In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your 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 different than a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site 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 functionality of WordPress and its integration with various sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to generate more web traffic is add great content regularly!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is publish great content on a regular basis to bring more traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. We will help you understand 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 Web Traffic Blueprint – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website Yet
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system on the planet. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is as a web content management system, see this article: WordPress Statistics
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to decide which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?
(Self-Hosted Or Hosted WordPress Site?)
WordPress provides users with a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress software for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of 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 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 Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing website, first check to see if your web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Was Built Using WP Software
If your existing site was built using 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 existing site is not a WordPress site, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the diagram below …
(Use this simple diagram to help you decide where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main website.
If you choose to keep your existing website and add a WordPress-powered 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 look and feel of your existing site using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (e.g. mydomainname.com).
If you 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 have a 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 addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To keep reading about this topic, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series designed to help you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively using a WordPress website and proven online marketing methods.
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