In Part One of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress web site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress site. An expertly configured WordPress website is a site that is not only built using 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 other services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically bring more web traffic is publish great content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to bring traffic is add great content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will 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
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. 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 learn just how popular WordPress is as a platform for doing business online, see this article: WordPress: Facts And Figures
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you plan 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 get to have complete 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 domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, first, check if your site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
If your website was built using 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 site is not a WP web site, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use this simple diagram to help you choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web 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 a domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing site using a suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. http://www.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 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 it. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-powered website and proven web marketing strategies.
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