In Part One of our WordPress Web 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 site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a site 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 enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is add great content on a regular basis to drive web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do is add great content on a regular basis to automatically bring more traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 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 traffic automation process. You will learn the best way to start 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 Haven’t Got A Website Yet
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … build a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is with businesses around the world, see this article: Statistics About WordPress
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost 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, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
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 version. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free site 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 You can overcome the limitations of the free hosting platform 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 have an existing site, check first if the web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Runs On The WP CMS Platform
If your website was built with 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 existing web site was built using something other than WordPress, you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up a WordPress website on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to help you decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing website and add a WordPress 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 look and feel of your existing web site using an appropriate theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (i.e. http://www.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 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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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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