Welcome to Part 3 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to drive new traffic automatically to your site using the WordPress CMS.
In Part One of this series, we explained why using an expertly configured WordPress website is the key to automating traffic to your website …
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically begin bringing more traffic is post great content regularly!)
In Part Two, we discussed critical setup decisions. We helped you understand the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set things up if you already have a site, and what to do if your site was built with WordPress.
(In Part two we show you where to set up WordPress on your domain)
In this article, we will look at the configuration stage of the traffic system. We will show you how a WordPress site should be configured in order to automatically start attracting new visitors whenever you publish content on your web site.
WordPress Traffic Blueprint – Configuration
Being able to attract more visitors to one’s website is often cited by many business owners as one of their greatest challenges online. With business becoming so much more competitive, it’s worth exploring every advantage available to increase your own competitiveness online.
Being able to generate traffic on demand can provide website owners with a huge advantage over the competition. With an expertly configured WordPress site, your business has a flying start as soon as your site is launched.
The Difference Is In The Configuration Stage
There is a significant difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally set up by an expert website builder but not necessarily configured to its fullest advantage.
Here’s a simple way to understand the differences:
With a WordPress site that has been expertly configured you get a professional web presence with an automated online business marketing tool!
(An expertly configured site gives you a web presence with a built-in automated online business marketing process!)
Not only does it take more work to build and integrate an automated online business marketing process into your website, it also takes a special type of expert knowledge.
Allow me to illustrate this with a story.
Are Experts Worth The Money They Charge?
Things were going just fine in the gizmo-making assembly line when everything ground to a sudden stop.
As no one could figure out what was wrong, the plant manager decided to call in an expert to try and fix the problem.
Soon afterward, the expert arrived and went immediately to the control box. After staring silently at the control unit for about 5 minutes, the expert then produced a teensy-weensy hammer and made a very gentle tap about 1 cm from the right side of the unit.
Immediately, the machinery started working again.
The manager was grateful and relieved as he thanked the expert, who left just as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days later, the manager received a request for payment of $5,000.
The manager picked up the phone and rang the expert, demanding to know why he had charged them so much for less than 5 minutes work and then requested an itemized invoice before hanging up.
The next day, a bill of payment arrived and was placed on the manager’s desk. Upon opening it, this is what he saw:
The #1 challenge most businesses face online is being able to consistently drive new traffic to their sites.
In the story we’ve just described, how much money did the gizmo factory stand to lose when the equipment stopped functioning and no one on the factory floor was able to fix it? Did the expert not have every right to demand fair compensation for years spent acquiring the knowledge and expertise that enabled him to avert a very serious crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a WordPress web site configured so all you had to do is publish new content and Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and dozens of other traffic-generating online properties would be automatically notified, how much time and money would this save you?
(How much time and money would you save if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your site?)
While many experts often make complex things look simple, it rarely is that simple or easy when you try to figure things out.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site requires more than simply installing a website and configuring a few basic settings. It also requires knowing where to tap! This includes knowing things such as:
- Which programs you need to install to get various functionalities on your site.
- Which third-party services you need to set up to achieve desired results
- Which settings need to be configured in order to make sure everything functions how you have planned, etc.
(Generating new traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires expertise)
Although this stage of the WordPress traffic automation system may not seem so technically challenging, it can be quite complicated. This is because it’s not just about installing and configuring a piece of software, configuring some options and settings in your admin area … it’s all this and so much more.
The configuration stage involves the integration of different components such as your web server, your web site, and various third-party sites and services …
(The configuration stage involves more than just configuring a few settings in WordPress)
If the configuration process were to be flowcharted, it would look something like this …
(A simplistic diagram of the configuration phase)
Let’s take a brief look at these areas.
Your Server
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your hosting account for site installation purposes. What we are talking about, is configuring settings in your webhosting account specifically for handling all web traffic …
(During the configuration phase, your server settings need to be checked for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all traffic is positive traffic. Some of the web traffic your site will attract will be unwanted traffic like bot spam, security threats, bot-hacking attempts, etc.
This aspect of the configuration process, therefore, requires planning for good and bad traffic and adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This includes looking at things like implementing spam protection and securing server files, to configuring domain and email forwarding, etc …
(Have you configured your control panel settings for handling things like emails, page errors, etc?)
After your server settings have been fine-tuned and configured, the next step of the configuration phase is to set up a number of third-party sites or online services.
External Sites
The basic concept of setting up external sites is that all of your content should be published from one central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it will get syndicated automatically to other components of your web traffic generation system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
Once you incorporate these external services into your configuration, content linking back to your website is automatically posted to your search, social and aggregator accounts. Your content and business will benefit from increased exposure online, helping you tap into a whole new audience and traffic source.
Some of these external sites and services will need to be set up before configuring your WordPress site’s settings to help speed up the process and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts:
Google Webmaster Tools
(Google Webmasters)
Google Webmasters lets you inform Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for faster page indexing, and provides site owners with important information, SEO tools, and reports about their website.
After setting up your account with Google, use your account information with traffic settings and notifications 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 site’s performance, SEO, user engagement, marketing activities, sales conversions, and more, by tracking all user engagement, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrers, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account has been set up, you can add your account code to WordPress using any of several Google Analytics plugins and send data automatically to many other applications and reporting tools.
Bing Webmaster Tools
(Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Webmasters. Once your account with Bing Webmaster Tools are set up, this information can be used with traffic settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As explained in Part Two, WordPress offers the option of a hosted vs self-hosted website. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress version if you are planning to build a professional business presence online.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides a number of useful tools, which can be accessed by various WordPress plugins. We recommend setting up an account at WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll explain how to integrate these features into your automated traffic system in Part 4 of this article series.
Social Media
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media pages and bring new traffic to your site)
You will need to set up your various social accounts before you can integrate these with 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 bring new traffic to your site.
Make sure you have set up profiles with all the main social networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.
There are many social sites you can You can syndicate your content to many social sites. You don’t need to create accounts with all of them, just select those that will work with your system and/or content sharing tools.
(You can syndicate your content to loads of social sites. Image source ShareThis.com)
Additional Sites, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are many emerging web platforms and RSS aggregators that can serve as second-tier traffic generation sources. Some are free or provide free levels, and some offer a range of pricing plans to suit different users.
For example, here is a content aggregator that lets you add a feed from your WordPress site …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse – Publishing platform for distributed content)
RebelMouse is a news aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content displays in a Pinterest-like format and visitors can follow your own RebelMouse page.
There are many different platforms that can be incorporated into your traffic blueprint. Please contact us if you would like to explore your options and discuss a strategy to suit your needs.
After you have configured your web server and set up accounts with third-party services, it’s time to configure WordPress.
WordPress Traffic 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 key areas.
Global WordPress Settings
By default, all WordPress installations include a Settings section that allows you to configure your site’s main settings …
(WordPress menu – Settings)
General Settings
Content entered into fields like Site Title and Tagline can influence your site’s SEO, search listings, etc …
(Settings Menu – General Settings)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings area contains a powerful and often overlooked traffic notification system …
(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 purposely configured your site settings to discourage search engines from indexing your site – see next section, then your site will automatically notify the services entered into the Update Services text area
By default, this section displays only one entry …
(Writing Settings – Update Services)
WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically …
(You can notify dozens of update services automatically with WordPress!)
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 Settings
This section affects how your content gets seen by readers when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings in this section can have an influence web traffic. For example, choosing to display the full text vs a summary of your post, affects how your content appears in RSS feeds and blog post digests, and could play a part in someone’s decision to explore your site further, and whether or not they will visit your site to view the rest of the content from a partial feed, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
As far as your traffic system is concerned, however, the most important setting in this section is whether the Search Engine Visibility checkbox is ticked or not.
Typically, you would want search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked allows WordPress to instantly notify various update services when new posts are published (see Writing Settings above). Unless you have a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, make sure this box is left unticked …
(WordPress Settings – Reading Settings Section)
Discussion Settings
Although the settings in this section are mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your posts, 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 …
(WordPress Settings – Discussion Settings)
Permalinks
Your Permalink settings enable your site to publish posts with SEO-friendly URLs …
(Global Settings – Permalink Settings)
The examples below show some of the options for configuring your SEO-friendly URLs …
(Configuring post permalinks)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here: How To Set Up WordPress Permalinks
Plugins
WordPress provides users with plugins that help to add just about every kind of functionality imaginable to your website, including plugins with features that help to improve traffic generation.
Let’s look at some types of plugin categories that affect traffic and plugin examples
Security Plugins – Blog Defender
Once again, it’s important to configure your WordPress site for dealing with both good traffic and bad traffic. No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of securing your web sites.
(Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your WordPress site invisible to malicious attacks from hackers and bots.
More information:
SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugins help drive more traffic by making your web pages more search engine friendly …
(SEO plugins like Yoast SEO help drive traffic by improving your website’s ability to rank better in search engines)
Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your website’s search engine optimization. Once properly configured, this plugin not only makes your web pages easier for search engines like Google and Bing to index, it also lets you configure how your content will show up in Google’s search results and social media pages, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus.
WordPress Social Plugins
Allowing visitors to easily share your content with others can help drive significant traffic to your site, especially if you post great content that adds value to readers.
(You can add social sharing features to your site easily with WordPress plugins)
There are many social sharing plugins to choose from.
Many social plugins allow you to select which social sites your content can be shared to, embed social buttons into your content, set up default update notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of shares), etc. Some social sharing plugins even allow you to protect content which users can unlock by linking or tweeting your page.
Configuring Settings – WP Themes
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that can help you drive more traffic to your site.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring design and layout aspects of your site, many themes also include options for improving search optimization and site linking structure for faster indexing, easily add tracking, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many themes can be configured for improved traffic results)
With a number of themes, adding social sharing buttons and features to your content is as easy as clicking a button …
(Many WordPress themes provide built-in social sharing features that can be easily turned on with the click of a button)
Other Configuration Steps For WordPress Traffic Automation
Last (but by no means least) in the WordPress traffic system configuration process, are the areas that need to be configured outside of the global settings.
This includes:
Compliance Web Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for an increase in traffic numbers, it’s important to plan not only how to handle good and bad traffic but also for all the things that can go wrong when more and more people start finding and visiting your website.
If you engage in any form of commercial activity online, it’s important that your website complies with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate how business online is done.
(Does Your Website Or Blog Comply With All Legal Requirements?)
We have created a detailed article about adding legal pages to WordPress here:
WordPress Tags & Categories
Post categories and tags help improve traffic by allowing search engines to classify and index your pages.
(Post categories help improve traffic by allowing search engines to better index your website.)
As we strongly recommend in this article, your website’s categories and tags should be reviewed and set up earlier on, during the Website Planning Stage.
When configuring your website or blog to automate and improve traffic, you will want to review and make sure that the categories and tags that have been set up.
Add A WordPress Site Map
A site map that displays all of your site’s posts and pages is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external tools find your web content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for web traffic too!)
Note: An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same thing. Although Google will index your pages just using an XML sitemap (which plugins like Yoast SEO will create for you – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site can result in increased traffic.
Don’t Forget Your Site’s 404 Page
When online visitors type in the wrong URL or click on a dead hyperlink, they will typically be presented with an error – page not found message (known as a 404 Not Found page) …
(A WordPress 404 Not Found error page)
Configuring your 404 page allows you to redirect web traffic that may otherwise be lost. …
(Configuring your 404 Not Found error page allows you to recover web traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 error page can be set up on your web server, there are WordPress plugins that allow you to easily configure your 404 page from your WordPress dashboard.
WordPress Traffic Automation System: Configuration Phase – Summary
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you have to do then to automatically attract new web traffic is publish fresh content regularly.
The process of expertly configuring your WordPress site, however, is quite involved and elaborate , requiring the configuration and integration of various elements and external web properties …
(Traffic System – Configuration Phase Checklist)
The expertise involved in expertly configuring a WordPress site typically takes some website professionals a long time to acquire.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate the aspects of the process that can be automated. This step is covered in the next section of our series.
This is the end of Section Three
To keep reading about this topic, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic sustainably using a WordPress website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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