Tips for Managing Multiple WordPress Websites for Multiple Clients

managing multiple WordPress websites
Every business starts with the idea of growing and when you grow in business you find it a little difficult to manage things.

There are many of us who host a lot of different client’s websites and taking care of all their needs from different platforms takes a lot of time.

The need is often felt that there should be some helpful tips which will allow us to manage them easily.

The more clients you have the diverse is the need and no one client is less than the other which means that managing them is a dire need.

There are experts who have very effective and simple tips that can enable the management of multiple WordPress Websites for Multiple clients and then have an effective system.

Planning is the first step for everything. Whenever you are embarking on a new journey you must check for resources that you have and how much time you have to give to the new client.

Knowing your strengths and creating an analysis of what you can offer and manage is always a great way to start.

The tips that can help you keep your clients support unique is: –

1. Keeping open and honest communication amongst the clients and answering all their queries well in time.

2. Keeping a strong don’t repeat yourself principle in between the clients and their sites so that unique service is rendered.

3. Continuously trying to improve on the server and the provide efficiency in what they do.

4. Providing regular updates to the site’s and also provide back up for performance and security.

Use WordPress Multi-Site

When you are using the best of what is available for the purpose then you do not have to worry at all.

Thus using the WordPress multi-site program is a great step towards better management. You need to keep the theme framework on one WordPress installation and then you can upload your themes to that installation.

The plug-ins can be kept in one place and you will just have one installation to manage and update on a regular basis.

The numbers of plug-ins that can be added are many and thus the management of the same saves a lot of time. If you are using the same theme for many websites that you have for the client then you must not assume that it is active on them all.

A simple test for activation on each such site will have to be performed for each site to see whether it is active or not.

There is a simple way of testing it before actually making any change and which is with the help of a local copy where the test can be made to see if the changes are adversely affecting any site that does not require that update and when the test is absolutely positive then I go ahead and make those changes.

There are a lot of supportive documentation that is available online for the support of users who are looking for adding their knowledge on the field.

Use the best plugins

The use of plug-ins for the sites is absolutely necessary. Every website owners will have different demands for functionalities which can be added to the site by using these plug-ins.

Now we know that adding functionalities to one site need not necessarily mean that you will have to add it to all other sites.

The requirements of each client are different and thus when you are installing a plug-in you feel the diversified demands to be a lot to manage.

Now you can manage it manually by having a list of all the plug-ins and the sites which needs an update and can go ahead and manually manage the whole setting.

But you sure are aware of the kind of effort and time it will require. The time when the same plug-in will demand an update then you will have to extend the same amount of time and will have to check for each update separately.

The work is huge and involves a lot of time the best way is to know the plug-ins which you are familiar with and which are to be used for all sites. They should be trusted plug-ins which can be used together.

The use of WPMU Dev plugins a very useful process here as they are tested and works absolutely well with each other. The updates are safe and they are also automated which means that testing each site for the update will no longer be required.

The updates can be simply managed from the hub and there is no need for spending a lot of time checking. There is more such integrated platform that supports the users in managing the commonly used plug-ins from one platform.

If you are interested in using unique plug-ins then you are advised to check their compatibility with the rest before you add them to the list.

Using a strong support to communicate with different clients

As stated communicating with the client is a must for having a great relationship and effective management. Make sure you have a strong system.

It is best to have one system of communication or a well-designed process which will not create confusion. Most effective is an email system where you can send out an automated response as well stating the time you would require to respond.

The clients feel connected and heard immediately when they receive a message even if it is automated. Have a time dedicated to make responses to these queries.

When there are more pressing issues or emergencies then you should connect with the client over Skype or call.

This is a more personal way of contacting a client and also provides clarity on the issues. If you have a huge system and a lot of calls and correspondence to be made then you should use a third-party support system which will manage things on your behalf.

Since it is a paid service it can lead to the cost going up and thus the users should check before using the service.

If there is a process and a supportive platform then managing things become easy no matter how much the volume goes high.

Sonnal S Sinha

Sonnal S Sinha shares exciting Web development, Web designing, HTML, CMS, WordPress themes, plugins and other WordPress related articles and news for our readers. He also posts selected WordPress developers interviews from time to time.