WordPress Traffic Automation Blueprint – Part 5 (Optimization)

Welcome to Part 5 of our Web Site Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to automate traffic to your site using the WordPress CMS.

So far, here is what we have covered in this series:

In Part 1, we provide an overview of the traffic automation process, and explain why using an expertly configured WordPress site is the key to automating traffic to your website …

(With an expertly configured WordPress site, all you have to do is post content on a regular basis to automatically start driving web traffic!)

In Part Two, we discuss critical setup decisions. We help you understand 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 has been built using WordPress.

(In Part 2 we show you where to set up a WordPress website on your domain)

In Part 3, we discuss the configuration phase. We explained how to configure all the settings (hosting, internal and external) that can affect your site’s traffic-getting ability …

(In Part Three we show you how to configure all the settings that affect your site’s ability to generate traffic automatically)

In Part Four, we showed you how to set up various WordPress plugins that can bring traffic automatically to your website whenever you begin adding content on a consistent basis.

(Publish content one-time, automate the rest!)

In this article, we look at ways to optimize your traffic with a number of different tools and strategies.

WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Systems

In addition to having an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, the key to generating consistent traffic of high quality is having a clear business vision, sound digital planning, and excellent systems in place.

(Optimized traffic is the product of having a clear business vision, sound planning, and systems)

Let’s briefly review the systems that will help you grow and manage all traffic.

These include:

• Marketing Systems – The processes and methods used to create traffic for your business.
• Technical Systems – How you ensure that your online presence remains optimized for receiving new traffic.
• Business Systems – How you manage and respond to new traffic.

(Systems help you grow, automate, and manage your web traffic)

Let’s review the above systems briefly:

Marketing Systems

Your marketing systems consist of the processes and strategies used to drive new traffic to your website. Your online marketing systems can be tested by asking questions such as:

• What channels will you use to drive traffic (e.g. blogging, PPC advertising, video marketing, etc)?
• How will you apportion your budget and resources to these channels?
• How will you create and optimize your content and marketing campaigns?
• How will you track conversions and measure the ROI of your online marketing campaigns?

During the setup and configuration phase, you should have installed an analytics program (e.g. Google Analytics). If you’re just starting out, you may want to consider investing in some paid advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) to help you generate some data, such as the keywords people are searching online to find your website, which you can use to create content targeted specifically to your audience’s needs.

Technical Systems

Your technical systems and processes ensure that your digital presence remains up and running for receiving traffic. There’s no point sending traffic to your website if your site is constantly down or your pages are taking a long time to load.

Your systems need to handle technical areas like webhosting, site maintenance and support, installing and updating new software (e.g. plugins), integration, customization, troubleshooting, etc.

Your technical systems can be tested by asking questions such as:

• Who will look after my server?
• Who will look after my website and keep my site maintained and up-to-date?
• Who will fix errors, troubleshoot problems, provide technical support and advice, etc. should things go wrong?

Many potential problems can be minimized if your website planning and setup and configuration phases have been done correctly. As with all technology, however, you can expect new problems. Your technical systems need to be able to handle these.

Business Systems

You need good operational systems and processes in place to help you manage the influx of new traffic. These include:

• Communication systems
• Resources management – human, financial
• Handling sales inquiries
• Order fulfillment
• Customer training/service
• etc.

If you plan to outsource areas of your digital marketing and technical maintenance, then you will need systems in place for managing all outsourcing processes.

WordPress Web Traffic Automation Blueprint – Traffic Optimization Strategies

If your business objectives are clear and your systems and processes are in place, all you need to focus on is developing your “traffic loop”.

Let’s walk through an example of implementing, optimizing, and further automating a traffic loop. Take a look at the illustration below …

(WordPress can help implement, automate, and optimize your traffic loop)

Increase Reach & Visibility

Step 1 of the process is to increase visibility for your business and website.

Traffic Tips

• Your expertly configured WordPress site will allow you to automatically publish your content on places like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, etc. The easiest way to increase your reach and visibility online, therefore, is to simply publish more content online.
• As mentioned earlier, investing in some paid advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) can help generate data, which you can use to create content better targeted to your audience.
• Repurpose your content to leverage different media formats.
• Continue learning about ways to get traffic using methods like Twitter, podcasts, Reddit, etc.

Tools, Plugins, And Methods

See earlier sections of this article series for a number of useful plugins, tools, and strategies we’ve already covered to help you reach more members of your target audience.

Also, if you haven’t already, contact us to learn more about plugins that let you easily add the following to your website or blog:

• Share your comments and posts online,
• Run contests, offer downloads or discounts for likes/shares,
• Add user generated content, feeds, etc.
• Publish and distribute content online in other media formats (e.g. videos, PDF guides, slides, etc.)

Build Authority & Credibility

Getting more of your content out there is a great first step, but for this activity to be really effective, your content needs to be building authority and credibility with users.

Publishing authoritative content not only helps to establish your credibility, it also improves your chances of getting it shared on other sites and viewed by more people and hence more visitors.

Tips

• Focus on creating and publishing content that will add value to your audience and showcase your expertise. This includes content that informs and educates readers, training content, user reviews, adding testimonials, etc.
• Consider publishing a special report that can be sold or distributed online.

Tools & Strategies

We have created an entire email course aimed at helping you come up with unlimited content ideas for your web site:

Also, contact us to learn more about WordPress plugins that allow you to easily add the following to your website or blog:

• Legal Pages
• Testimonials
• Customer Support (e.g. Helpdesk, Live Chat, etc.)
• Ratings
• User Reviews
• Badges/Certificates Of Recognition

Grow Influence & Engagement

At some point, you may want to consider developing “traffic on tap.” You can do this by building a list or starting a forum or network.

With “Traffic On Tap,” all of your traffic comes from customers or subscribers – people who already like you and trust you. Your influence and credibility can be used to generate new traffic with a single post or email broadcast.

Tips

• Encourage commenting and discussions on your site.
• Add an autoresponder training course and encourage people to subscribe.
• Add a paid or free membership site, online forum, or social community.
• Start or join a Facebook/LinkedIn Group.

Tools & Methods

Many solutions and plugins are available that can help grow your influence and improve user engagement. For example:

• List-Building Solutions (e.g. Aweber, GetResponse, etc.)
• Contact Forms, Live Chat
• Forums and Social Communities (e.g. bbPress, BuddyPress)
• Polls and Surveys
• Webinars (e.g. Webinar JEO)
• Comment sharing
• Add media, image galleries, etc.

Identify Problems And Provide Solutions To These

If you take advantage of incoming traffic to listen to what problems your visitors are trying to solve, you can have an endless funnel of ideas for developing new services and products, all of which can provide you with new opportunities to generate new streams of web traffic.

Useful Tips And Ideas

• Create a free or paid e-learning course.
• Consider publishing special guides that you can sell or distribute online (e.g. sell on Amazon.
• Add an e-commerce store to your site.

Tools, Plugins, And Methods

If you plan to provide products and services online (as opposed to just providing information), look for plugins that allow you to easily add the following to your website:

• Membership Sites (e.g. Wishlist Member, S2 Member, etc.)
• Learning Management Systems (e.g. Courseware)
• Event Registrations (e.g. EventEspresso)

Analyze Data & Feedback

The final step of the process is to collect and analyze data. By learning to interpret data gathered from existing traffic, you can discover new ways to create additional traffic.

You should already have installed an analytics program (e.g. Google Analytics) on your site. Make sure you can also understand the data.

WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint – Summary

All you have to do once you implement the above strategies is repeat the cycle, fine-tuning and refining your methods as you go to grow your traffic and get better your results.

In summary:

• Start with an expertly configured WordPress site backed by solid marketing, technical and business systems,
• Implement a content marketing strategy (consider also investing in some paid advertising to drive traffic and generate useful data) to increase your reach and visibility online,
• Add plugins, list-building strategies, and other solutions as required to help build authority and credibility, and also to increase engagement with users,
• Promote any new solutions, products or services using your existing channels and strategies to generate additional streams of traffic,
• Analyse your data and your results, automate your processes wherever possible, and begin the cycle again.

Hopefully, now you have a blueprint that will help you automate and optimize the process of driving visitors to your web site and build a more successful business online.

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