In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your website into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a website or blog 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 advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do is add content on a regular basis to automatically generate more traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then to start driving traffic is publish content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the 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. You will learn 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 Traffic Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Website
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s 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: Statistics And Usage Of WordPress
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted
(WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to 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 business presence online 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 you can overcome the limitations of the free hosting options 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 Site
If you already own an existing web site, check first if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Website Is A WordPress Web Site
If your existing site 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 site was built using something other than WordPress, then you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up a WordPress site on your domain …
(Use this simple diagram to help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is built with WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires your own domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design of your existing web site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. http://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 anything you want).
If you have a site 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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably using a WordPress-powered website and proven online marketing strategies.
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"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
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