In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a web site that is not only built with the WordPress CMS platform, 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 other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do is add content on a regular basis to bring web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to automatically drive more traffic is publish content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic machine 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 get started 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is with businesses, see this article: Statistics And Usage About WordPress
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Self-Hosted Or Hosted?
(WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost and self-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 site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing site, check to see if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And Free WP-Checking Tools
If your existing website is a WordPress site, 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 website was built using something other than WordPress, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple flowchart to decide where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven 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 website using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. 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 your subdirectory anything you like).
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 site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To keep reading about this topic, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively with a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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