In Part 1 of our Web 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 website is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website 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 full advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically bring web traffic is add great content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to generate web traffic is add content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. We will 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Website Yet
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-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 has become around the world, see this article: How Popular Is WordPress? Statistics About WordPress Usage
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you plan 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 version. 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 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 Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, check to see if the website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Was Built Using The WordPress CMS Platform
If your 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 web site runs on something other than WordPress, then you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you choose how to set up a WordPress site on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to help you decide 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 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 a 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 suitable WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. mydomainname.com).
If you have an existing 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 whatever you want).
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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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