In Part One of our Web 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 is different than a professionally-configured WordPress site. An expertly configured WordPress blog 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 full advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to generate more traffic is add content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is publish content regularly to start driving web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website Yet
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 easy-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 management system, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Some Useful Facts And Figures About WordPress Usage
After making the choice 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 is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted
(WordPress – Self-Hosted Or Hosted?)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
With 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 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 site at WordPress.com. You 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 Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing site, first, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If A Web Site Is A WordPress Web Site
If your website was built using WordPress software, 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 was built using something other than WordPress, then you will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-powered website, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires your own domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using an appropriate theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. www.mydomainname.com).
If you have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subdirectory of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name the subdirectory whatever you like).
If you have a 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 site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This article is part of an article series designed to help small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-driven website and proven web marketing methods.
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