In Part 1 of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 website. An expertly configured WordPress site is a site that is not only built with WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the enormous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with other sites, specifically in areas like search engine optimization, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to automatically bring more web traffic is add great content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you need to do then is publish great content regularly to automatically start driving traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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 Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a web presence 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, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a platform for building a web presence, see this article: WordPress: Facts And Statistics
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site 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 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 blog at WordPress.com. You can fully customize your web presence and avoid the limitations of the hosted option. Keep in mind that the free hosting limitations can be overcome by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing site, first check to see if the 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 Runs On WP Software
If your existing web site was built using WordPress software, 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 website is not powered by WordPress, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain …
(Use the above diagram to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-driven site, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven 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 look and feel of your existing web site using a suitable WP theme.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. www.mydomainname.com).
If you have a website, then you will want to install WordPress in a subfolder of your domain, e.g. www.mydomainname.com/blog (you can name the subfolder anything you want).
If you already 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 site
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure its internal settings. This step is explained in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To continue reading this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help you learn how to grow your business online cost-effectively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress website or blog and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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