In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a web site that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the enormous power, features and functionality of WordPress and its integration with various sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically drive more web traffic is publish content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do is publish great content regularly to automatically drive more web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to 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 Automation System – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence Yet
If you haven’t got a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. 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 web content management system, see this article: Some Facts And Figures About WordPress
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
Hosted Or Self-Hosted WordPress?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog using 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 to what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you plan to build a professional business presence online 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 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 web site, first, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Website Is Powered By WordPress
If your existing website 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 website was not built using WordPress, then you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
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 a 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 for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have a 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 like).
If you already have a website 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 covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help business owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
Get Notified When New WordPress Tutorials Are Published – Subscribe To WPCompendium.org!
***
"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
***