In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a website into an automated web 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 website that is not only built with WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it can be integrated with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is add content regularly to automatically generate web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do is publish great content regularly to drive web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated website traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to help you understand the best way to get started 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 Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is as a web publishing platform, see this article: Statistics And Market Share Of WordPress
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
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 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 start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing website, check to see if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WP-Checking Tools
If your existing web site runs on the WordPress CMS platform, 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 website runs on something other than the WP CMS platform, you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the diagram 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 a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing website 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 blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using an appropriate WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install it in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 your subdirectory anything you like).
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 blog
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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 2
To keep reading, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help business owners learn how to grow their business 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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