In Part 1 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, we explained that the key to turning your website into 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 thing as a professionally-configured WordPress web site. An expertly configured WordPress web site is a web site that is not only built using WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take full advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration 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 is publish content on a regular basis to start driving traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do is publish great content on a regular basis to drive more web traffic organically.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we look at the “Setup” phase of the traffic automation process. The focus of this section is to help you understand 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
If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s quite simple … build your web presence with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system on the planet. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress has become with businesses worldwide, see this article: Some Impressive Statistics About WordPress
After choosing to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to decide which type of WordPress platform you will run your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress.org Or WordPress.com?
(WordPress.org vs WordPress.com)
WordPress offers users a ”hosted” and a “self-hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress CMS application at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog under 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 blog when WordPress.com hosts it for free.
If you plan to build a professional web presence and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then choose the “self-hosted” WordPress version. The benefits of choosing the “self-hosted” option (WordPress.org) far outweigh those of hosting a free site 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 start off by hosting a WordPress site on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing website, check if the site has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WP-Checking Tools
If your website 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 existing blog was built using something other than WordPress, then you have to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below. It will help you choose where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to decide how to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website so that your main website is built with WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. Your WordPress blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing web site and add a WordPress-powered 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 look and feel of your existing site using an appropriate theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main website, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain name (i.e. mydomainname.com).
If you already have an existing 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 whatever you like).
If you have an existing 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 blog
Once you have set up your WordPress site, the next step is to configure it. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part 2
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of tutorials designed to help site owners learn how to grow their business online cost-effectively and drive traffic sustainably with a WordPress website and proven web marketing methods.
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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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