In Part One of our WordPress Website 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 is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a website or blog 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 tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to start driving traffic is add content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is publish content on a regular basis to bring more web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. You will learn 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … build your website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips 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 worldwide, see this article: Some Surprising Facts And Figures About WordPress Usage
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option means you can download the full-featured WordPress software for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts 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 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 you should choose the “self-hosted” WordPress platform. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free blog at WordPress.com. You get to have full 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing site, check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Runs On WordPress
If your existing blog runs on WordPress, 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 website runs on something other than the WP CMS platform, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress website 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 using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing 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 of your existing website using an appropriate WP theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. mydomainname.com).
If you 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 whatever you like).
If you have an existing site 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 addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part Two
To keep reading this article, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business online and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing methods.
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