WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Part 5 (Optimization)

Welcome to Part Five of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to drive new traffic automatically to your website using the WordPress CMS.

So far, we have covered the following in this series:

In Part One, we explain why using an expertly configured WordPress website is the key to generating automated web traffic …

(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to begin attracting traffic is publish web content on a consistent basis!)

In Part Two, we discussed the setup phase of the blueprint. We explained the best way to start if you don’t have a website yet, how to set things up if you already have a site, and what to do if your existing site was built using WordPress.

(In Part 2 we show you how to set up a WordPress website on your domain)

In Part 3, we looked at the configuration phase. We configured all the settings (hosting, WordPress and external) that affect your site’s traffic-getting ability …

(In Part 3 you will configure all the settings (hosting, WordPress and external) that can affect your site’s traffic-getting ability)

In Part 4, we looked at ways to automate your traffic using a number of WordPress plugins.

(Publish once to WordPress and automate the distribution of your content to all other marketing channels!)

In this article, we look at ways to optimize the traffic generation process using a number of tools and methods.

WordPress Web Traffic System – Systems

In addition to having an expertly configured WordPress website, the key to generating quality traffic consistently is having a well-defined business vision, great digital planning, and excellent systems in place.

(Generating regular traffic is the product of a business vision, planning, and systems)

Let’s review briefly the systems that will help you grow and manage your traffic.

These systems include:

• Marketing Systems – The processes and methods used to create new traffic for your website.
• Technical Systems – How you ensure that your online presence remains optimized for receiving traffic.
• Business Systems – How you manage and respond to traffic.

(Systems help you grow, automate, and manage your web traffic)

Let’s review the above systems briefly:

Marketing Systems

Your marketing systems consist of the processes and methods used to create traffic for your business. Your online marketing systems can be tested by asking questions such as:

• What is your content marketing/online marketing strategy?
• How will you apportion your budget and resources to your marketing channels?
• How will you create and optimize your content, sales funnels, and marketing campaigns?
• How will you measure the results of your campaigns?

During the setup and configuration phase, you would have installed an analytics program (e.g. Google Analytics). If you’re just starting out, you may want to consider investing in some paid advertising (e.g. pay-per-click ads) to help generate some actionable data, such as the keyword phrases people are searching online to find your website, which you can use to create web content better targeted to your audience’s needs.

Technical Systems

Your technical systems keep your online presence optimized for receiving traffic. There’s no point driving traffic to your site if your site is constantly down or your pages take a long time to load.

Your technical systems need to handle areas like webhosting, site maintenance and support, installing and updating new applications (e.g. plugins), customization, integration, troubleshooting, etc.

You can test your technical systems by questions such as:

• Who is looking after my webhosting?
• Who is looking after my website and keeping my site, plugins, themes, etc. maintained and up-to-date?
• Who will fix errors, troubleshoot problems, provide technical support and advice, etc. should any issues arise?

Many potential problems can be minimized if your website planning and setup and configuration phases have been completed correctly. As with all technology, however, you can expect problems. Your technical systems need to be robust enough to handle these.

Business Systems

You need good business systems to help you manage traffic. These include:

• Communication systems
• Managing human and financial resources
• Handling sales inquiries
• Order fulfillment
• Customer training/service
• etc.

If you plan to outsource areas of your digital marketing and technical support, then you will need to put excellent systems in place to manage all outsourcing.

WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Traffic Loops

With clear business objectives and great systems in place, all you need to focus your efforts on is developing your “traffic loop”.

Let’s go through an example of how to implement, optimize, and automate a traffic loop. Take a look at the illustration below …

(An effective traffic loop)

Increase Reach & Visibility

Step 1 of the process is to expose your business to as many traffic generation sites and channels as you can.

Tips

• Your expertly configured WordPress site will allow you to automatically distribute your content to sites like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, etc. The easiest way to increase your reach and visibility online, therefore, is to simply publish more content online.
• As mentioned earlier, investing in some paid advertising can help you generate data, which you can use to create web content targeted specifically to your audience’s needs.
• Repurpose your content to leverage the power and reach of different media formats.
• Continue learning about ways to increase more web visitors using methods like Twitter, YouTube, StumbleUpon, etc.

Tools & Methods

See previous sections of this tutorial series for a number of excellent tools and strategies we’ve already covered to help you reach more members of your target audience.

Also, ask us about plugins that allow you to easily add the following to your website:

• Share your comments and posts online with others,
• Run contests, offer downloads or discounts for likes/shares,
• Add user generated content, feeds, etc.
• Distribute content online in different media formats (e.g. videos, PDF guides, slides, etc.)

Build Authority & Credibility

Getting more content published is a great first step, but to make this activity more effective, your content needs to be building authority and credibility with visitors.

Publishing better quality content not only helps to establish your credibility, it also improves your chances of getting it shared around and viewed by more people and hence more traffic.

Useful Tips

• Create and publish content that adds value to your audience and that showcases your expertise. This includes content that educates and informs readers, training content, case studies, adding testimonials, etc.
• Consider publishing a training guide that can be sold or distributed online (e.g. sell on Amazon.

Tools, Plugins, & Strategies

We have created a detailed course on content creation that you can plug into for free here:

Also, if you haven’t already, see other posts and tutorials on this site to learn more about WordPress plugins that let you easily add the following to your site:

• Legal Pages
• Testimonials
• Customer Support (e.g. Helpdesk, Live Chat, etc.)
• Ratings
• User Reviews
• Badges/Certificates Of Recognition

Grow Influence & Engagement

As your business grows, you may want to consider developing “traffic on demand.” You can achieve this by building a list or starting a community.

With “Traffic On Tap,” all of your traffic will come from customers or subscribers – people who already like you and trust you. Your influence and credibility can be used to generate traffic with a single post or email.

Traffic Tips

• Encourage visitors to leave comments and start discussions on your site.
• Add an email newsletter and encourage people to subscribe.
• Add a free, paid, or ‘freemium’ membership site, online forum, or social community.
• Start or join a Facebook/LinkedIn Group.

Tools, Plugins, & Strategies

Many solutions and WordPress plugins are available that are easy to implement and can help grow your influence and improve user engagement. For example:

• Autoresponders/Email Newsletters (e.g. Aweber, MailChimp, etc.)
• Contact Forms, Live Chat
• Forums and Discussion Groups (e.g. bbPress, BuddyPress)
• Polls and Surveys
• Webinars (e.g. Webinar JEO)
• Comment sharing
• Add media, video galleries, etc.

Identify Problems & Provide Solutions

By taking advantage of incoming traffic to listen to what your visitors want, you can have an endless funnel of ideas for developing new products and services, all of which provide new opportunities for generating additional web traffic.

Useful Tips & Ideas

• Create a free or paid e-learning course.
• Publish instructional PDF guides that can be sold or distributed online.
• Consider adding an e-commerce store to your business.

Tools, Plugins, & Methods

If you plan to provide products and services online (as opposed to just providing information), contact us to learn more about plugins that allow you to easily add the following to your WordPress website or blog:

• Membership Sites (e.g. Wishlist Member, S2 Member, etc.)
• e-Learning Courses (e.g. Courseware)
• Event Registrations (e.g. EventEspresso)

Analyze Data & Feedback

The final step of the process is to collect and analyze data. By interpreting data gathered from existing traffic, you can discover new ways to create additional traffic.

Hopefully, by now you already have installed an analytics tool like Google Analytics on your site. Make sure you can also understand the data.

WordPress Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Summary

All you have to do once you implement the above strategies is rinse and repeat, fine-tuning and refining your methods as you go to grow your traffic and get better your results.

In summary:

• Begin with an expertly configured WordPress site backed by solid marketing, technical and business systems,
• Implement a content marketing strategy (with some paid advertising to drive traffic and generate useful data) to increase your reach and visibility online,
• Add plugins, list-building strategies, and other methods as necessary to build authority, trust, and credibility, and also to increase engagement with visitors,
• Promote any new solutions, products or services using your existing channels and strategies to generate additional streams of traffic,
• Analyse your data and your results, automate your processes wherever possible, and begin the cycle again.

Hopefully, now you have a blueprint that will help you automate and optimize the process of driving traffic to your web site and build a more successful business online.

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