In Part 1 of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 is different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress site is a blog that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS, 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 the way it can be integrated with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to drive 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 automatically start driving traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic machine 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 web presence yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Traffic Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … build your site with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips on this site 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 publishing platform, see this article: WordPress Usage Statistics
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?)
WordPress provides users with a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your blog 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 at no cost.
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 version. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free blog 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 options by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing website, check first if it 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 WordPress
If your existing site 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 existing blog runs on something other than WordPress, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use this simple flowchart to decide where to set up a WordPress website on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be 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 your own domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing web site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (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 subfolder anything 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is covered in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven marketing strategies that are easy and quick to implement.
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