In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your site into an automated 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 or blog. An expertly configured WordPress website 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 tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is add content regularly to automatically bring traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to automatically bring web traffic is publish great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated online traffic system 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 Web Traffic Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a website 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 on the planet. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips 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, 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 WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and self-host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host 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 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 get to have complete 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 with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing web site, first check to see if your 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 Runs On The WordPress CMS Platform
If your web site 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 site is not a WP website, you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
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 blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing web site using a suitable theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (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 the subdirectory anything 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 addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically with a WordPress-powered website and proven web marketing methods.
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