In Part One of our Web 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 not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress site is a website or 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 advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is publish content regularly to generate more web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then to automatically bring web traffic is add content regularly.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. You will learn the best way to start 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 Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Website Yet
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 easy-to-use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a web content publishing platform, see this article: Some Useful Statistics About WordPress
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you 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 hosts your blog 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 web presence and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then you should 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 get to have full control over your web presence and avoid the limitations of the hosted option. Keep in mind that the free hosting limitations can be overcome by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not just start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing website, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Blog And WordPress-Checking Tools
If your website is a WP web site, 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 blog was built using something other than WordPress, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up a WordPress web site on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-driven 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 site’s settings and customize the design of your existing web site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have an existing 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read more, click here:
This article is part of an article series aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic organically using a WordPress website and proven online marketing strategies.
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