In Part One of our WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series overview, we explained that the key to turning your site into an automated traffic generation machine is to use an “expertly configured” WordPress website.
As we also explained, an expertly configured WordPress website is not the same thing as a professionally-configured WordPress website. An ”expertly configured” WordPress blog is a website 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 tremendous power, features and functionality of WordPress and its integration with various services, specifically in areas like SEO, third-party site syndication and reporting.
(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do to generate more traffic is add content on a regular basis!)
Once you have your WordPress site fully set up and expertly configured, all you then need to do to start driving traffic is add content on a regular basis.
As outlined in Part 1 of this article series, the components of the automated website traffic system are as follows:
- Setup
- Configure
- Automate
- Optimize
In this article, we discuss the “Setup” phase of this 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 Web Traffic Automation System – Setup Phase
If You Haven’t Got A Website Yet
If you don’t have a website yet, then it’s really quite simple … build a site with WordPress!
WordPress is the most powerful, flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use content management system available. We provide loads of articles, tips, and tutorials on this site 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 platform for building a web presence, see this article: Some Useful Facts And Figures About WordPress
After making the choice to build your website with WordPress, the next step is to choose which type of WordPress platform you will use to run your web presence on.
This step is very important as there are two types of WordPress platforms you can choose from …
WordPress – Hosted vs Self-Hosted
(WordPress Hosted vs WordPress Self-Hosted)
WordPress offers website owners a “self-hosted” and a “hosted” option.
WordPress.org allows you to download the full-featured WordPress software at no cost and host a WordPress site or blog using your own domain name. This is the “self-hosted” WordPress option.
With the “hosted option”, WordPress hosts 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 at no cost.
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 platform. 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 options 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 Already Have An Existing Web Site
If you already have an existing web site, first, 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 The WordPress CMS Platform
If your existing website runs on the WP 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 existing web site is not powered by WordPress, you will need to make some choices.
Take a look at the flowchart below …
(Use this simple diagram to help you choose where to set up a WordPress website or blog on your domain)
Basically, you have two choices:
- Replace your existing site so that your main website is powered by WordPress, or
- Keep your existing site and add a WordPress blog. This blog will then be used to drive traffic to your main web site.
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 look and feel of your existing web site using a closely-matching theme for WordPress.
To use WordPress as your main site, install it in the “root” directory of your domain (e.g. http://mydomainname.com).
If you 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 anything you like).
If you 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 it. This step is addressed in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Part Two
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This article is part of an tutorial series designed to help small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively and drive traffic automatically with a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing methods.
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