In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning a site 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 web site is a web site that is not only driven by WordPress, 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 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 website, all you have to do is add great content on a regular basis to automatically generate web traffic!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then is add great content regularly to automatically drive web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One 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 traffic automation process. 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
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence
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 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 see just how popular WordPress has become as a web content management system, see this article: WordPress Usage Statistics
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is important because there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
With the “self-hosted” option you can download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog using 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 on what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
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 platform. 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 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 Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing website, first check to see if the web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Tell If Your Website Is Powered By WordPress
If your existing web site runs on 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 is not a WordPress site, then you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use this simple diagram to decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site 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-powered 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 site using a suitable theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain (i.e. http://www.mydomainname.com).
If you already 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 your subdirectory anything you like).
If you have a site 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 site
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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping website owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website or blog and proven web 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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