In Part One of our 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 site is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An expertly configured WordPress blog is a website that is not only powered by WordPress, 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 built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with other sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do to generate web traffic is publish great content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do is add great content regularly to automatically start driving web traffic.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. You will learn the best way to get started 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 Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you don’t have a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a WordPress website!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is as a content publishing platform, see this article: WordPress: Facts And Statistics
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site 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 site 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 just start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing website, first, check if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And Free WP-Checking Tools
If your site was built using 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 site was not built using WordPress, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use the above diagram to choose how to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is built with WordPress, 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 website.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered 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 site’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. www.mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 the subfolder anything you like).
If you already have an existing 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 site
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 Section 2
To keep reading this article, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business and drive traffic automatically with a WordPress-powered website and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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