In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 website is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress blog is a site 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 full advantage of the enormous power, features and built-in functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to automatically bring web traffic is publish great content regularly!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then is add content regularly to automatically drive more traffic.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic machine 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 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 Phase
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-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 see just how popular WordPress has become, see this article: WordPress: Statistics And Popularity
After making the choice to build your site 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 you can choose from …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers users a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your blog when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
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 version. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free site 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, check if your 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 WordPress
If your web site is a WordPress web 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 web site runs on something other than the WP CMS platform, then you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below …
(Use the above flowchart to choose where to set up a WordPress website on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site with a WordPress website, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be 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 a domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing website using a suitable WP theme.
To use WordPress as your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain (i.e. www.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 subdirectory anything you like).
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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is covered in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively using a WordPress-powered website and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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