In Part One of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 website or blog is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress website is a website 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 advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and how it integrates with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, third-party site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is add content on a regular basis to drive more traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then is publish content on a regular basis to start driving web traffic.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of this process. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to start 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you don’t have a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a web content management system, see this article: Statistics About WordPress Usage
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress – Self-Hosted Or Hosted?)
WordPress offers both 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 using your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you are planning to build a professional business presence online and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then you should 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 own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already own an existing web site, first check to see if it 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 existing site is a WordPress 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 blog was built using something other than the WP CMS platform, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress site on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is built with WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main site.
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 webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you 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 the subfolder anything you want).
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 addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To keep reading, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping website owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively with a WordPress website and proven web marketing methods.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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