In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning a website into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a web site that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, features and functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, third-party site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do is publish great content on a regular basis to start driving web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do to bring more web traffic is publish great content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 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 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
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a web presence with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. 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 has become as a web content publishing platform, see this article: WordPress: Usage And Market Share
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide 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 …
WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?
(Self-Hosted vs Hosted WordPress Site)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software for free and self-host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations on what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan to build a professional web presence 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 site at WordPress.com. You have full 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 by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing website, check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If A Web Site Was Built Using WordPress
If your website is a WP 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 existing web site runs on something other than the WP CMS platform, then you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use this simple 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 built with WordPress, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress 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 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 web site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. http://mydomainname.com).
If you have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name the subfolder anything you like).
If you already have a site 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 its internal settings. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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