Welcome to Part 3 of our Website Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to create an automated web traffic generating machine using the WordPress CMS.
In Part One of this series, we described the process, and explained why using an expertly configured WordPress site is the key to automating traffic to your website …
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to generate more traffic is post web content on a consistent basis!)
In Part 2, we discussed critical setup decisions. We explained the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set things up if you already have a website, and what to do if your existing site was built with WordPress.
(In Part two we show you where to set up a WordPress site on your domain)
In this article, we will look at the configuration stage of the WordPress traffic automation system. You will learn how to configure a WordPress site to start bringing visitors automatically simply by regularly adding content to your site.
WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Configuration
Finding ways to drive more traffic to one’s website is often cited by most website owners as the greatest challenge they face online. Also, the business landscape is becoming ever more competitive and businesses are exploring any and every advantage they believe will help them improve their results and performance online.
Being able to automatically generate traffic on demand can provide you with a huge advantage over the competition. Having an expertly configured website gives your business an immediate advantage from the very start.
The Difference Is In The Configuration
There is a difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a website that has been professionally set up by a web-building expert but not necessarily configured to take advantage of everything WordPress has to offer.
Here is a simple way to describe the difference:
With a WordPress website that has been expertly configured you get a web presence with an automated online business marketing tool!
(An expertly configured website gives you a professional web presence and a built-in automated online business marketing process!)
Not only are more steps needed to build and integrate an automated online business marketing process into your website, but also a special kind of expert knowledge.
To illustrate this point here’s a story.
Knowing Where To Tap
Everything is humming along in the gizmo manufacturing plant when suddenly, production stops.
No one can figure out what’s wrong and so the manager decides to call in an expert to fix the problem.
The expert arrives shortly afterwards and immediately goes towards the control box. After staring at the board for less than 5 minutes or so, the expert then takes out a tiny little hammer and makes a gentle tap near the left-hand corner of the box.
Immediately, the whole workshop lights up and begins working as before.
The plant manager is greatly relieved as he thanks the expert, who then leaves as quickly as he had arrived.
A few days later, the manager receives a service bill for $5,000.
Outraged and bewildered, the factory manager calls the expert. Demanding to know why they were expected to pay so much for so little time spent delivering such a minimal amount of work, he then requests an itemized invoice and hangs up.
The next day, an invoice statement arrives and is placed in the manager’s in-tray. Upon opening it, this is what he sees:
The number one challenge most businesses face online is being able to consistently drive visitors to their sites.
How much money did the widget factory stand to lose when the equipment stopped functioning and no one in the business had the expertise to fix it? Did the expert in our story not have every right to demand fair compensation for having invested years acquiring the knowledge, skills and expertise that allowed him to immediately avert a crisis?
Similarly, if you could have your WP website fully set up so all you had to do is publish content to it and search engines, social networks and dozens of other traffic-generating online properties would be immediately notified, how much time and money would you save?
(How much time and money would you save if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your site?)
Although experts often make complicated solutions look simple, it rarely turns out to be that way.
Expertly configuring a WordPress site is more than installing a website and configuring settings for a client. It requires knowing where to tap! This includes knowing things like:
- Which programs you need to install to get various functionalities on your site.
- Which third-party services you need to set up to achieve certain outcomes
- Which options need to be configured in order to make sure everything works to plan, etc.
(Driving traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires knowledge and expertise)
This part of the WordPress traffic automation system is not technically difficult, but it’s quite complicated. It’s not as easy as installing one or two plugins, configuring some options and settings in your admin area … it’s all of this and so much more.
Expertly configuring your website involves the integration of many components such as your server, your web site, and a number of external sites or online services …
(The configuration phase involves more than just configuring some settings in WordPress)
If we were to create a simplified diagram showing the steps involved in the configuration process, it would look like this …
(A simplified flowchart showing the steps involved in the configuration process)
Let’s examine these steps.
Your Server – Configuration
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your hosting account for website installation purposes (this should have been done during the Setup phase). We’re talking about fine-tuning settings in your server that affect how your site will handle web traffic …
(During the configuration phase, your web hosting account settings need to be fine-tuned for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all traffic is positive traffic. Some of the web traffic your website may attract will be unwelcome traffic like bot spam, malicious threats, bot-hacking attempts, etc.
This area of the configuration process, therefore, requires planning for good and bad traffic and then adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This can include things like spam protection and security threat prevention, to configuring domain and email forwarding, etc …
(Have you configured your control panel settings for handling things like emails, page error redirects, etc?)
After fine-tuning your web server settings and configuring these, the next step of the configuration phase is to set up a number of external sites and online services.
External Services
The idea behind adding external sites is that all of your content will get published to one central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it will get distributed automatically to other parts of your traffic system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
Once you add these external sites to your network, content pointing back to your website will get automatically fed to these platforms. Your business will then be exposed to new audiences and new sources of traffic.
Some external sites will need to be set up before configuring your settings to speed up the configuration process and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts:
Google Webmasters
(Google Webmasters – create a Google-friendly website or blog)
Google Webmasters lets you inform Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for automatic page indexing, and provides site owners with important data, SEO tools, and reports about their website.
Once your Google Search Console account and site details are set up, you can use this information to automate traffic settings in WordPress (e.g. using plugins like Yoast SEO – see further below) and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your website’s traffic results, SEO, marketing campaigns, and more, by tracking all user engagement, pages visited, keywords searched for, organic referrers, etc.
After setting up your Google Analytics account and site details, visitor tracking information can be added to all web pages in WordPress via plugins and and sent to other useful applications.
Bing Webmaster Tools
(Drive more traffic with Bing Webmaster Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. Once your Bing Webmaster Tools account is set up, you can use the account information to integrate and automate traffic settings in WordPress and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As discussed in Part Two, WordPress provides users with the option of a hosted vs self-hosted website. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress platform if you are planning to grow a professional business presence online.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides some great tools, which can be accessed by a number of WordPress plugins. We recommend setting up an account with WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll explain how to integrate these features into your traffic system in Part 4 of this article series.
Social Media
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media accounts and attract new visitors to your site)
You will need to set up your various social media and social bookmarking accounts before you can configure these as part of your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and social bookmarking accounts and bring new visitors to your site.
Make sure you have set up accounts with all the big social networks – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
There are loads of social sites you can set up. You don’t need to create accounts with all of them, just select those that will work well with your setup and/or content sharing tools (we will review some of these tools in more detail in the Automation phase).
(There are loads of social bookmarking sites you can syndicate your content to. Image source ShareThis.com)
Additional Services, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are many online web platforms and content aggregators that can serve as secondary-level sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free plans, and some are paid services.
For example, here is a content aggregator site that allows you to add a feed from your site …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse – Distribute your content to social networks)
RebelMouse is an aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content displays in a Pinterest-like format and visitors can follow your own RebelMouse page.
There are many different sites and platforms that can be incorporated into your own traffic blueprint. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to explore your options and discuss a configuration plan to suit your needs.
Once you have configured your web server and set up accounts with external sites, it’s time to configure your WordPress settings.
Configuring WordPress
The first step in configuring your site for traffic is to make sure that your global settings have been set up correctly.
Let’s go over some of the important areas.
Global Settings
By default, your WordPress administration area includes a Settings section that allows you to set up your site’s main settings …
(WordPress settings section)
General Settings
Fields like Site Title and Tagline can affect your site’s SEO, search results, etc …
(Settings Menu – General Settings)
Writing
The Writing Settings section contains one of the most important and frequently overlooked traffic notification systems available to website owners …
(Global Settings – Writing Settings)
As described in this section,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you or your webmaster have specifically chosen to prevent search engines from indexing your site, then your site will automatically ping the list of update services entered into the Update Services section
By default, when WordPress is installed, only one service is listed …
(Writing Settings – Update Services)
WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically …
(You can notify dozens of update services automatically with WordPress!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading
This section affects how visitors will see your content when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings on this page can influence web traffic. For example, choosing to display the full text vs a summary of your post, affects how your content shows up in RSS readers and RSS email campaigns, and could impact someone’s decision to explore your site further, and whether or not they will visit your website to get the rest of the content from a partial feed, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
The main setting here as far as your traffic system is concerned is whether the Search Engine Visibility check box is ticked or not.
Typically, you want to encourage search engines to visit your site. Leaving this box unchecked allows WordPress to automatically notify all the update services you have listed when new posts are published (see Writing Settings above). Unless you have a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, leave this box unchecked …
(Global Settings – Reading Settings)
Discussion Settings
Although this section is mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your articles, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(Global Settings – Discussion Settings Section)
Permalinks
Your Permalink settings enable WordPress to display posts with search engine-friendly URLs …
(WordPress Settings – Permalink Settings)
Here are some of the options for configuring your search-friendly URLS …
(Configuring search-friendly URLS)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this tutorial: Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks
Plugin Settings
The WordPress developer community makes available thousands of plugins that can add almost every type of functionality imaginable to your site, including plugins with features that help to improve traffic generation.
Here are examples of plugin categories and plugins that can help to attract more visitors to your site
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Once again, it’s important to configure your website for dealing with both good traffic and bad traffic. No site is guaranteed immunity from cyber attacks.
(WordPress Security Plugins stop bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your blog invisible to attacks from hackers and botnets.
Go here for more info:
WordPress SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugins help drive more traffic by making your website more search engine friendly …
(WordPress Plugin – Yoast SEO)
Use a powerful plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO. When properly configured, the Yoast SEO plugin not only makes your web pages easier for search engines like Google to index, it also gives you control over how your content is presented in Google’s search results and social media sites Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus.
WordPress Social Sharing Plugins
Allowing your visitors to easily share your content online can help drive significant traffic to your site, especially if you publish content that adds real value to readers.
(You can add social sharing to your site easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
There are loads of social sharing plugins available for WordPress users.
Most social share plugins let you select which sites visitors can share your content to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom notifications, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of followers), etc. Some plugins even allow you to set up protected content sections on your site which users can unlock by linking or tweeting your page.
WordPress Traffic Generation Theme Settings – Configuration
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that help you drive more traffic to your site.
For example, in addition to options and settings for configuring the layout and design of your site, some themes also provide built-in features that let you improve SEO and site navigation structure for better indexing, add tracking code, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many WordPress themes can be configured for improved traffic results)
With many themes, adding social sharing buttons to your content is as easy as clicking a button …
(Many WordPress themes include built-in social sharing features)
WordPress Traffic Automation – Other Important Aspects To Consider
Last (but by no means least) in the WordPress traffic configuration process, are the components that need to be configured outside of the global settings.
This includes:
Legal Web Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for an increase in traffic numbers, it’s important to plan not only how to handle good and bad traffic but also for all the situations that can seriously affect your business when more and more people start finding and visiting your website.
If you are making money online, it’s important that your website is compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate online business practices.
(Is Your Site Compliant?)
If you need help adding legal pages to WordPress, go here:
WordPress Post Categories And Tags
WordPress post tags and categories help search engines index your pages, which improves traffic.
(WordPress categories help improve traffic by allowing search engines to better understand and index your pages.)
As we recommend in this article, it’s best to discuss and set up your site’s tags and categories during the Website Planning Phase.
When configuring your site to automate and improve traffic, you will want to review and make sure that your site’s post tags and categories have been set up correctly to deliver optimal benefits.
Add A Site Map To Your WordPress Site
A site map that lists all of your site’s pages and posts to visitors is not only a useful navigation tool for users, it can also help external tools discover more of your website content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for web traffic too!)
Note: An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same things. Although Google can index your site just from an XML sitemap (which plugins like Yoast SEO can provide – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site results in increased traffic.
404 Page – Don’t Forget This!
When visitors searching online for your website enter the wrong web address or click on a hyperlink pointing to an incorrect destination on your website, they will typically be presented with a 404 error page …
(Default WordPress 404 Page)
A 404 Not Found error page can redirect confused visitors to your functional web pages …
(Configuring your 404 Not Found error page allows you to redirect web traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 page can be set up in your web server, there are several plugins for WordPress that allow you to easily configure your 404 page inside your WordPress dashboard.
WordPress Traffic Automation System: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once you have your WordPress site expertly configured and fully set up, all you then have to do is publish new content regularly to drive web traffic organically.
The process of expertly configuring your WordPress site, however, is quite involved , requiring the configuration and integration of a number of different elements and web properties …
(WP Traffic System – Configuration Checklist)
The kind of expertise required to perform the configuration process can take some web professionals a long time to learn.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate as much of the process as you can. This step is explained in the next section of our WordPress Traffic Automation System series.
This is the end of Part Three
To read more, click here:
This article is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping small business owners learn how to grow their business online inexpensively using a WordPress-powered website or blog and proven web marketing methods.
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