In Part 1 of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your website 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 not the same as a professionally-configured WordPress site. An ”expertly configured” WordPress web site is a website that is not only powered by the WordPress CMS platform, 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 site, all you have to do to start driving web traffic is publish content on a regular basis!)
Once your WordPress site has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you need to do is add great content on a regular basis to drive more traffic.
As outlined in Part One of this article series, the components of this automated web traffic machine are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this process. We will 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 Don’t Have A Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s quite simple … get a WordPress site!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and the easiest to use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tutorials, and tips on this site about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to grow your business online.
For example, to learn just how popular WordPress is as a platform for doing business online, see this article: WordPress: How Popular Is It? Facts And Figures About WordPress
After choosing to build your site with WordPress, the next step is to choose 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 available …
WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted
(Self-Hosted vs Hosted WordPress Site)
WordPress offers users a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org lets you download the full-featured WordPress CMS application for free and self-host a WordPress site or blog using 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, some 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 business presence online and you want to set up the traffic system described here, then you should 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 options by upgrading to a paid option, but then why not just start off by hosting a WordPress site on your own domain and avoid the hassles of upgrading later?
If You Already Have An Existing Website
If you already have an existing web site, check 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 Runs On WordPress Software
If your existing web site was built using 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 web site was built using something other than the WP CMS platform, you have some choices to make.
Take a look at the simple flowchart below. It will help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain …
(Use the above flowchart to help you decide where to set up WordPress on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site with a WordPress 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 web site 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 blog’s settings and customize the design of your existing website using a closely-matching theme.
To use WordPress for your main site, install the platform in the “root” folder of your domain name (e.g. http://mydomainname.com).
If you already have an existing 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 want).
If you already 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 covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read more, click on the link below:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles designed to help site owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically using a WordPress-driven website and proven marketing methods that are easy and quick to implement.
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