In Part One 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 different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a website or blog that is not only driven by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish great content regularly to automatically start driving web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to generate web traffic is add great content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of this process. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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 System – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips 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: WordPress: Useful Facts And Figures
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted)
WordPress offers users a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software for free and self-host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
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 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 You can overcome the limitations of the free hosting options 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 own an existing web site, first, check if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Was Built Using WP Software
If your site was built with 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 blog was built using something other than WP software, you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use this simple diagram to decide where to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web 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 your own domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have a 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 anything you like).
If you already have a 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is covered in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing strategies.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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