In Part 1 of our WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to creating 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 not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress site is a website that is not only driven by the WordPress CMS platform, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, features and functionality of WordPress and its integration with other services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to drive more traffic is publish great content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do to automatically generate web traffic is add great content regularly.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated online traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. We will help you understand the best way to start 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 System – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Web Presence
If you don’t have a website 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 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 has become as a platform for building a web presence, see this article: WordPress Statistics
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted)
WordPress provides users with a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
The “self-hosted” option means you can download the full-featured WordPress software 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, some limitations on 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 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 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 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 Web Site
If you already have an existing website, check first if your web site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And Free WP-Checking Tools
If your 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 web site was built using something other than WordPress, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use the above diagram to help you choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress site, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
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 your own domain name and webhosting, but allows you to fully configure your site’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. http://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 subfolder 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 site
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 article is part of an tutorial series designed to help you learn how to grow your business with a WordPress-driven website and proven marketing methods that are easy to implement.
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