In Part 1 of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a website into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website is different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress website is a blog that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS platform, 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 how it integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish great content regularly to automatically drive more web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do to automatically bring web traffic is add content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to start 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 Traffic System – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is, see this article: Statistics And Usage About WordPress
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application for free 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 site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
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 platform. 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 options by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing website, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Runs On The WordPress CMS Platform
If your web site is a WP website, 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 WP software, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use this simple diagram to choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress 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 blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires your own domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing web site using a suitable WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you have an existing website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name your subdirectory anything you want).
If you have a 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 Two
To continue reading, click on the link below:
This article is part of an article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-driven website and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)
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