In Part One of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to creating an automated 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 website. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a website 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, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to bring traffic is add great content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to automatically generate more web traffic is add content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this 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 System – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s 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, 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 as a web content management system, see this article: Some Useful Facts And Figures About WordPress Usage
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 available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option means 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 will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you are planning to build a professional business presence online 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 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 domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing web site, first check to see if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WP Software
If your site is a WP website, 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 site is not a WP web site, you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use the above diagram to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress-driven website, or
- Keep your existing site 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 website and add a WordPress-powered 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 look and feel of your existing web site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. 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 want).
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 covered in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help site owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-driven website or blog 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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