In Part One of our Website 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 site is not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress website is a site that is not only built using the WordPress CMS, 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 built-in functionality of WordPress and the way it integrates with other sites, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically start driving traffic is add great content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then need to do to bring web traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint 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 Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you don’t have a website 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 available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips on this site 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 platform for doing business online, see this article: WordPress: Useful Facts And Figures
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 as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress Hosted Or WordPress Self-Hosted?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress provides users with a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you are planning 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 blog at WordPress.com. You can fully customize 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 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 own an existing website, first check to see if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On WordPress
If your existing web site is a WP website, 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 will need to make some decisions.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose how to set up a WordPress web site on your domain …
(Use this simple flowchart to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress-powered site, or
- Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-driven 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 web hosting, but allows you to fully configure your blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing website using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main website, install it in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. 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 have a website 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 series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of an tutorial series aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website or blog and proven online marketing methods.
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