Welcome to Part Three of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to turn your site into an automated web traffic generation machine using the WordPress CMS.
In Part One of this article series, we explained why using an expertly configured WordPress website is the key to generating automated web traffic …
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is publish content on a regular basis to attract web traffic!)
In Part 2, we discussed the setup phase of the traffic automation process. We helped you understand the best way to start if you don’t have a website yet, how to set things up if you already have a site, and what to do if your site has been built using WordPress.
(In Part 2 we show you where to set up WordPress on your domain)
In this article, we look at the configuration phase of the traffic system. We will show you how a WordPress site should be configured in order to automatically attract web traffic when you add content to your WordPress site.
WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Configuration
The ability to attract more visitors to one’s website is often cited by business owners as one of the greatest challenges they face online. Businesses are becoming increasingly more competitive on a global scale and are looking for any advantage available to get better results online.
Having the ability to automatically generate traffic on demand is a tremendous advantage over the competition. With an expertly configured WordPress site, your business has a flying start and an immediate advantage online.
The Configuration Phase Is The Difference
There is a significant difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally installed and set up by a web-building expert but not necessarily configured to its fullest advantage.
Here’s a simple way to describe the differences:
With a WordPress website that has been expertly configured you get a professional web presence plus online business marketing automation!
(An expertly configured website gives you a web presence with an automated online business marketing process!)
Not only does it take extra labor to build and integrate an automated online business marketing system into your website, but also a special kind of expertise.
Let’s illustrate this with a joke.
A True Story (Kind Of) …
All was going just fine in the gizmo workshop when things suddenly came to a halt.
No one could figure out what was wrong and so the plant manager decided to call in an expert.
The expert arrived shortly after being summoned and, without saying a word, walked immediately towards the main control box. After staring at the box for about 3 minutes, the expert then took out a teensy-weensy hammer from his tool box and made a gentle tap near the right-hand corner of the control unit.
Immediately, the machinery sprang to life once again.
The manager was delighted as he thanked the expert, who left as quickly as he had arrived.
A few days later, the factory manager received a request of payment for services for $5,000.
The factory manager picked up the phone and dialled the expert, demanding to know why the expert had charged them such an exorbitant fee for so little time spent delivering a minimal amount of work. He promptly requested an itemized invoice before hanging up.
The next day, a bill of payment arrived on the manager’s desk. Upon opening it, this is what he saw:
The number one challenge most businesses face online is being able to consistently drive new traffic to their sites.
How much money did the plant stand to lose when the equipment ground to a halt and no one in the factory floor had the expertise to fix it? Did the expert not have every right to be compensated fairly for having invested years building up the knowledge, skills and expertise that allowed him to avert a serious crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a WP web site set up so all you ever had to do is publish content to it and search engines, social sites like Facebook and Twitter and dozens of other online properties would be instantly notified, how much time and money would you save?
(How much better would your business be if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your website?)
While many experts often make complex things look simple, it rarely is that simple or easy.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site is more than adding some pages with content and configuring a few settings. It requires knowing where to tap! This includes knowing things such as:
- Which programs you need to install to get desired functionalities on your site.
- Which third-party accounts you need to set up and activate to get desired outcomes
- Which settings you need to configure to make sure everything functions as envisioned, etc.
(Generating web traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires expertise)
This part of the traffic automation system is not technically challenging, but it’s quite complicated. The reason why is because it’s not as easy as installing and configuring a solution, clicking on a button or two … it’s all this and so much more.
Expertly configuring your website is a complex process that involves your server, your WP site, and a number of third-party sites or online services …
(The configuration phase involves more than just configuring some settings in WordPress)
If we try to flowchart the configuration process, it would look something like this …
(A simplified diagram showing all the steps involved in the configuration process)
Let’s examine what’s involved in more detail.
Server Configuration
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your hosting account for website installation purposes (this should have been done during the Setup phase). What we are talking about, is tweaking settings in your hosting account specifically for handling web traffic …
(In the configuration phase, your web server settings need to be fine-tuned for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all web traffic is welcome traffic. Some of the web traffic your website will attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, malicious threats, brute-force bot attacks, etc.
This aspect of the configuration process, therefore, is all about evaluating your needs, planning for both bad and good traffic and adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This could include things like implementing server-level spam protection and securing server files, to configuring your domain and email redirections, setting up htaccess file redirections, etc …
(Have you configured your webhosting settings for handling things like email forwarding, page error redirections, etc?)
After your server settings have been fine-tuned and configured (if required), the next step is to set up and configure various external sites and/or online solutions.
External Services
The purpose of adding external sites is that all of your content is published to one central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it syndicates automatically to other parts of your web traffic generation system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
Once you incorporate these external services into your traffic network, content linking back to your site will be automatically fed to search, social and aggregator sites. Your content and site will be given additional exposure to new audiences and new sources of traffic.
Some of these web properties and online solutions will need to be set up before configuring your WordPress settings to save time and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, here are just some of the accounts you will need to have set up before configuring your WordPress site:
Google Webmaster Tools
(Google Webmasters)
Google Search Console lets you notify Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for faster page indexing, and provides you with useful information, SEO tools and diagnostic reports about your website.
After setting up your account, this information can be used to integrate and automate traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your site’s results, SEO, marketing activities, and more, by tracking all user engagement, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrals, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account and site data have been set up, you can add traffic tracking information to WordPress using a Google Analytics plugin and feed data instantly to various other online applications and reporting tools.
Bing Data And Tools
(Drive more traffic with Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Webmasters. Once your Bing Webmaster Tools account is set up, you can use this information to integrate and automate traffic-related settings and notifications in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As discussed in Part 2, WordPress offers both the option of a hosted vs self-hosted website. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress platform if you are planning to build a professional online presence.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides some great tools, which various WordPress plugins can access. We recommend setting up an account with WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll explain how to integrate these features into your traffic system in Part 4 of this series.
Social Media And Social Bookmarking
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and drive new visitors to your site)
You will need your various social media accounts set up in order to integrate these with your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media and social bookmarking accounts and bring new traffic to your site.
Make sure you have pages set up with all the big social networks – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.
There are many social bookmarking sites you can set up. You don’t need to go crazy, just choose those that will work well with your setup and/or content sharing tools.
(You can syndicate your content to loads of social sites. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Sites, Content Aggregators, Etc.
There are a number of new online technology platforms and content aggregators that can serve as secondary sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free accounts, and some offer a range of pricing plans.
For example, here is a content aggregator site that lets you add a feed from your site …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse)
RebelMouse is an aggregator for your RSS feeds and social profiles. Your content is displayed in a Pinterest-like format and visitors can follow your page.
There are many different platforms that can be incorporated into your own web traffic blueprint. Please contact us if you would like to explore your options and discuss a configuration plan to suit your needs.
After you have configured your web server and set up accounts with third-party services, it’s time to configure your site.
WordPress Configuration
The first step in configuring your site for traffic is to make sure that your global settings have been set up correctly.
Let’s go over some key areas.
Configuring WordPress Settings
By default, all WordPress installations include a Settings menu that allows you to set up your site’s main settings …
(WordPress settings section)
General Settings
Fields like Site Title and Tagline can affect your site’s SEO, search listings, etc …
(Settings Menu – General Settings)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings area contains a powerful and frequently overlooked automated traffic notification system …
(Settings Menu – Writing Settings Area)
As described in this section,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you or your webmaster have intentionally configured your settings to discourage search engines from indexing your site – see next section, then your site will automatically ping the list of services entered into the Update Services field
With an ‘out of the box’ WordPress installation, this section includes only one entry …
(Update Services)
WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically …
(WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading
This section affects how your content gets seen by readers when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings in this section can have an influence web traffic. For example, choosing to display the full text vs summaries of your post, affects how your content appears in RSS feeds and RSS email campaigns, and could play a part in someone’s decision to explore your site further, and whether or not they will visit your website or blog to read the rest of the content from summaries, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
The main setting here as far as your traffic system is concerned is whether the Search Engine Visibility feature is enabled or not.
Generally, you want search engines to visit your site. Leaving the box unchecked enables WordPress to automatically notify various update services whenever new posts get published (see Writing Settings above). Unless there is a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, make sure this box is left unchecked …
(WordPress Settings – Reading Settings)
Discussion
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your content, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(Settings Menu – Discussion Settings)
Permalinks
Your Permalink settings allow you to create SEO-friendly URLs …
(WordPress Settings – Permalink Settings)
Here are some of the ways your site’s permalinks can be configured …
(Configuring SEO-friendly URLs)
To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial: Configuring WordPress Permalinks
Configuring Settings – Plugins
The WordPress developer community makes available thousands of plugins that help to add almost every type of functionality to your website, including plugins that add traffic generation capabilities.
Here are some types of plugin categories that affect traffic and plugin examples
WordPress Security Plugins – Blog Defender
Once again, it’s important to configure your website for handling both good traffic and bad traffic. No web site is guaranteed immunity from being attacked.
(WordPress Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your WordPress blog invisible to botnet and hacker attacks.
Go here for more details:
SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugins help drive more traffic by improving the search engine friendliness of your web pages …
(WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO help increase traffic by improving your website’s SEO)
A plugin like Yoast SEO can significantly improve your site’s search engine optimization. Properly configured, this plugin not only makes your website easier for search engines to index, it allows you to specify how your content will show up in Google’s search results and social media pages, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus.
Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing your visitors to share your content with others can help drive more traffic to your site, especially if you publish content that adds value to readers.
(You can easily add social features to your website using WordPress plugins)
WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their site with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins.
Most social sharing plugins allow you to choose which social sites your content can be shared to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom update notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of followers), etc. Some social plugins even allow you to protect content which users can unlock by liking your page.
WordPress Theme Settings
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that can help improve your site’s traffic generation capabilities.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring the layout and design of your site, some themes also include built-in features that let you improve search optimization and site navigation structure for faster indexing, add tracking code, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many WordPress themes can be configured for improved traffic results)
With a number of quality themes, adding social sharing buttons and features to your website is as easy as selecting the option to enable this functions …
(Many WordPress themes provide built-in social sharing features)
Configuring Other WordPress Features For More Traffic Results
Last (but by no means least) in the web traffic system configuration process, are the elements that need to be configured outside of the global settings.
These include the following:
Website Compliance Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for an increase in traffic numbers, it’s important to plan not only for how to handle good and unwelcome traffic but also for all the things that can go wrong as more and more people start finding and visiting your website.
If you are making money online (or plan to), it’s important that your site remains compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate business practices online.
(Is Your Website Or Blog Legally Compliant?)
We have created a detailed article about why it’s important to have a legally compliant website here:
Post Tags And Categories
Post tags & categories help improve traffic by improving your site’s search optimization.
(Categories help to improve your site’s SEO, which helps you get more traffic.)
As we strongly recommend in this article, it’s best to set up your website’s post categories and tags earlier on, during the Website Planning Stages.
In the configuration phase, you will want to review and make sure that your site’s post tags and categories have been correctly set up to deliver optimal benefits and results.
Add A WordPress Site Map
A visitor site map that lists all of your site’s pages and posts is not only a useful navigation tool, it can also help external sites find your online content …
(Site Map – great for site visitors and beneficial for web traffic too!)
Note: An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same thing. Although Google can index your site just from an XML sitemap (which a plugin like Yoast SEO will create for you – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site results in increased traffic.
Your WordPress 404 Error Page
When visitors searching for your site type in the wrong web address into their web browser or click on a link pointing to a page on your site that no longer exists, they will typically be presented with a 404 page …
(Default WordPress 404 Not Found page)
Configuring your 404 Not Found error page allows you to redirect traffic that may otherwise be lost. …
(Configuring your 404 Not Found page allows you to recover traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 page can be set up on your server, there are several plugins for WordPress that let you easily configure your 404 page inside your WordPress dashboard.
WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once your site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then to automatically start attracting traffic is post content on a regular basis.
The process of expertly configuring your WordPress site, however, can be quite involved and elaborate and requires the configuration and integration of different elements and external web properties …
(WordPress Traffic Blueprint – Configuration Checklist)
The kind of expertise required to perform this stage of the traffic automation process can take many web professionals months to learn.
Once you have configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate the process. This step is covered in the next section of the series.
This is the end of Part Three
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website and proven web marketing methods.
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