In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning a website into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress web site is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress site is a 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, ease-of-use 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 regularly to bring more web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to automatically generate more traffic is publish content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … build your site 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 on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress has become around the world, see this article: WordPress: Useful Facts And Statistics
After making the choice 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 important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress)
WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
With 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 blog when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 platform. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free site 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 the free hosting limitations can be overcome by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already own an existing web site, check first 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 Web Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
If your website is a WP web 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 web site is not a WordPress site, you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you decide how to set up WordPress 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. Your WordPress 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 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 design and style of your existing web site using a suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. 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 whatever 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 series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click here:
- Website Traffic Blueprint Part Three – A Complete Guide To Generating More Web Traffic Automatically
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)
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