The Advantages of WordPress Multisite
Multisite networks are often used for large collections of websites that operate similarly. They can be administered via a single dashboard. The super admin can install or activate plugins and themes for the entire network.
During the setup process, you can choose whether to use subdomains or subdirectories for sites within your network. This choice is permanent and cannot be reversed later.
1. Easier to manage
The advantage of WordPress Multisite is that it keeps everything in one place. It’s a great option for businesses that need to spin up quick news portals or give trusted writers access to specific blogs, it also works well for groups of sites with aesthetically similar themes and plugins. Backups are consolidated and updates run across all sites, making maintenance easier and faster.
When you create a site network, you’ll see some extra screens in the admin area. These are the network admin screens, which only Super Admins can access. From here, you can manage the sites within the network and even create new ones.
You can also enable a theme for all sites in the network from here. This is different from regular site activation, where you can only activate it for a single website. To enable a theme for all sites in your network, find it in the Themes screen of your network admin, and click the “Network Enable” link.
2. Saves time
WordPress multisite means you have one set of core WordPress files, and you only have to upload the plugins and themes once. This saves on storage space and time updating.
Multisite networks are a good option for organizations with multiple departments or teams that collaborate closely on web projects. Using a multisite network allows them to manage their sites from the same dashboard, increasing productivity and efficiency.
Multisite also provides an efficient way to manage websites for different language and region versions of a brand or business, such as an e-commerce site with country-specific sub-sites. Content teams can login to their sites with a single user ID and quickly edit, publish, and manage their blogs from the same interface. For developers, this makes it much easier to make updates and upgrades across the entire network. This saves them from staying up all night to install critical upgrades on thousands of individual sites. It also simplifies security.
3. Better SEO
WordPress multisite is a great way to manage multiple sites with similar content and goals. It makes it easy to cross-promote sites, create a consistent user experience across locations and devices, and increase site traffic through SEO.
It also saves time and resources by using a single installation of WordPress to host several websites. Updates to core, plugins, and themes apply to all networked sites automatically. However, this can be a disadvantage if any changes require testing and deploying on a live site.
A unified framework for implementing SEO strategies across the entire network increases visibility and helps attract prospective students, faculty members, and other stakeholders. This heightened online presence also improves the institution’s reputation and reach. In addition, students, faculty, and other stakeholders benefit from a simplified login process that eliminates the need to manage multiple usernames and passwords. This allows them to access relevant information quickly and easily.
4. More flexible
WordPress Multisite lets you use a single WordPress installation to host multiple sites, but each site will have its own domain. This saves money on server costs and allows for a more flexible website. It also makes updating core files and plugins much easier, as you only have to update one set of files for every site in the network.
It’s also possible to network-enable themes, so that a theme can be used by multiple sites in the network. This is great for large organizations or businesses that want to manage websites for different divisions of their company.
Users on a multisite network can be assigned roles that grant them access to specific sites or the entire network. For example, a hotel chain might want to create regional sites for each country, while the central website could provide information on hospitality ethics codes and corporate news. This allows for a more focused approach to marketing and content.