In Part One of our WordPress Website 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 or blog. An expertly configured WordPress website or blog is a website 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 its integration with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to bring more web traffic is publish content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is add great content regularly to automatically drive traffic.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation 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 Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s 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 is, see this article: Statistics And Market Share Of WordPress
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This step is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress – Self-Hosted Or Hosted?
(WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software for free 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 hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you plan to build a professional business presence online 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 blog at WordPress.com. You have complete 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 start off with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already have an existing web site, check if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And Free WordPress-Checking Tools
If your site is a WP website, 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 blog was built using something other than the WP CMS platform, then you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you choose where to set up a WordPress web site on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to help you decide where to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web 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 expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main 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 your own domain name and web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name your subfolder whatever you like).
If you already have an existing site 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 blog
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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 2
To continue reading about this topic, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website and proven online marketing methods.
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