In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 web site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a website or blog 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 enormous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and how it integrates with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is add content on a regular basis to drive more web traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do is add great content on a regular basis to automatically start driving web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated website traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. You will learn the best way to get started 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 System – Setup
If You Have No Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips 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 platform for building a web presence, see this article: WordPress: Facts And Statistics
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning 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 site 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 by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing website, check first if your web 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 WordPress Web Site
If your existing website runs on 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 web site was built using something other than the WP CMS platform, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use this simple flowchart to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires a domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. www.mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 your subfolder anything you want).
If you already have an existing website that you don’t want to delete or replace with a WordPress site, you can choose 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 covered 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 tutorial is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping site owners learn how to grow their business online with a WordPress website and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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