In Part One of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning a site into an automated web 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 site. An expertly configured WordPress website is a web site that is not only built with the WordPress CMS platform, 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 functionality of WordPress and how it integrates with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, external site notification and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do is publish great content regularly to drive traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is add content on a regular basis to automatically drive more web traffic.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated online traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. You will learn 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 Traffic Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Have No Website
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tips, and tutorials on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is, see this article: WordPress: Usage And Popularity
After choosing to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will build your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms available …
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
(WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?)
WordPress offers a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on 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 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 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 domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, first, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: How To Check If Your Site Is A WP Website
If your blog runs on WP 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 uses a platform technology other than WordPress, then you have some decisions to make.
Take a look at the simple diagram below. It will help you decide how to set up WordPress 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 site so that your main website is built using WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-powered blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
If you choose to keep your existing website 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 site’s settings and customize the design of your existing site using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” directory of your domain name (i.e. www.mydomainname.com).
If you already have a 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 site 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 WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress-driven website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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