In Part 1 of our Web Site 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 web site is different than a professionally-configured WordPress site. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a site that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, third-party site syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do is publish great content on a regular basis to automatically drive traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is publish content on a regular basis to automatically drive web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. 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 Web Traffic Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide many articles, tips, and tutorials about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is around the world, see this article: Statistics And Market Share Of WordPress
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress provides users with a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can 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 hosts your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 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 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 own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing website, check if the website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If Your Website Is Powered By WordPress
If your existing blog runs on WP software, 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 was built using something other than WP software, then you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use the above diagram to help you decide where to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven 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 and style of your existing website using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain name (i.e. 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 subdirectory anything you like).
If you already have a 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 its internal settings. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven marketing strategies that are easy to implement.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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