In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint article series overview, 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 website or blog is different than a professionally-configured WordPress website. An expertly configured WordPress website is a website or blog that is not only driven by WordPress, but has also been expertly set up and configured (either by yourself or professionally) to take advantage of the tremendous power, ease-of-use and built-in functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, content syndication and analytics.
(With an expertly configured WordPress website, all you have to do is publish content regularly to generate more traffic!)
Once your WordPress site has been fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to automatically generate more traffic is add great content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated web traffic blueprint are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. You will learn the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, or if you already have an existing site that may or may not have been built using WordPress.
WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Setup
If You Don’t Have A Website
If you haven’t got a web presence yet, then it’s really quite simple … get WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide many articles, tutorials, and tips about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to see just how popular WordPress is as a web publishing platform, see this article: WordPress Statistics
After making the choice to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose which WordPress platform you will use to build your web presence on.
This is important as there are 2 types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
Hosted Or Self-Hosted WordPress?
(WordPress – Hosted Or Self-Hosted?)
WordPress offers users a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you 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.
In the “hosted option”, WordPress will host your blog 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 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 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 options by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not just start off with a WordPress site hosted on your domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Have An Existing Site
If you already own an existing web site, first, check if it has been built using WordPress.
If you need help with this step, check this article: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Blog And WP-Checking Tools
If your blog runs on the WordPress CMS platform, 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 was built using something other than WordPress, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the simple diagram below …
(Use this simple flowchart to help you decide how to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing website with a WordPress-driven website, or
- Keep your existing website and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be expertly configured and used to drive traffic to your main site.
If you choose to keep your existing site and add a WordPress-driven 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 site’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using a closely-matching WP theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install it in the “root” folder of your domain (e.g. http://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 the subfolder whatever you want).
If you already have a website 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 its internal settings. This step is addressed in the next article in the series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive tutorial series aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online inexpensively with a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing strategies.
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