In Part One of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your site into 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 different than a professionally-configured WordPress site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress web site is a website or blog 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 full advantage of the tremendous power, features and functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, third-party site syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do to automatically drive more web traffic is publish great content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is publish great content on a regular basis to automatically drive web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the blueprint. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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 Blueprint – Setup
If You Haven’t Got A Website
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, it’s quite simple … build a website with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials 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 web content management system, see this article: Statistics And Usage Of WordPress
After making the choice to build your web presence with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This step is very important because there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted vs Self-Hosted WordPress Site
(Self-Hosted Or Hosted WordPress Site?)
WordPress provides users with a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to 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 site for free at WordPress.com. There are, however, a number of limitations to what you can and can’t do with your site when it is hosted for free at WordPress.com.
If you are planning to build a professional business presence online 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 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 platform by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not start off with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Web Site
If you already own an existing site, check to see if your web 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 Was Built Using WP Software
If your web site was built with WordPress, 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 existing website was built using something other than WordPress software, then you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up a WordPress web site on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to choose how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress-driven site, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main 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 blog’s settings and customize the look and feel of your existing web site using a suitable WordPress theme.
To use WordPress for your main website, install the software in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://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 whatever 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 its internal settings. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Section 2
To read more, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive article series designed to help website owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven online marketing strategies.
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