In Part 1 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a site into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website is a site that is not only built using the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and how it integrates with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is publish content on a regular basis to bring web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then to automatically generate 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 blueprint 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 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 your site with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide many articles, tips, and tutorials about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a platform for building a web presence, see this article: Some Impressive 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 very important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan to build a professional web presence 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 the free hosting limitations can be overcome 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 Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing site, first, check if the site 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 existing website is a WordPress web 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 existing blog runs on something other than the WordPress CMS platform, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to decide how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is powered by 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 web site.
If you choose to keep your existing 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 design of your existing website using an appropriate theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. 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 want).
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 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 Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping site owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing strategies.
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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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