In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your website into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress web site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress site is a website or blog that is not only driven 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 tremendous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically drive 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 generate traffic is publish great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at 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 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 System – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence
If you don’t have a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get a WordPress site!
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 see just how popular WordPress has become as a web content management system, see this article: Some Surprising Statistics About WordPress Usage
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted)
WordPress offers users a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning to build a professional web presence 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 have full control over your web presence and avoid the limitations of the hosted option. Keep in mind that You can overcome the limitations of the free hosting options by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not just start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing website, first check to see if the 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 Web Site
If your existing website 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 website runs on something other than the WP CMS platform, then you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress 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 blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing site using a closely-matching WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://mydomainname.com).
If you have an existing website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name your subfolder anything you want).
If you already have an existing site 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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials aimed at helping website owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website and proven marketing strategies that are easy and quick to implement.
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie
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