In Part 1 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your site into an automated web traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress site is a website that is not only powered by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish content on a regular basis to automatically drive more web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then is publish great content regularly to drive traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to get started 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 Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Web Presence Yet
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s 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, 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: How Popular Is It? Some Surprising Facts And Figures About WordPress
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
Self-Hosted Or Hosted WordPress?
(Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “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 under your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning 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 site 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 Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, check if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Blog And Free WordPress-Checking Tools
If your website was built using 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 software, then you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress-driven blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web 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 web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using an appropriate WordPress theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. 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 an existing 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 it. This step is covered in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively using a WordPress website and proven online marketing strategies.
Want To Get Notified When New WordPress Tutorials Are Published? Then Subscribe Using The Form Below!
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org
***