WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Part 2 (Setup)

This is part 2 of a 5-part series on how to create an automated traffic generation system for your WordPress site. This tutorial explains the processes and methods used in this system.

Website Traffic Blueprint Part Two - Learn How To Turn Your WordPress Blog Into An Automated Web Traffic MachineIn Part 1 of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, 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 web site is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An expertly configured WordPress website is a web site that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS, 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 built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and reporting.

With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to drive traffic is publish great content on a regular basis!

(With an expertly configured WordPress blog, all you have to do to generate traffic is add great content regularly!)

Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do then is add content regularly to generate more web traffic.

As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of this automated traffic blueprint are as follows:

  • Setup
  • Configure
  • Automate
  • Optimize

In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the automation process. You will learn 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 Blueprint – Setup Phase

If You Have No Web Presence Yet

If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … build your website with 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 learn just how popular WordPress is around the world, see this article: WordPress: Surprising Facts And Figures

After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.

This step is important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …

WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted

WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?

(WordPress – Self-Hosted vs Hosted)

WordPress offers both a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.

The “self-hosted” option allows you to download the full-featured WordPress application at no cost from WordPress.org and host a WordPress site or blog under your own domain name.

With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts your site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, some limitations on what you can and can’t do with your blog when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.

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 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 platform 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 Have An Existing Site

If you already own an existing web site, check first if it has been built using WordPress.

If you need help with this step, check this article: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Was Built Using The WP CMS Platform

If your web site is a WP site, 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 website uses a platform technology other than WordPress, you have to make some choices.

Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …

How to set up a WordPress site on your domain

(Use this simple flowchart to choose where to set up WordPress on your domain)

Basically, you have two choices:

  1. Replace your existing website with a WordPress-powered website, or
  2. Keep your existing web site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main site.

Practical Tips

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 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 website using a suitable theme for WordPress.

To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. 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 subdirectory anything you like).

If you already have an existing 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 blog

Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is explained in the next article in the series.

Web Traffic Blueprint Part Two - Learn How To Turn Your WordPress Web Site Into A Web Traffic Machine

This is the end of Section Two

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Important Info

This article is part of an tutorial series designed to help you learn how to grow your business and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website 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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Originally published as WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Part 2 (Setup).