Welcome to Part 3 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to create an automated web traffic generating machine using the WordPress CMS platform.
In Part 1 of this series, we provided an overview of the process, and explained why using an expertly configured WordPress site is the key to generating automated traffic …
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is add great content on a consistent basis to drive more traffic!)
In Part 2, we focused on the setup phase of this process. We explained the best way to start if you don’t have a website yet, how to set everything up if you already have a website, and what to do if your existing site was built using WordPress.
(In Part two we show you how to set up a WordPress website on your domain)
In this section of the series, we discuss the configuration phase of the traffic automation process. We will help you understand what makes an expertly configured site different than a professionally configured site. You will also discover how much work is required to ensure that when all is fully configured, you will begin to get new visitors automatically when you publish web content to your website.
WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint – Configuration Phase
Finding ways to attract more visitors to one’s website is often cited by most website owners as one of their greatest challenges online. Businesses are becoming so much more competitive and are exploring any opportunity they can to improve their performance online.
The ability to automatically generate traffic on demand is a huge competitive advantage. For businesses, an expertly configured website gives WordPress users a flying start from the moment their site is launched.
The Difference Is In The Way Your Site Is Configured
There is a difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally set up by an expert website builder but not necessarily configured to its fullest advantage.
Here’s one way to explain the difference:
With a WordPress site that has been expertly configured you get a professional web presence plus online business marketing automation!
(An expertly configured website gives you a web presence and a built-in automated online business marketing process!)
Not only does it take additional labor to build and integrate an automated online business marketing system into your website, but also a special kind of expert knowledge.
Let’s illustrate this with an anecdote.
A Semi-True Story …
Things are humming along in the widget assembly line when suddenly, everything comes to a halt.
No one can figure out what’s gone wrong and so the floor manager decides to call in an expert to try and fix the problem.
Soon afterward, the expert arrives and, without uttering a word, walks directly towards the main control box. After staring at the control unit for 2 minutes, the expert then produces a teeny-weeny hammer and makes a single tap about one cm from the top-left edge of the control unit.
Immediately, the plant begins working once more.
The plant manager is grateful and relieved as he thanks the expert, who then leaves just as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days after resolving the incident, the factory manager receives a request for payment of $5,000.
With great anger, the factory manager rings the expert. Why had they had been charged so much for so little time delivering a minimal amount of work? He promptly requests an itemized invoice and hangs up.
The next day, an invoice notice arrives and is placed on the manager’s desk. Upon opening it, this is what he sees:
The number one challenge most businesses face online is being able to drive traffic to their sites.
In the story we’ve just described, how much money did the widget factory stand to lose when production stopped functioning and no one on the factory floor had the expertise required to get things up and running again? Did the expert in our story not have the right to ask to be compensated fairly for having invested years developing the knowledge, skills and expertise that enabled him to quickly assess and avert a potentially costly crisis?
Similarly, if you could have your WordPress website set up so all you have to do is publish content to it and search engines, social followers from sites like Facebook and Twitter and dozens of other web properties would be immediately 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 site?)
While many experts often make difficult situations and problems look simple, it rarely is that simple or easy when you try to work things out.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site requires more than installing a website and configuring a few internal settings. It also involves knowing where to tap! In other words, knowing things like:
- Which plugins need to be installed for specific things to occur on your site.
- Which accounts you need to set up and activate to achieve desired outcomes
- Which internal and external settings need to be configured in order to make sure things will work as expected, etc.
(Driving traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires knowledge and expertise)
This stage of the WordPress traffic automation system is not technically difficult, but it’s quite involved. The reason why is because it’s not as easy as installing a piece of software, clicking a button, or tweaking some settings in your dashboard area … it’s all this and so much more.
Expertly configuring your website involves the integration of different components including your server, your WordPress site, and various external sites and online services …
(The configuration phase involves more than just configuring a few WordPress settings)
If the activities involved in the configuration process were to be flowcharted, it would look something like this …
(A simplified flowchart of the activities involved in the configuration process)
Let’s examine these areas in more detail.
Your Server
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your hosting account for website installation purposes (this is normally done during the Setup phase). What we are talking about, is tweaking settings and options in your server that affect how your website will handle all web traffic …
(In the configuration phase, your webhosting account settings need to be checked for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all web traffic is positive traffic. Some of the traffic you will attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, malicious threats, bot-hacking attempts, etc.
This aspect of the configuration process, therefore, is about planning for bad and good traffic and then adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This can include things like integrating server-level spam protection and threat prevention, to configuring your domain and email redirections, setting up 404 redirections, etc …
(Have you configured your control panel settings for handling things like email forwarding, page errors, etc?)
After your web server settings have been checked and configured, the next step is to set up and configure various third-party sites.
External Services
The concept behind adding external sites is that all content will get published from a central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it will be distributed automatically to other parts of your web traffic system, or notify traffic-related web properties and applications.
Once these external sites have been added to your configuration, content linking back to your website will be automatically published on these platforms, indexed by search engines and shared to other social networks, even to users of the platform itself. Your website receives increased exposure online, helping you tap into a new audience and traffic source.
Some third-party sites and services will need to be set up before configuring your WordPress site to help speed up the process and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts:
Google Webmasters
(Google Webmasters)
Google Search Console lets you notify Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for faster page indexing, and provides site owners with essential data, tools, and reports about their website.
After setting up your account, use this information to automate web traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress using plugins like Yoast SEO (see further below) and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your site’s traffic results, SEO, marketing efforts, and more, by tracking all user behaviour, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrals, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account has been set up, your account information can be integrated with WordPress using a simple plugin and and sent to many other useful applications.
Bing Webmaster Tools
(Drive more traffic with Bing Webmaster Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Webmaster Tools. After setting up your account and entering site details with Bing Webmaster Tools, use the details to integrate and automate traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As discussed in Part 2, WordPress provides users with a hosted (WordPress.com) and a self-hosted (WordPress.org) option. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress version if you are planning to build a professional online presence.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides a number of useful tools, which a number of WordPress plugins can access. We recommend setting up an account at WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll explain how to integrate this into your web traffic system in Part Four of this article series.
Social Media And Social Bookmarking Accounts
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and drive new visitors to your site)
You will need your social accounts set up before you can configure these as part of your traffic generation system.
After setting up and configuring everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and bring new visitors to your site.
You should have accounts and pages set up with all of the main social networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.
There are loads of social sites you can set up accounts with and post your content to. You don’t need to go crazy, just select the ones that will work well with your setup and/or content sharing tools (we cover some of these tools in more detail further below and in the Automation phase).
(You can syndicate your content to loads of social sites. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Solutions, Content Aggregators, Etc.
There are a number of online web platforms and RSS aggregators that can act as secondary-level traffic generation sources. Some are free or provide free levels, and some offer a range of pricing plans.
For example, here is a content aggregator site that lets you add an RSS feed from your website …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse – Distribute social content to social networks)
RebelMouse is a news aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content is displayed in a Pinterest-like format and visitors can follow your website.
There are various sites and platforms you can incorporate into your traffic blueprint. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to explore this area further and discuss a configuration strategy to suit your needs.
After you have configured your web server and set up accounts with third-party sites, it’s time to configure your site.
WordPress Configuration
The first step in configuring your WordPress site for traffic is to ensure that your global settings have been set up correctly.
Let’s go over some key areas.
WordPress – Global Settings
By default, WordPress includes a Settings section that allows you to set up your site’s global settings …
(WordPress admin menu – Settings)
General Settings
Sections like Site Title and Tagline can influence your site’s SEO, search listings, etc …
(Global Settings – General Settings Screen)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings area contains a powerful and frequently overlooked built-in traffic notification system …
(Settings Menu – Writing Settings)
As stated below the Update Services section,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you have purposely chosen to prevent search engines from indexing your site – see next section, then your site will automatically notify the services entered into the Update Services field
With an ‘out of the box’ WordPress installation, this section lists only one entry …
(Writing Settings – Update Services)
You can notify dozens of update services automatically with WordPress – just add a list of all the update services you want to notify as soon as you publish a new post to this section and WordPress will do the rest …
(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
***
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 Settings
This section affects how visitors will see your content when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings on this page can have an influence web traffic. For example, your choice to display the full text vs a summary of your post, affects how your content appears in RSS readers and blog post digests, and could play a part in someone’s decision to explore your content further, and whether or not they will visit your website or 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.
As far as your traffic system is concerned, however, the main setting here is whether the Search Engine Visibility checkbox is enabled or not.
Typically, you would want search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked enables WordPress to instantly ping various update services whenever new posts are published (see Writing Settings above). Unless there is a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, make sure this box is left unticked …
(WordPress Settings – Reading Settings Screen)
Discussion Settings
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to sites linked to from your articles, 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 …
(WordPress Settings – Discussion Settings)
Permalink Settings
Your Permalink settings allow you to publish posts with search engine-friendly URLs …
(Global Settings – Permalinks Screen)
The examples below show some of the options for configuring your permalink URLs …
(Configuring permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here: Changing Your WordPress Permalinks
Configuring WordPress Plugin Settings For Traffic Generation
WordPress provides users with thousands of plugins that can add almost every type of functionality to your website, including plugins that add traffic generation capabilities.
Let’s look at examples of plugin categories and plugins that can help drive more traffic to your site
WordPress Security Plugins – Blog Defender
Once again, it’s important to configure your WordPress site for handling both good traffic and bad traffic. No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of website security.
(WordPress Security Plugins stop bad traffic from causing your website harm)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your website invisible to hackers and botnets.
More information:
SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
SEO plugins help drive traffic by improving the search engine friendliness of your web pages …
(WP SEO Plugin – Yoast SEO)
Use a powerful plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your SEO. Once properly configured, the Yoast SEO plugin not only makes your site easier for search engines like Google to index, it also gives you control over how your content is presented in Google’s search results and social media pages, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and GooglePlus.
Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing visitors to easily share your content with members of their social networks can help drive significant traffic to your site, especially if you publish great content that adds value to readers.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their website using WordPress plugins)
There are many social sharing plugins to choose from.
Many social sharing plugins allow you to specify which sites visitors can share your content to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of shares), etc. Some plugins even allow you to set up protected content sections on your pages which visitors can unlock by liking your page.
Configuring WordPress Theme Settings For Traffic Generation
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that help you drive more traffic to your site.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring the design and layout of your site, some themes also provide built-in features that let you improve search optimization and site navigation structure for better indexing, add analytics, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many WordPress themes come with built-in traffic optimization features)
With many quality themes, adding social sharing buttons to your content is as easy as clicking a couple of buttons to enable the function …
(Many WordPress themes have built-in social sharing features)
Other Configuration Areas For WordPress
Last (but by no means least) in the web traffic system configuration process, are the areas that need to be configured outside of the global settings.
This includes:
Legal Web Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for a growth in traffic, it’s important to plan not only for both good and bad traffic but also for all the situations that can cause serious damage to your business as more and more people start finding and visiting your website.
If you are making money online, you need to make sure that your website is found to comply with all regulations.
(Does Your Site Comply With The Law?)
For a detailed article on how to quickly add all necessary legal pages to your site, go here:
Tags & Categories
Post categories & tags help to improve your site’s SEO, which improves traffic.
(WordPress categories help search engines better classify and index your web pages, which helps to increase traffic.)
As we strongly recommend in this article, it’s best to set up your website’s post tags and post categories during the Website Planning Phase.
In the configuration phase, you will want to review and make sure that your site’s post tags and categories have been correctly set up to deliver optimal benefits and results.
HTML Site Map
A site map that displays all of your site’s posts and pages to visitors is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external applications find your website content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for traffic too!)
It’s important to note that an HTML site map and an XML sitemap are two different things. HTML site maps are web pages that provide users with a visual map of how your content is structured, whereas XML sitemaps contain code that only search engine bots can interpret. Although search engines like Google will index your pages just using an XML sitemap (which a plugin like Yoast SEO can provide – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site results in increased traffic.
404 Error Page – Don’t Forget This!
When visitors searching online for your website type in the wrong URL into their web browser or click on a hyperlink pointing to a destination on your website that no longer exists, they will normally be presented with a 404 error page …
(A 404 Not Found error page)
Configuring your 404 Not Found error page allows you to recover traffic that may otherwise be lost. …
(Configuring your 404 Error Page allows you to redirect traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 error page can be set up in your server, there are WordPress plugins that let you easily configure your 404 page from your WordPress dashboard.
WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to automatically bring traffic is add web content regularly.
The process of expertly configuring a WordPress site, however, is quite involved and elaborate and requires the configuration and integration of various components and external web properties …
(Traffic Blueprint – Configuration Phase Checklist)
The kind of knowledge and expertise involved in expertly configuring a WordPress site can take many web professionals months to learn.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate the process. This step is covered in the next article in our series.
This is the end of Part 3
To continue reading this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively with a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing strategies.
Get Notified When New Tutorials Are Published – Subscribe Using The Form Below!
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
***