In Part 1 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 website or blog is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a blog that is not only driven 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, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content 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 to automatically generate web traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. 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 Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … build a web presence with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of 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 is as a web publishing platform, see this article: WordPress Statistics
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted Or Self-Hosted WordPress?
(WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using 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 to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 have complete 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 with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing site, first, check if the website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
If your blog runs on 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 existing web site uses a platform technology other than WordPress, then you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-driven website, 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 web site.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-driven 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 and style of your existing site using a suitable WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain name (i.e. http://mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 the subdirectory whatever you want).
If you have an existing 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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of an article series designed to help site owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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