In Part One of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating 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 web site. An expertly configured WordPress website is a website or blog that is not only powered by WordPress, 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 can be integrated with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, 3rd-party site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is publish content regularly to automatically drive web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then is publish content regularly to drive more web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. 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 System – Setup
If You Have No Website
If you haven’t got a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build your website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. 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 has become as a web content management system, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Statistics About WordPress
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software for free and self-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 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 are planning 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 blog at WordPress.com. You get to have full control over 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 domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing website, first check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WP-Checking Tools
If your existing website was built using WordPress software, 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 runs on something other than WordPress software, then you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use this simple flowchart to choose how to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress-powered site, or
- Keep your existing site 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 webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing web site using a closely-matching WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. 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 whatever you like).
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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively with a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing methods.
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