In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your 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 website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website is a blog that is not only powered by WordPress, 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 the way it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to automatically bring traffic is add content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is add content on a regular basis to automatically drive web traffic.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the 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 Web Traffic Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you don’t have a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … build your web presence with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide many articles, tips, and tutorials 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: How Popular Is WordPress? Some Facts And Figures About WordPress
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you are planning 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 site 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already own an existing site, first, check if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If A Web Site Is Powered By WordPress
If your website 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 website runs on something other than WordPress, then you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress-driven site, 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 website and add a WordPress-powered 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.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (i.e. 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 want).
If you 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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help site owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively using a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
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