In Part 1 of our WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to creating an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website or blog is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a web site that is not only built with the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, 3rd-party site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is publish great content regularly to start driving web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to automatically drive web traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will help you understand the best way to get started if you don’t have a website yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Web Traffic System – Setup Phase
If You Have No Web Presence Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … build a WordPress website!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress has become as a platform for doing business online, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Surprising Statistics About WordPress
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software for free and self-host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning to build a professional business presence online and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then you should choose the “self-hosted” WordPress version. 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 the free hosting limitations can be overcome by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, first check to see if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On WordPress Software
If your web site is a WP site, 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 was built using something other than the WP CMS platform, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up a WordPress website on your domain …
(Use this simple flowchart to decide where to set up a WordPress website on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires your own domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design of your existing web site using a suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you have an existing website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subdirectory of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name the subdirectory anything you like).
If you already have a website that you don’t want to delete or replace with a WordPress site, you can choose 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To keep reading about this topic, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website and proven web marketing methods.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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