In Part One of our Web 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 site is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website or blog is a site that is not only built with WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish great content regularly to generate more web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to generate traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated website traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to get started if you don’t have a website yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you don’t have 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 on the planet. We provide loads of 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 as a web publishing platform, see this article: Statistics And Market Share About WordPress
After making the choice to build your website 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 Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option lets you download the full-featured WordPress software for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site 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 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 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 platform 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 Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing site, check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Site Is A WordPress Website
If your existing web site is powered by 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 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 how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to help you choose 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 site and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven 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 look and feel of your existing website using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” folder 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 subdirectory whatever you like).
If you 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 blog
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 Two
To read more, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing strategies.
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