In Part One of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website or blog is a web site that is not only built with the WordPress CMS platform, 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 its integration with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, 3rd-party site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to automatically drive more web traffic is publish content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to bring more traffic is publish great content regularly.
As outlined in Part One 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 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 Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a site with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips 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 content publishing platform, see this article: WordPress Usage Statistics
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(Self-Hosted Or Hosted WordPress?)
WordPress offers a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application for free and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
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 blog when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 platform. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free blog at WordPress.com. You have full control over your web presence and avoid the limitations of the hosted option. Keep in mind that You can overcome the limitations of the free hosting options 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 own an existing website, check if the web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Site Is Powered By WordPress
If your blog runs on WordPress, 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 web site is not powered by WordPress, then you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to help you decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress 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 of your existing web site using an appropriate WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. 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 subfolder whatever you want).
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 it. This step is addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To continue reading about this topic, click on the link below:
This article is part of an article series aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven online marketing methods.
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