In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating an automated 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 website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a website or blog that is not only built with the WordPress CMS, 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 integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do is publish great content on a regular basis to automatically bring more traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then to drive traffic is add great 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 automation process. We will help you understand the best way to get started 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 Web Traffic Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … build a website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is around the world, see this article: WordPress: Useful Facts And Figures
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(WordPress – Self-Hosted Or Hosted?)
WordPress offers users a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost and self-host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog 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 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 the free hosting limitations can be overcome 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 Already Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing website, check if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On WordPress
If your web site runs on the WP 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 some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to help you decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is built with WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
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 and style of your existing website using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (i.e. 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 your subdirectory anything you want).
If you already have a 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 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 a comprehensive series of articles designed to help small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively using a WordPress website or blog and proven web marketing strategies.
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