In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your site 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 website or blog. An expertly configured WordPress site is a site that is not only powered by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and functionality of WordPress and the way it can be integrated with other services, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress web site, all you have to do is add great content on a regular basis to generate more traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do is add content regularly to automatically start driving web traffic.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. We will help you understand the best way to start 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 System – Setup
If You Have No Website Yet
If you haven’t got a web presence 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 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 has become as a web content management system, see this article: How Popular Is WordPress? Statistics About WordPress Usage
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted
(WordPress Self-Hosted Or WordPress Hosted?)
WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
In 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 it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you plan to build a professional web presence 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 site at WordPress.com. You get to have full 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 start off with a WordPress site hosted on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing website, check first if your website has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If A Site Is A WP Site
If your existing site is a WordPress 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 blog runs on something other than WordPress, then you have to make some decisions.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use this simple diagram to decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing web site so that your main website is built using 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 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 site’s settings and customize the design and style of your existing web site using an appropriate WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain (e.g. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 subdirectory anything you like).
If you have an existing 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 addressed 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 series of articles designed to help you learn how to grow your business and drive traffic organically with a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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