In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a website or blog that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with various sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is publish great content on a regular basis to automatically generate more traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then to generate more traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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 Traffic System – Setup
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a WordPress website!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a platform for building a web presence, see this article: WordPress Statistics
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?
(Self-Hosted Or Hosted WordPress Site?)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option means you can download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
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 blog when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan to build a professional web presence and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then 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 Web Site
If you already have an existing web site, check 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 blog was built using the WordPress CMS platform, 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 site is not a WordPress web site, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use the above flowchart to decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-driven blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and 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 blog’s settings and customize the design of your existing site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain (e.g. http://mydomainname.com).
If you have an existing website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name the subfolder whatever you like).
If you already have an existing 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 addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To continue reading 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 with a WordPress website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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