In Part 1 of our Web 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 website is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website or blog. An expertly configured WordPress blog is a blog that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically generate 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 web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. The focus of this section is to 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 Traffic Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Don’t Have A Web Presence Yet
If you don’t have a web presence yet, then it’s really 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, 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 around the world, see this article: Some Facts And Figures About WordPress Usage
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option means you can download the full-featured WordPress application 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 site when WordPress.com hosts it at no cost.
If you plan to build a professional web presence 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 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 platform 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 own an existing website, first, check if the web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If A Site Was Built With WordPress
If your site was built with 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 was built using something other than WordPress, you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to help you decide how to set up a WordPress web site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-driven site, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and 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 site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing site using an appropriate WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://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 your subfolder whatever you like).
If you have a site 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 it. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series aimed at helping site owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic organically using a WordPress website and proven web marketing methods.
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