In Part 1 of our WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a site into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress web site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a site that is not only powered by 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, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish great content on a regular basis to automatically generate web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then to automatically start driving traffic is publish great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at 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 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … get WordPress!
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 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 as a web content management system, see this article: Statistics And Market Share Of WordPress
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
Hosted Or Self-Hosted WordPress Site?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you are planning to build a professional web presence 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 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 own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing website, first check to see if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If A Website Is Powered By WordPress
If your existing website is powered by 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 existing site is not a WordPress website, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you decide where to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress-powered site, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing 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 of your existing web site using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory 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 anything you want).
If you already 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 its internal settings. This step is explained in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To keep reading this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic organically with a WordPress website or blog and proven marketing strategies that are easy and quick to implement.
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