a few WordPress settings)
If we try to flowchart all the steps involved in the configuration process, it would look something like this …
(A simplified diagram showing all the steps involved in the configuration phase)
Let’s take a brief look at these areas.
Your Server
We’re not talking about the process of configuring your web hosting account for site installation purposes (this is normally done during the Setup phase). We’re talking about configuring settings in your server specifically for handling all web traffic …
(During the configuration stage, your server settings need to be fine-tuned for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all web traffic is welcome traffic. Some of the traffic you may attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, security threats, bot-hacking attempts, etc.
This aspect of the configuration process, therefore, is all about planning for both bad and good traffic and then adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This could include looking at things like configuring server-level spam protection and threat prevention, to configuring domain and email redirections, etc …
(Have you configured your webhosting settings for handling things like emails, page errors, etc?)
Once your server settings have been fine-tuned and configured (if required), the next step is to set up and configure various external sites and services.
Configuring External Web Properties
The basic concept of setting up external sites is that all of your content will be published from one central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it will be distributed automatically to other components of your web traffic system, or notify traffic-related web properties and applications.
Once you incorporate these external platforms into your network, content linking back to your site will be automatically published on your search, social and aggregator accounts. Your site will be exposed to new sources of traffic and new audiences.
Some external sites and solutions will need to have accounts set up before configuring your WordPress site’s settings to help save time and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, here are just some of the accounts you will need to have set up before configuring your WordPress site’s settings:
Google Webmasters
(Google Webmasters)
Google Webmasters lets you tell Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for faster page indexing, and provides site owners with a range of useful data, tools, and diagnostic reports about their website.
Once your account has been set up, you can use your details with web traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your site’s performance, SEO, user engagement, marketing activities, and more, by tracking all user behavior, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrers, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account and site details have been set up, you can add traffic tracking code to all of your pages in WordPress via any of several Google Analytics plugins and send data instantly to other applications.
Bing Webmaster Tools
(Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. Once your account is with Bing have been set up, this information can be used to integrate and automate web traffic settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As discussed in Part Two, WordPress provides users with a hosted (WordPress.com) and a self-hosted (WordPress.org) option. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress option if you plan to build a professional web presence.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides a number of useful features, which various WordPress plugins can access. We recommend setting up an account with WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll show you how to integrate this into your web traffic system in the next installment of this article series.
Social Media Accounts
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and social bookmarking accounts and bring new traffic to your site)
You will need your social media accounts set up in order to integrate these with your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and get new traffic to your site.
You should have accounts and profile pages with all of the popular social networks – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
There are many social bookmarking sites you can set up accounts with. You don’t need to go crazy, just choose those that will work well with your setup and/or content sharing tools (we discuss some of these tools in more detail when we discuss the Automation phase).
(There are lots of social sites you can syndicate your content to. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Sites, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are a number of emerging web platforms and RSS aggregators that can act as second-tier sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free accounts, and some offer a range of pricing plans to suit different user types.
For example, here is a content aggregator that allows you to add your WordPress blog feed …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse)
RebelMouse is a news aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content is displayed in a Pinterest-like format and users can follow your own RebelMouse page.
There are various solutions you can incorporate into your traffic blueprint. Please contact us if you would like to explore this area further and discuss a strategy to suit your needs.
After you have configured your web server and set up accounts with external services, it’s time to configure your WordPress site’s settings.
WordPress Site Configuration
The first step in configuring your site for traffic is to make sure that its global settings have been correctly set up.
Let’s go over some key areas.
Configuring WordPress Settings
By default, all WordPress installations include a Settings menu that allows you to configure your site’s main settings …
(WordPress settings menu)
General Settings
Content entered into fields like Site Title and Tagline can affect traffic by influencing your site’s SEO, search listings, etc …
(WordPress Settings – General Settings)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings section contains one of the most powerful and often overlooked traffic notification systems available to WordPress site owners …
(Global Settings – Writing Settings Area)
As stated below the Update Services section title,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you have specifically configured your settings to prevent search engines from indexing your site, then your site will automatically ping the list of services entered into the Update Services text box
With an ‘out of the box’ WordPress installation, only one service is available …
(Update Services – A Powerful Traffic Feature Of WordPress)
You can notify dozens of update services automatically – just add a list containing all of the update services you want notified to this section …
(WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading
This section affects how your content gets seen by readers when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings in this section can influence web traffic. For example, your choice to display the full text vs summaries of your post, affects how your content appears in RSS readers and RSS email campaigns, and could affect someone’s choice to explore your content further, and whether or not they will visit your blog to get the rest of the content from excerpts, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
The most important setting in this section as far as your traffic system is concerned is whether the Search Engine Visibility feature is ticked or not.
Typically, you would want search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked allows WordPress to automatically ping all the update services you have listed in the Update Services box when a new post gets published (see Writing Settings above). Unless you have a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, do not check this box …
(WordPress Settings – Reading Settings Section)
Discussion
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your content, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(Global Settings – Discussion Settings Section)
Permalink Settings
Permalinks enable your site to publish posts with SEO-friendly URLs …
(Settings Menu – Permalinks)
The examples below show some of the options for configuring your site’s permalinks …
(Configuring SEO-friendly URLs)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WordPress permalinks here: Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks
WordPress Traffic Generation Plugin Settings – Configuration
The WordPress developer community makes available plugins that can add almost every type of functionality to your website, including plugins that add traffic generation capabilities.
Let’s take a brief look at examples of plugin categories and plugins that can help to bring more visitors to your site
Security Plugins – Blog Defender
Once again, it’s important to configure your WordPress site for dealing with both good traffic and bad traffic. No website or blog is immune from cyberattacks.
(WordPress Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from causing your website harm)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and bots.
Go here to learn more:
WordPress SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
SEO plugins help drive more traffic by making your site more search engine friendly …
(Yoast SEO – WP SEO Plugin)
Use a powerful plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your website’s search engine optimization. When properly configured, the Yoast SEO plugin not only makes your web pages easier for search engines like Google and Bing to find and index, it allows you to specify how your content will show up in Google’s search results and social media sites Twitter, Facebook, and GooglePlus.
WordPress Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing your visitors to easily share your content with others can help drive significant traffic to your site, especially if you provide content that adds value to readers.
(You can easily add social features to your site using WordPress plugins)
WordPress users can easily add social features to their website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins.
Many social plugins allow you to choose which social sites your content can be shared to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom update notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of shares), etc. Some social sharing plugins even allow you to protect content which visitors can unlock by liking your page.
Themes
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that can help improve your site’s traffic generation capabilities.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring the design and layout of your website, some themes also provide options for improving search optimization and site navigation structure for faster indexing, add analytics, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many WordPress themes can be configured for improved traffic results)
With many WordPress themes, adding social sharing buttons to your content is as easy as selecting the option to enable this functions …
(Many WordPress themes provide users with built-in social sharing features)
WordPress Traffic Configuration – Other Don’t Forget These
Last (but by no means least) in the traffic configuration process, are the things that need to be set up outside of the global settings.
This includes the following:
Legal Web Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for an increase in traffic, it’s important to plan not only for how to deal with good and unwanted traffic but also for all the situations that can hurt your business as more and more people start finding and visiting your website.
If you engage in any form of business online (or are planning to), it’s important that your site remains compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate business practices online.
(Does Your Website Or Blog Comply With All Legal Requirements?)
If you need help adding legal pages to WordPress, go here:
Post Tags And Categories
Post tags and categories help improve traffic by allowing search engines to better organize and index your pages.
(WordPress post categories help search engines better organize and index your pages, which helps to increase traffic.)
As we recommend in this article, it’s best to review and set up your site’s post tags and post categories during the Website Planning Stages.
When looking at ways to automate and improve traffic, you will want to review and make sure that the categories and tags that have been set up.
Add A Site Map To Your WordPress Site
A site map that displays all of your posts and pages to visitors is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external tools discover your site’s content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for traffic too!)
Note: An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same thing. Although Google can index your site just using an XML sitemap (which plugins like Yoast SEO can provide – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site can result in increased traffic.
404 Error Page – An Additional Source Of Traffic!
When visitors searching for your website type in the wrong web address or click on links pointing to pages on your website that no longer exist, they will typically be presented with a 404 page …
(Default WordPress 404 Error Page)
Configuring your 404 Error Page allows you to redirect web traffic that may otherwise be lost. …
(Configuring your 404 Error Page allows you to recover web traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 error page can be set up on your web server, there are several WordPress plugins that let you easily configure your 404 page from your WordPress admin.
WordPress Traffic System: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once you have your website or blog expertly configured and fully set up, all you then have to do to automatically begin attracting traffic is add fresh content consistently.
The process of expertly configuring a WordPress site, however, can be quite involved , requiring the configuration and integration of different components and external web properties …
(WP Traffic System – Configuration Phase Checklist)
The expertise required to perform this process can take many website professionals months to acquire.
Once you have configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate as much of the process as can be automated. This step is explained in the next section of our WordPress Traffic System series.
This is the end of Section Three
To keep reading about this topic, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-powered website and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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