In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 website is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a site that is not only powered by 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 the way it integrates with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically bring traffic is publish great content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to automatically bring traffic is publish content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic system 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 web presence yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Web Traffic System – Setup
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you don’t have a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is around the world, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Statistics About WordPress
After making the choice to build your site 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 available …
WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted
(WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost and 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 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 plan to build a professional web presence and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then you should choose the “self-hosted” WordPress version. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free site at WordPress.com. You have complete control over 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing website, check first if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Website Is A WordPress Site
If your blog runs on the WP CMS platform, 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 web site is not a WP web site, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple diagram to choose how to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress-driven blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires a domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing web site using a suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. mydomainname.com).
If you 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 the subdirectory whatever you want).
If you already have an existing website 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 its internal settings. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part 2
To continue reading, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-driven website and proven marketing strategies that are easy to implement.
Get Notified When New Tutorials Are Published – Subscribe To WPCompendium.org!
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org
***