In Part One of our WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your 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 different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a blog that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, features and functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to bring more web traffic is publish great content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then is add content on a regular basis to automatically generate more web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated web 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 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 Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s quite simple … build a site with WordPress!
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 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 doing business online, see this article: Some Facts And Figures About WordPress Usage
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free and 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 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 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 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 Web Site
If you already own an existing web site, check first 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 existing site is a WP site, 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 the WP CMS platform, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use the above diagram to decide how to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main web 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 a 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 theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. http://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 whatever you want).
If you already have a 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 Part 2
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively and drive traffic organically using a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
Get Notified When New Tutorials Get Published – Subscribe Using The Form Below!
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org
***