In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to creating 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 site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress web site is a website or blog 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, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with various sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, external site syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to drive more web traffic is add content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to automatically bring web traffic is publish content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss 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 Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Website
If you haven’t got 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 loads of articles, tips, and tutorials on this site 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 publishing platform, see this article: Statistics And Usage About WordPress
After making the choice 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 very important because there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress Self-Hosted vs WordPress Hosted
(WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted)
WordPress offers both a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress application for free and self-host a WordPress site or blog using 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 WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 site at WordPress.com. You get to 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 own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing site, check to see if your web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If A Website Was Built With WordPress
If your web site 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 existing web site is not a WordPress site, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the diagram below …
(Use the above diagram to help you choose where to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing website 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 web site and add a WordPress-driven 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 site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing web site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. 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 subdirectory whatever you want).
If you have an existing 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 series.
This is the end of Part 2
To continue reading, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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