In Part One of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your site into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website or blog is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website. An ”expertly configured” WordPress site is a website or blog that is not only driven 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 functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically generate traffic is publish content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to automatically drive more web traffic is publish content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated online traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will help you understand 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 Traffic System – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … build your website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide many 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 around the world, see this article: Statistics And Market Share About WordPress
After choosing 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 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted
(WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software 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 hosts 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 WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan 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 have complete control over 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 just start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, check if the web 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 web 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 website is not a WordPress website, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to choose where 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 website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web site.
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 a domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using a suitable WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://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 your subdirectory whatever you want).
If you 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 blog
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 here:
This article is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven online marketing methods.
Want To Get Notified When New Tutorials Get Published? Then Subscribe To WPCompendium.org!
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org
***