In Part 1 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a website into 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 as a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website or blog is a website or blog that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, third-party site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to drive web traffic is add great content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to automatically bring more traffic is add great content regularly.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated website traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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 Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-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 learn just how popular WordPress has become, see this article: Useful Statistics About WordPress Usage
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using 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 site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
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 blog 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 by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing web site, check first if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If A Web Site Is Powered By WordPress
If your web site 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 is not a WordPress website, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use the above diagram to help you choose where 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 web site and add a WordPress-driven blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing website and add a WordPress 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 blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name your subfolder anything you like).
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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. 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:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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