In Part 1 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your website into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website or blog is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An expertly configured WordPress site is a website that is not only driven by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the enormous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, external site syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to drive more traffic is publish content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is publish great content on a regular basis to start driving traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will help you understand 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 System – Setup
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 on the planet. 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 has become around the world, see this article: WordPress: Statistics And Popularity
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost and self-host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site 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 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 platform. 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 just start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, first, check if the web site 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 Software
If your web 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 web site runs on something other than WordPress, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you decide how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use this simple diagram to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress 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 look and feel of your existing web site using a suitable WP theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. 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 whatever you want).
If you already have an existing site 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 site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is explained in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of an tutorial series designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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