If you have an interest in the CMS space, chances are you have heard of WordPress Multisite, one of the many WordPress superpowers. But what is it? Why, when, and how should you use it? At Reaktiv, we are proud of our extensive Multisite experience and leadership in the field. Every day, we help clients solve their unique web strategy puzzle, so let’s see how Multisite fits.
Understanding the concept of WordPress Multisite
WordPress Multisite is a powerful feature that allows users to create a network of multiple websites using a single WordPress installation. These sites can live under their own subdomains or separate domains.
WordPress Multisite introduces a (necessary) user role above the Admin: the Super Admin, a person who can administer the entire network of sites, from creation and deletion to setting up plugins and themes per site and much more.
Setting up a WordPress Multisite network involves enabling the feature in the WordPress configuration file and making some adjustments to accommodate multiple sites. Once set up, site administrators can easily manage all their websites from a centralized dashboard, streamlining the process of content creation, updates, and maintenance.
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One key benefit of using WordPress Multisite is the ability to efficiently manage multiple websites under one roof. This can be particularly advantageous for businesses with diverse product lines and service offerings, higher education institutions with many departments, or global organizations whose branches require separate websites but share common branding elements or administrative resources.
Is there a limit to the number of sites one can spin in a network? Not really, but limitations include:
- Hosting: Not every host can handle WordPress Multisite installs, so inquire with yours before considering it, or reach out if you need help finding a host that matches your needs.
- Server resources: The more sites you add to your network, the more space, computing, and databases you need to allocate.
This being said, Multisite offers cost savings by reducing hosting expenses associated with maintaining separate installations for each site. By consolidating resources within a single installation, website owners can optimize their hosting plan for better performance and scalability.
Why you should consider using WordPress Multisite
There are times when a single site isn’t enough, or managing multiple WordPress installations becomes cumbersome. Here are the top reasons why website owners should leverage the power of WordPress Multisite:
Centralized Management
With WordPress Multisite, you can manage all your websites from a single dashboard, making it easier to update themes, plugins, and content across multiple sites simultaneously.
Cost-Effective Solution
Instead of maintaining separate hosting accounts for each website, WordPress Multisite allows you to host multiple sites under one installation, reducing hosting costs significantly.
Consistent Branding
Maintain consistent branding across all your websites by sharing themes and design elements effortlessly with WordPress Multisite. This ensures a cohesive brand experience for your visitors.
Efficient Updates
By managing core files, themes, and plugins centrally on WordPress Multisite, you can save time on updating them. This will ensure that all your websites are running on the latest versions without having to update each site individually.
Additionally, efficient updates help maintain a WordPress website’s overall security by ensuring that all the websites in the network are running on the latest versions of core files, themes, and plugins. These are crucial to patching security vulnerabilities and preventing attacks.
Scalability
Whether you have two websites or two hundred, WordPress Multisite scales effortlessly to accommodate your growing network of sites. You can add new sites with ease and expand your online presence without hassle.
Streamlined User Management
Grant access to specific users or groups to manage individual websites within your network efficiently. You can assign roles and permissions easily while maintaining control over the entire network.
SEO Benefits
By using a single installation for multiple sites, you can enhance SEO efforts by consolidating domain authority and backlinks across all sites in the network. This can improve search engine rankings for all your websites collectively.
A note on user management
The primary distinction in a WordPress multisite setup lies in managing the data structure. Unlike in single-site installations, where each site operates independently, multisite installations share certain tables across all subsites. One notable example is the user tables, which are shared among all subsites.
However, each subsite maintains its own set of tables for other data, such as posts, comments, and settings. This approach facilitates centralized user management and makes administering multiple sites from a single dashboard easier.
For sites that prioritize data privacy and security, this shared user structure can pose challenges, though. For instance, some sites may be uncomfortable with the risk of sharing user data across different subsites, while others, particularly those with distinct and firewalled user communities, may find the setup less than ideal due to potential privacy concerns.
The right tool for you?
WordPress Multisite provides an incredibly robust and effective solution for managing multiple websites, and we’ve successfully implemented it for many clients. Its flexibility and scalability allow you to easily expand your online presence while keeping everything consistent and under control. As you understand by now, Multisite doesn’t fit every puzzle, but it might just be the piece you were missing.
