In Part 1 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning a site 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 website. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a website or blog that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, 3rd-party site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is add great content on a regular basis to drive traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to generate traffic is add content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this 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 Traffic System – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide many 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, see this article: Statistics And Market Share About WordPress
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost 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 will host your blog 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 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 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 just start off with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already own an existing site, check if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Web Site Is A WP Website
If your blog 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 runs on something other than WP software, you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the diagram below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing web 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 blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using an appropriate WordPress theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. http://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 subfolder anything you like).
If you already have a website 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 explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help small business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively with a WordPress website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
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