Welcome to Part Three of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to create an automated web traffic generating machine using WordPress.
In Part 1 of this series, we explained why using an expertly configured WordPress website or blog is the key to generating automated traffic …
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to automatically begin attracting more traffic is add new content consistently!)
In Part 2, we discussed the setup phase. We explained the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set everything up if you already have a website, and what to do if your existing site has been built with WordPress.
(In Part 2 we show you how to set up WordPress on your domain)
In this article, we discuss the configuration stage of the traffic blueprint. We explain how a WordPress site should be configured to automatically get traffic when you begin adding web content to your web site.
WordPress Traffic Blueprint – Configuration
Being able to drive more traffic to one’s website is often cited by business owners as one of their greatest challenges online. Also, the business landscape is becoming so much more competitive and businesses are looking for any advantage available to increase their competitiveness online.
The ability to automatically generate traffic on demand can be a huge advantage. For businesses, an expertly configured website gives WordPress users a flying start from the moment their website is launched.
Configuration Is The Difference
There is a significant difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally installed and set up by a web-building expert but not necessarily configured to take advantage of everything WordPress can offer.
Here’s a simple way to explain the differences:
With a WordPress website that has been expertly configured you get a web presence and an automated online business marketing system!
(An expertly configured site gives you a web presence with a built-in automated online business marketing system!)
Not only does it take more labor to build and integrate an automated online business marketing system into your website, but also a special kind of expert knowledge.
To illustrate this here is a joke.
Knowing Where To Tap
All is moving along in the gizmo-making assembly line when the equipment suddenly grinds to a complete stop.
As no one can figure out what’s happened, the manager decides to call in an expert to fix the problem.
The expert arrives shortly afterwards and heads out directly to the control box. After staring silently at the board for less than 3 minutes or so, the expert then takes out a little hammer from his tool belt and makes a single tap near the left corner of the unit.
Immediately, everything comes back to life.
The plant manager is relieved as he thanks the expert, who leaves as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days later, the factory manager receives a request for payment of services rendered totalling $5,000.
Feeling furious, the manager dials the expert. Why had he charged them so much for less than 5 minutes work? He then requests an itemized invoice and hangs up.
The next day, a bill of payment arrives in the manager’s in-tray. Upon opening the envelope, this is what he sees:
The main challenge most businesses face online is driving web traffic to their sites.
In the story we’ve just described, how much money did the plant stand to lose when production stopped functioning and no one in the factory floor had the expertise required to get things up and running again? Did the expert not have the right to get paid fairly for spending years building up the knowledge and expertise that enabled him to quickly avert a potentially costly crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a blog set up and configured so all you ever had to do is publish content to it and search engines, social media and dozens of other traffic-generating web properties would be automatically notified, how much time and money would you save?
(How much time and money would you save if you could automate the process of attracting new visitors to your site?)
While experts often make complex situations and problems look simple, it rarely is that simple or easy.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site involves more than adding some pages with content and configuring a few basic settings. It also requires knowing where to tap! This includes knowing things like:
- Which programs you need to install to get certain functionalities on your site.
- Which accounts you need to set up to achieve specific results
- Which options need to be configured to make sure everything will work as expected, etc.
(Driving web traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires knowledge and expertise)
Although this stage of the WordPress traffic automation system may not seem technically difficult, it can be quite involved and complicated. This is because it’s not just about installing and configuring a plugin, configuring some settings in your dashboard area or clicking on a button or two … it’s all this and much more.
The configuration stage involves the integration of a number of different parts such as your web hosting server, your WP site, and various external sites and services …
(The configuration phase involves more than just configuring a few WordPress settings)
If we try to flowchart all the steps involved in the configuration process, it would look something like this …
(A simplified diagram of the configuration phase)
Let’s take a look at these areas in more detail.
Configuring The Web Server
We’re not talking about the process of configuring your webhosting account for installation purposes. What we are talking about, is tweaking settings and options in your web server specifically for handling web traffic …
(In the configuration phase, your web-hosting account settings need to be checked for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all web traffic is positive traffic. Some of the web traffic you may attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, security threats, brute-force bot attacks, etc.
This stage of the configuration process, therefore, requires planning for bad and good traffic and adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This could include things like configuring server-level spam protection and securing server files, to configuring your domain and email forwarding, etc …
(Have you configured your control panel settings for handling things like emails, page errors, etc?)
After fine-tuning your server settings and configuring these (if required), the next step is to set up and configure various third-party sites or online solutions.
3rd-Party Sites Integration
The purpose of choosing external sites is that all of your content should be published from one central location (your site) and from there, it will get syndicated automatically to other parts of your web traffic generation system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
Once these external sites have been added to your configuration, content linking back to your website is automatically posted to search, social and aggregator sites. Your content and site will be exposed to new audiences and new sources of traffic.
Some sites and online services will need to have accounts set up before configuring your WordPress settings to help speed up the configuration process and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts before configuring your WordPress site’s settings:
Google Search Console
(Google Webmasters)
Google Webmasters lets you tell Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for faster page indexing, and provides you with useful data, tools and diagnostic reports about your website.
Once your Google Webmasters account and site data have been set up, you can use this information to automate traffic settings in WordPress (e.g. using plugins like Yoast SEO – see further below) and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your website’s results, SEO, marketing campaigns, and more, by tracking all user behaviour, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrers, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account and site details have been set up, your account information can be easily integrated with WordPress via a simple Google Analytics plugin and and fed to other useful applications and reporting tools.
Bing Webmaster Tools
(Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. Once your Bing Webmaster Tools account and site data have been set up, your information can be used with web traffic-related settings in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As explained in Part 2, WordPress provides users with the option of a hosted vs self-hosted website. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress option if you are planning to grow a professional online presence for your business.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides a number of useful features, which a number of WordPress plugins can access. We recommend setting up an account with WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll show you how to integrate this into your automated traffic system in the next installment of this series.
Social Media And Social Bookmarking Accounts
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and bring new traffic to your site)
You will need to set up your various social accounts before you can configure these as part of your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and social bookmarking accounts and get new visitors to your site.
You should have profiles set up with all the popular social networks – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.
There are lots of social sites you can set up accounts with and post your content to. You don’t need to go crazy, just pick the ones that will work with your setup and/or content syndication tools (we will review some of these tools in greater detail in the Automation phase).
(There are many social sites you can post your content to. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Platforms, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are many online platforms and content aggregators that can act as secondary sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free levels, and some offer a range of pricing plans to suit different user types.
For example, here is a content aggregator that lets you add your WordPress site feed …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse)
RebelMouse is an aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content displays in a Pinterest-like format and users can follow your own RebelMouse page.
There are many different sites and platforms that can be incorporated into your own traffic blueprint. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to explore this area further and discuss a configuration strategy to suit your needs.
Once you have configured your web server and set up accounts with third-party services, it’s time to configure WordPress.
WordPress Configuration
The first step in configuring your WordPress site for traffic is to ensure that its global settings have been correctly set up.
Let’s go over some of the important areas.
Configuring WordPress Settings
By default, WordPress includes a Settings section that allows you to configure your site’s global settings …
(WordPress settings menu)
General Settings
Sections like Site Title and Tagline can influence your site’s SEO, search listings, etc …
(Global Settings – General Settings Section)
Writing
The Writing Settings area contains one of the most powerful and often overlooked built-in traffic notification systems available to WordPress users …
(Settings Menu – Writing Settings)
As described in the Update Services section,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you have specifically chosen to prevent search engines from indexing your site, then your site will automatically ping the list of update services entered into the Update Services field
With an ‘out of the box’ WordPress installation, only one service is available …
(Writing Settings – WordPress Update Services)
WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically …
(WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading
This section affects how visitors will see your content when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings in this section can have an influence traffic. For example, choosing to display the full content vs summaries of your post, affects how your content appears in RSS feeds and RSS email campaigns, and could play a part in someone’s choice to explore your site further, and whether or not they will visit your website to view the rest of the content from excerpts, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
The main setting in this section as far as traffic is concerned is whether the Search Engine Visibility check box is ticked or not.
Normally, you would want search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked enables WordPress to automatically notify your update services list whenever a new post is published (see Writing Settings above). Unless there is a specific reason to discourage search engines from visiting your site, make sure this box is left unchecked …
(Settings Menu – Reading Settings Screen)
Discussion Settings
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your content, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(Settings Menu – Discussion Settings)
Permalinks
Permalinks allow you to create search engine-friendly URLs …
(Settings Menu – Permalink Settings Section)
Here are some of the options for configuring your site’s SEO-friendly URLs …
(Configuring search-friendly URLS)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this tutorial: Setting Up WordPress Permalinks
WordPress Plugins
The WordPress developer community makes available plugins that can add almost every kind of functionality to your site, including plugins that add traffic generation capabilities.
Let’s look at some types of plugin categories that affect traffic and plugin examples
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Once again, it’s important to configure your website for dealing with the effects of both good traffic and bad traffic. No website is completely immune from being attacked.
(Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your website invisible to malicious attacks from hackers and botnets.
More information:
WordPress SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
SEO plugins help drive traffic by making your web content easily indexable …
(WordPress SEO Plugin – Yoast SEO)
A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your website’s SEO. Properly configured, this plugin not only makes your web pages easier for search engines to find, crawl and index, it also gives you control over how your content is presented to Google’s search results and social media pages, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus.
Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing your visitors to share your content with their networks can help drive significant traffic to your site, especially if you post content that adds real value to readers.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their website with WordPress plugins)
You can easily add social sharing features to your website using WordPress plugins.
Many social share plugins allow you to specify which social sites visitors can share your content to, embed social buttons into your content, set up default update notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of likes), etc. Some social share plugins even allow you to ‘lock’ content which visitors can unlock by liking your page.
WordPress – Traffic Generation Theme Features
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that can help grow your site’s traffic.
For example, as well as options and settings for configuring layout and design elements of your site, many themes also include options for improving SEO and site linking structure for faster indexing, easily add analytics code, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many themes can be configured for better traffic results)
With a number of themes, adding social sharing buttons and features to your site is as easy as selecting the option to enable this functions …
(Many WordPress themes provide users with built-in social sharing features)
Additional Sections To Configure
Last but not least in the traffic configuration process, are the components that need to be set up outside of the global settings.
This includes:
Legal Pages
Once again, when preparing your website for a growth in traffic numbers, it’s important to plan not only for how to deal with good and unwanted traffic but also for all the things that can go wrong as more and more people find and begin to visit your website.
If you are making money online, it’s important that your website complies with all legal requirements.
(Does Your Site Comply With The Law?)
If you need help adding legal pages to WordPress, go here:
Tags And Post Categories
WordPress post tags & categories help to improve your site’s SEO, which helps to increase traffic.
(WordPress categories help improve traffic by improving your site’s SEO.)
As we recommend in this article, your website’s post tags and categories should be discussed and set up earlier on, during the Website Planning Stage.
When considering ways to automate and improve traffic, you will want to review and make sure that the post tags and categories you have set up.
Add A Site Map
A site map that lists all of your site’s posts and pages to visitors is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external applications discover more of your site’s content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for traffic too!)
Note: An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same things. Although Google can index your pages just from an XML sitemap (which plugins like Yoast SEO will create for you – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site results in increased traffic.
404 Error Page – Another Source Of Traffic!
When online visitors type in the wrong web address into their browser or click on a link pointing to an incorrect destination on your site, they will normally be presented with a 404 error page …
(Default WordPress 404 Error Page)
A 404 Error Page can redirect confused visitors to your functional web pages …
(Configuring your 404 Not Found page allows you to redirect traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 Not Found error page can be set up in your server, there are several WordPress plugins that allow you to easily configure your 404 page inside your WordPress admin area.
WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint: Configuration Phase – Summary
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you have to do then to begin attracting web traffic is publish fresh content on a regular basis.
The process of expertly configuring your WordPress site, however, can be quite involved and elaborate , requiring the configuration and integration of different components and external web properties …
(WordPress Traffic System – Configuration Phase Checklist)
The kind of skills and expertise involved in expertly configuring a WordPress site can take some web developers months to learn.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate the process. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 3
To read more, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively using a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing strategies.
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