In Part 1 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your website into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress blog is a blog that is not only powered by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, third-party site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is add content regularly to automatically start driving web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to start driving web traffic is publish content regularly.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to start if you don’t have a web presence yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a platform for doing business online, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Some Impressive Statistics About WordPress
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and self-host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations on what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan to build a professional web presence and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then choose the “self-hosted” WordPress platform. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free blog at WordPress.com. You can fully customize your web presence and avoid the limitations of the hosted option. Keep in mind that you can overcome the limitations of the free hosting platform by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, first, check if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If A Site Is A WordPress Web Site
If your existing site was built with WordPress, move to the next step, and make sure that your site’s internal settings have been properly configured. We cover this step in more detail in another tutorial.
If your web site runs on something other than the WordPress CMS platform, you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires a domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing website using a suitable WordPress theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subdirectory of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name your subfolder whatever you like).
If you already have an existing site that you don’t want to delete or replace with a WordPress site, the other option you have is to set up your WordPress site or blog on an entirely different domain.
This way:
- mydomainname.com – goes to your existing website
- myotherdomain.com – goes to your WordPress site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively using a WordPress website or blog and proven marketing strategies that are easy and quick to implement.
Want To Get Automatically Notified When New WordPress Tutorials Are Published? Then Subscribe To WPCompendium.org!
***
"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)
***