In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your site into an automated 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 web site is a 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 enormous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to automatically drive more web traffic is add great content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to drive more web traffic is publish content regularly.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated website traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will help you understand 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 Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a web presence with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-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 learn just how popular WordPress is as a web content management system, see this article: Statistics And Usage Of WordPress
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and self-host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some 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 web presence 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 blog at WordPress.com. You can fully customize 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 by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing site, first check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If A Site Is Powered By WordPress
If your web site is a WP 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 existing blog runs on something other than the WordPress CMS platform, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use this simple diagram to help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
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 a 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 suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. http://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 the subdirectory anything you want).
If you have a 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 addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To keep reading about this topic, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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