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 or blog is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a blog 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 functionality of WordPress and its integration with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, third-party site syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically drive web traffic is publish content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to start driving traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. The focus of this section is to 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 Traffic Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website Yet
If you don’t have a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. 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 is around the world, see this article: WordPress: Statistics And Popularity
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted
(Self-Hosted vs Hosted WordPress Site)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using 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 WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you plan to build a professional business presence online 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 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 with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, check if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WP Software
If your existing website runs on WP software, 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 uses a platform technology other than WordPress, then you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use the above flowchart to decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires your own domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing web site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain (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 the subfolder whatever you like).
If you 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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
Subscribe Using The Form Below And Get Notified Of New Tutorials!
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org
***