In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress blog 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 tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do to automatically start driving traffic is publish great content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is publish content regularly to start driving traffic.
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 traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to 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 Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you haven’t got a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is around the world, see this article: WordPress Usage Statistics
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers users a ”hosted” and a “self-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.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your blog 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 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 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 Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing web site, 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 WP-Checking Tools
If your existing website 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 site is not a WP site, then you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This 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 web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (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 your subfolder whatever you like).
If you already 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 blog
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 series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read more, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic organically using a WordPress website and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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