In Part One of our WordPress 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 as a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress site is a web site that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, features and functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically bring more traffic is publish content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then to drive web traffic is add great content regularly.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the automation process. You will learn the best way to start 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 Phase
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get a WordPress site!
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 learn just how popular WordPress has become as a content publishing platform, see this article: WordPress: Usage And Market Share
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(Hosted Or Self-Hosted WordPress Site?)
WordPress offers users a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option lets you download the full-featured WordPress 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 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 at no cost.
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 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 platform by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing web site, check to see if the website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WP-Checking Tools
If your 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 website is not a WP web site, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you decide how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use this simple diagram to choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-driven website, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires a domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design of your existing site using an appropriate theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. www.mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 have a 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 site
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 Part Two
To read more, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically with a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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