In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your website into an automated 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 site is a site that is not only built using the WordPress CMS, 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 services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, third-party site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do to automatically bring more web traffic is publish content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do is publish great content regularly to generate traffic.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. You will learn the best way to start 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 Automation Blueprint – Setup
If You Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really 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, tips, and tutorials 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: WordPress: Usage And Market Share
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost 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, a number of 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 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 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 just start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing website, first, check if your web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If Your Website Is Powered By WordPress
If your existing website is powered by 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 runs on something other than the WordPress CMS platform, you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to decide how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog, make sure to use the self-hosted version of WordPress, which requires a domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing web site using an appropriate WordPress theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you 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 the subfolder anything you want).
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 blog
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 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping business owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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