Welcome to Part 3 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to drive new visitors automatically to your site using the WordPress CMS platform.
In Part One of this article series, we explained why using an expertly configured WordPress website is the key to generating automated web traffic …
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is add new content on a consistent basis to begin attracting web traffic!)
In Part 2, we focused on the setup phase of the blueprint. We helped you understand the best way to start if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set everything up if you already have a site, and what to do if your existing website was built with WordPress.
(In Part two we show you where to set up WordPress on your domain)
In this section of the series, we look at the configuration stage of the WordPress traffic automation system. You will learn what makes an expertly configured site different, and what type of work needs to be done to make sure that when everything is fully configured, you will attract visitors automatically when you begin adding fresh content on your web site.
WordPress Traffic System – Configuration Phase
The ability to drive more traffic to one’s website is often cited by website owners as one of the greatest challenges they face online. With business becoming ever more competitive worldwide, it’s worth exploring every advantage available to get better results online.
The ability to automatically generate traffic on demand is a huge advantage. With an expertly configured WordPress site, you have a significant competitive advantage from the very start.
Configuration Is The Difference
There is a significant difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally set up by an expert website builder but not necessarily configured to take advantage of everything WordPress can offer you.
Here is a simple way to describe the difference:
With a WordPress site that has been expertly configured you get a web presence plus an automated online business marketing tool!
(An expertly configured website gives you a web presence with a built-in automated online business marketing process!)
Not only does a whole lot more labor go into building and integrating an automated online business marketing system into your website, it also takes a special kind of expert knowledge.
To illustrate this point here’s a joke.
A Semi-True Story …
All is running smoothly in the gizmo plant when all of a sudden, everything grounds to a halt.
No one can figure out what’s wrong and so the plant manager decides to call in an expert.
Shortly after arriving, the expert immediately heads towards the control box. After staring silently at the control unit for 2 minutes or so, the expert then produces a teeny-weeny hammer and makes a gentle tap about one inch from the right edge of the box.
Immediately, everything begins working as before.
The floor manager is filled with joy as he thanks the expert, who then leaves just as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days later, the manager receives a request for payment of services rendered for $5,000.
Confused and bewildered, the manager calls the expert. Why had he charged them such a ridiculously high fee for so little time delivering such minimal amount of work? He promptly requests an itemized invoice and hangs up.
The next day, a bill of payment arrives on the manager’s desk. Upon opening it, this is what he sees:
The #1 challenge most businesses face online is driving visitors to their sites.
How much money did the gizmo plant stand to lose when production stopped functioning and no one in the business was able to get things up and running again? Did the expert not have the right to be compensated fairly for investing years building up the knowledge, skills and expertise that enabled him to avert a potentially costly crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a WP website set up so all you ever had to do is publish content to it and search engines, social sites like Facebook and LinkedIn and dozens of other online properties would be immediately notified, how much time and money would this save you?
(How much better would your business be if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your website?)
While experts often make difficult things look easy, it rarely is that simple or easy.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site involves more than adding some pages with content and configuring some basic settings. It requires knowing where to tap! In other words, knowing things such as:
- Which plugins you need to install to get various functionalities on your site.
- Which services need to be set up to get certain results
- Which settings you need to configure in order to make sure things work to plan, etc.
(Driving web traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires expertise)
Although this part of the traffic automation system may not seem technically challenging, it can be quite complicated. It’s not just about installing a piece of software, clicking a couple of buttons … it’s all of this and much more.
Expertly configuring your website involves the integration of many parts such as your web hosting server, your WP site, and a number of third-party sites …
(The configuration stage involves more than just configuring a few settings in WordPress)
If we try to flowchart the steps involved in the configuration process, it would look like this …
(A simplified diagram of the steps involved in the configuration phase)
Let’s take a look at these steps in more detail.
Your Server
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your web-hosting account for installation purposes (this is normally done during the Setup phase). We’re talking about configuring settings and options in your web hosting account that affect how you will handle web traffic …
(In the configuration phase, your web server settings need to be checked for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all web traffic is positive traffic. Some of the traffic your website can attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, security threats, bot-hacking attempts, etc.
This stage of the configuration process, therefore, is all about planning for good and bad traffic and adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This includes looking at things like implementing server-level spam protection and preventing security threats, to configuring your domain and email redirections, setting up htaccess file redirections, etc …
(Have you configured your hosting control panel settings for handling things like email forwarding, page error redirections, etc?)
After your server settings have been checked and configured, the next step is to configure various external sites.
Integration With External Web Properties
The basic idea of adding external sites is that all content is posted to a central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it gets distributed automatically to other components of your web traffic generation system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
Once you add these external services to your setup, content pointing back to your website gets automatically posted to your search, social and aggregator accounts. Your business will be exposed to new sources of traffic and new audiences.
Some third-party sites and online services will need to have accounts set up before configuring your WordPress settings to help save time and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts before configuring your settings:
Google Search Console
(Google Webmaster Tools)
Google Webmasters lets you inform Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for automatic page indexing, and provides site owners with useful information, tools, and diagnostic reports about their website.
After setting up your account and entering site details with Google, you can use this information to automate web traffic settings in WordPress using plugins like Yoast SEO and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your website’s traffic results, SEO, user engagement, marketing activities, and more, by tracking all user behavior, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrals, etc.
After setting up your account, you can add visitor tracking code to WordPress using any of several Google Analytics plugins and feed data automatically to many other online applications and reporting tools.
Bing Data And Tools
(Drive more traffic with Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. Once your account and site data with Bing have been set up, the information can be used to automate traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress (e.g. using plugins like Yoast SEO – see further below) and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As explained in Part Two, WordPress offers website owners the option of a hosted vs self-hosted website. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress option if you are planning to grow a professional web presence.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides some great features, which can be accessed by various WordPress plugins. We recommend setting up an account at WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll show you how to integrate these features into your automated web traffic system in the next installment of this series.
Social Media Accounts
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and social bookmarking accounts and drive new visitors to your site)
You will need to set up your social accounts before you can integrate these with your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and attract new visitors to your site.
Make sure you have accounts set up with all of the well-known social networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.
There are loads of social sites you can set up. You don’t need to go crazy, just choose those that will work with your system and/or content sharing tools (we discuss some of these tools in more detail further below and during the Automation phase).
(You can post your content to lots of social bookmarking sites. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Platforms, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are many new online technology platforms and content aggregators that can serve as second-tier sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free plans, and some are paid services.
For example, here is a content aggregator that allows you to add your WordPress blog feed …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse)
RebelMouse is an aggregator for your RSS feeds and social profiles. Your content is displayed in a Pinterest-like format and users can follow your account.
There are many different sites and platforms that can be incorporated into your own traffic blueprint. Please contact us if you need assistance exploring this area further, or to discuss a strategy to suit your needs.
Once you have configured your server settings and set up accounts with third-party sites, it’s time to configure your WordPress site’s settings.
WordPress Site Configuration
The first step in configuring your site for traffic is to make sure that your global settings have been correctly set up.
Let’s go over some of the important points.
Global WordPress Settings
By default, all WordPress installations include a Settings menu that allows you to set up your site’s main settings …
(WordPress settings menu)
General Settings
Sections like Site Title and Tagline affect traffic by influencing your site’s SEO, search results, etc …
(Settings Menu – General Settings)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings section contains a powerful and frequently overlooked built-in traffic notification system …
(Settings Menu – Writing Settings Section)
As described in the Update Services section,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you have specifically configured your site settings to discourage search engines from indexing your site – see next section, then your site will automatically notify the services entered into the Update Services section
With an ‘out of the box’ WordPress installation, only one service is listed …
(Update Services – A Powerful Traffic Feature)
You can notify dozens of update services automatically – just add a list containing all of the update services you want notified to this section …
(WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading Settings
This section affects how your content gets seen by visitors when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings in this section can have an influence traffic. For example, your choice to display the full content vs a summary of your post, affects how your content shows up in RSS feeds and blog post digests, and could impact someone’s decision to explore your content further, and whether or not they will visit your blog to read the rest of the content from a partial feed, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
As far as your traffic system is concerned, however, the main setting in this section is whether the Search Engine Visibility checkbox is enabled or not.
Typically, you want to encourage search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked allows WordPress to ping all the update services you have listed whenever a new post is published (see Writing Settings above). Unless there is a specific reason to discourage search indexing spiders from visiting your site, do not check this box …
(Settings Menu – Reading Settings Screen)
Discussion Settings
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to sites linked to from your posts, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(WordPress Settings – Discussion Settings Screen)
Permalinks
Your Permalink settings allow your site to publish posts with search engine-friendly URLs …
(Settings Menu – Permalink Settings)
The examples below show some of the ways your search-friendly URLS can be configured …
(Configuring post permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here: Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO
Configuring Settings – WordPress Plugins
The WordPress developer community makes available plugins that can add almost every kind of functionality to your site, including many plugins that improve traffic generation.
Here are examples of plugin categories and plugins that can help drive more traffic to your site
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Once again, it’s important to configure your WordPress site for dealing with both good traffic and bad traffic. No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of web security.
(Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your blog invisible to attacks from hackers and botnets.
For more details, go here:
SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugins help drive traffic by improving your site’s SEO …
(WP Plugin – Yoast SEO)
Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO. Properly configured, this plugin not only makes your site easier for search engines to find and index, it also gives you control over how your content is presented to Google’s search results and social media sites Twitter, Facebook, and GooglePlus.
WordPress Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing your visitors to easily share your content with friends and members of their social networks can help boost traffic to your site, especially if you post great content that adds value to readers.
(You can add social sharing features to your site easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
You can add social sharing buttons to your website easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins.
Many social share plugins allow you to select which social sites visitors can share your content to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom update notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of shares), etc. Some social share plugins even allow you to ‘lock’ content which visitors can unlock by sharing your page.
Theme Settings
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that can help grow your traffic.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring the layout and design of your site, many themes also provide options for improving search optimization and site linking structure for better indexing, add analytics code, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many themes include built-in traffic optimization features)
With a number of themes, adding social sharing features to your site is as easy as clicking a couple of buttons to enable the function …
(Many WordPress themes provide users with built-in social sharing features)
WordPress Traffic Configuration – Other Don’t Forget These
Last (but by no means least) in the traffic configuration process, are the components that need to be set up outside of the global settings.
These include:
Website Legal Pages
Once again, when preparing your website for an increase in traffic numbers, it’s important to plan not only for both good and unwanted traffic but also for all the things that can go wrong as more and more people begin to visit your website.
If you engage in any form of business online, you need to ensure that your site stays compliant with regulatory agencies.
(Is Your Website Compliant?)
To learn more about how to quickly and easily add all necessary legal pages to your WordPress website or blog, go here:
Post Categories & Tags
Post tags & categories help improve traffic by allowing search engines to better understand and index your website.
(Post categories help improve traffic by improving your site’s SEO.)
As we strongly recommend in this article, your site’s tags and categories should be discussed and set up during the Website Planning Phases.
When configuring your website to automate and improve web traffic, you will want to review and make sure that your site’s categories and tags have been set up correctly to deliver optimal benefits and results.
Add A WordPress Site Map
A visitor site map that lists all of your site’s pages and posts is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external sites find more of your web content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for traffic too!)
An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same things. Although search engines like Google can index your site just from an XML sitemap (which a plugin like Yoast SEO can provide – see earlier section), making it easier for visitors to find more pages on your site can result in increased traffic.
Don’t Forget Your 404 Error Page
When visitors enter the wrong URL or click on hyperlinks pointing to destinations on your site that no longer exist, they are greeted with a 404 Not Found page …
(A 404 Not Found page)
A 404 page can be configured to redirect confused visitors to your functional pages …
(Configuring your 404 Not Found page allows you to redirect traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 page can be set up in your server, there are WordPress plugins that allow you to easily configure your 404 page from your WordPress admin.
WordPress Traffic Blueprint: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once you have your website or blog expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then to automatically generate more traffic is publish web content consistently.
The process of expertly configuring a WordPress site, however, can be quite involved and requires the configuration and integration of a number of different elements and external web properties …
(Traffic Blueprint – Configuration Phase Checklist)
The skills and knowledge required to perform the configuration phase of the traffic automation process can take some website developers a long time to acquire.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate as much of the process as can be automated. This step is covered in the next section of the series.
This is the end of Part 3
To read more, click here:
This article is part of an tutorial series aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic automatically with a WordPress-driven website and proven web marketing strategies.
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