In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating 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 website or blog is a website 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 tremendous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do to drive traffic is add great content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then to automatically drive more web traffic is publish content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic 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 Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tips, and tutorials on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a web content management system, see this article: How Popular Is WordPress? Some Impressive Statistics About WordPress
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?)
WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free and self-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, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 platform. 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 platform 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 Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing web site, check first if the website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Blog And Free WordPress-Checking Tools
If your existing web 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 existing web site is not a WordPress website, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple diagram to help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress site, 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-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 of your existing website using an appropriate theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. 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 the subfolder anything you want).
If you already have an existing website 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 site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help business owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic organically with a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven marketing strategies that are easy to implement.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)
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