wordpress MultiSite

12 years ago

Hey,

Too be honest I have always found that a single Wordpress site works better with well thought out content that is optimized for SEO.

If it is an awesome niche I sometimes make a "nest" of WP sites that target each of the most searched for keywords as well.

Chris Jones

Originally Posted by monere

hi

what's the benefit of creating a multi-site using wordpress?

can't we accomplish the same goals f we created a simple site and used the "categories" feature instead?

i think that categorizing niche specific posts are the main reason someone would consider building a MU entity, but this can be easily done through the use of categories. Or?

is there any other benefit to opting for MU site instead of single site that I am not aware of? Maybe in terms of SEO or whatever?

Please tell! Thanks

Thanks
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Istvan Horvath

12 years ago

Originally Posted by monere

what's the benefit of creating a multi-site using wordpress?

can't we accomplish the same goals f we created a simple site and used the "categories" feature instead?

I think you are approaching it from the wrong angle...
The MS feature (and there is no MU anymore...) helps you to make many WP sites with one single installation. So, you don't create multiple sites for the sake of having multiple sites - you use the cool feature to reduce the time needed for setting up many blogs, if that's your goal.

Originally Posted by monere

i think that categorizing niche specific posts are the main reason someone would consider building a MU entity, but this can be easily done through the use of categories. Or?

Again, you are talking about two different things.
Using the multisite feature to make more than one blog does NOT exclude the organization of your content in different categories. It's not an either or situation!

Originally Posted by monere

is there any other benefit to opting for MU site instead of single site that I am not aware of?

Maybe there is, if you look at it in the right way.
Install WP 3+.
Enable multisite.
Create blogs with one click (on subdomains or in subfolders)
Map your parked domains to the blogs = you have NN blogs on different domains
Now you can organize your content in all of them into well-thought categories

Originally Posted by Chri5123

If it is an awesome niche I sometimes make a "nest" of WP sites that target each of the most searched for keywords as well.

And can you see an easier way to create your "nests" than installing/enabling WP MS and get the job done in a fraction of time...?

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monere 12 years ago

nice explanations. Now things are a bit clearer

Thanks
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monere

12 years ago

Istvan, do you happen to know for sure how Google sees all these smaller sites that are installed on a main domain name?

Say for example I decide to create 10 blogs in the health niche and as such, I purchase a generic name myhealthwebsite.com (just an example) and then I install 10 niche specific blogs (like acne, dental care, weight loss, etc.) and make them subfolders of my main website, making everything look like this:

myhealthwebsite.com
myhealthwebsite.com/acne
myhealthwebsite.com/dentalcare etc.

Then, linking these mini sites to my main website as categories, and having the home page of the main website display posts from these mini sites via feeds.

My question is, does Google see this whole thing as a simple website with its matching categories, or it sees it as 10 random websites that each links to a different website?

Also, purchasing domain names for each of these 10 subfolders and mapping everything accordingly using the domain mapping plugin, will make any difference at all and if yes, in which way?

I mean, how does Google interpret the coding for the MS feature of Wordpress (both when the subfolders have domain names attached to them and when they don't)?

I need to ask this so that I know how to plan my websites and backlinking to each of them. If this whole multi site option is seen by the search engines (Google mainly) as 11 separate websites instead of 1 single domain name with its matching categories, then building backlinks to all of these mini sites will be a pain in the you-know-what. In which case using the MS feature of Wordpress is only good for managing WP updates and plugin updates in a few clicks and nothing more. Not even content management gets sped up in any way

If you happen to know the answers to these questions, please let me know

Thanks

Thanks

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cma01

12 years ago

Originally Posted by monere

hi

what's the benefit of creating a multi-site using wordpress?

can't we accomplish the same goals f we created a simple site and used the "categories" feature instead?

It really depends on what those goals are.

Multi site is just that . . . multiple sites . . . categories are segregated content on one site.

There are a lot of ways you can use WP MS.

Pretty much every WP install I have has it enabled. I also use a network plugin so I can have multiple domains and multiple subdomains.

So it can be:

Code:

www.niche1.com
www.niche2.com
   subdomain.niche2.com
  subdomain.niche2.com
www.niche3.com

All are their own site with their own dashboard, but it is a single install of Wordpress.

Other people may disagree, but I see no point in having multiple Wordpress installs on a single hosting account that has a single IP address. It looks the same to Google either way.

The benefit is that if you have 12 niches on an install, you only have to upgrade the base platform and plugins once, not 12 times. When you add a new domain, it is literally as simple as filling out two fields and clicking save and then all you have to do is activate the plugins you want for that particular site.

If you're planning on flipping a site, it's probably better to go with a single WP install.

If you only have one site, obviously you wouldn't need WP MS.

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monere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by cma01

So it can be:

Code:

www.niche1.com
www.niche2.com
   subdomain.niche2.com
  subdomain.niche2.com
www.niche3.com

All are their own site with their own dashboard, but it is a single install of Wordpress.

And that "single install" that you created all your websites through and put them under their own domain names, that install isn't on its own domain too?

If it is, what can you do with that "mother" domain? Can you use it just like any other domain without any restrictions at all, or must it only be related to the other niche website you installed on this main domain?

I apologize if answers to these questions seem easy to you, but for me this is a bit confusing at the moment. That's why I need to ask them

Thanks

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Istvan Horvath

12 years ago

You lost me here:

Then, linking these mini sites to my main website as categories,...

MultiSite has NOTHING to do with your categories...

As for the big G. Do you really expect that I know (or anybody else knows) for sure what G. does and how it sees sites, domain mapping etc.?

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monere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

You lost me here:

MultiSite has NOTHING to do with your categories...

As for the big G. Do you really expect that I know (or anybody else knows) for sure what G. does and how it sees sites, domain mapping etc.?

Well, you seemed quite knowledgeable about these things so I had to ask

Someone must know, I am sure about it (probably programmers??) but I guess I'll have to continue researching

Anyway, thanks for the tip

Thanks

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cma01

12 years ago

If it is, what can you do with that "mother" domain? Can you use it just like any other domain without any restrictions at all, or must it only be related to the other niche website you installed on this main domain?

The "mother" domain is its own unique site just as the others are. To the casual observer, they all look like completely separate sites.

Having said that, if you are planning on installing BuddyPress on a domain, you do need WP MS enabled for the features, but you would want to keep that domain clean. Don't add other domains to that installation because some of the features of BuddyPress would allow someone to map out every single one of the domains and subdomains on that installation.

There are some developer plugins that allow you to pull content from the subdomains into the "mother" domain, but you have to set it up specifically for that.

Also, I use this plugin to extend MS to multiple domains and "networks."

I've tried other plugins that were just mapping, and the problem was that the url's that were generated by Wordpress were subdomain.motherdomain.com rather than parkeddomain.com.

To use the multi networks option, you have to create a wild card subdomain in your hosting control panel and then any new domain you add to the installation, you just add as a parked domain on your hosting.

Thanks
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monere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by cma01

The "mother" domain is its own unique site just as the others are. To the casual observer, they all look like completely separate sites.

Having said that, if you are planning on installing BuddyPress on a domain, you do need WP MS enabled for the features, but you would want to keep that domain clean. Don't add other domains to that installation because some of the features of BuddyPress would allow someone to map out every single one of the domains and subdomains on that installation.

There are some developer plugins that allow you to pull content from the subdomains into the "mother" domain, but you have to set it up specifically for that.

Also, I use this plugin to extend MS to multiple domains and "networks."

I've tried other plugins that were just mapping, and the problem was that the url's that were generated by Wordpress were subdomain.motherdomain.com rather than parkeddomain.com.

To use the multi networks option, you have to create a wild card subdomain in your hosting control panel and then any new domain you add to the installation, you just add as a parked domain on your hosting.

Ok, thank for this info. It's a lot to comprehend for now but I will do it eventually

Thanks

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retsek

12 years ago

And to add to what the people peeps are saying... you can use the Domain Mapping Plugin. That will allow you use to multiple IPs on sites that are mapped to the domain -- so you dont have all your sites on one IP ..if you care about that.

@cma01 to the fix the problem you mentioned about mapping plugins and urls: after you map the TLD, you go to Network Admin > Sites > Edit > Info Tab > Change the subdomain to your mapped TLD.

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monere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by retsek

And to add to what the people peeps are saying... you can use the Domain Mapping Plugin. That will allow you use to multiple IPs on sites that are mapped to the domain -- so you dont have all your sites on one IP ..if you care about that.

@cma01 to the fix the problem you mentioned about mapping plugins and urls: after you map the TLD, you go to Network Admin > Sites > Edit > Info Tab > Change the subdomain to your mapped TLD.

how can you use multiple IPs since all of the websites would be hosted with the same hosting company??

Thanks
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retsek 12 years ago

Originally Posted by monere

how can you use multiple IPs since all of the websites would be hosted with the same hosting company??

Some of us have SEO hosting and Dedicated servers that come with 10 or more IPs for us to use.

Sorry for being vague, but it requires some knowledge of apache and dns. You can find many guides out there on it and the Wordpress.org forums has everything you need.
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cma01

12 years ago

And to add to what the people peeps are saying... you can use the Domain Mapping Plugin. That will allow you use to multiple IPs on sites that are mapped to the domain -- so you dont have all your sites on one IP ..if you care about that.

@cma01 to the fix the problem you mentioned about mapping plugins and urls: after you map the TLD, you go to Network Admin > Sites > Edit > Info Tab > Change the subdomain to your mapped TLD.

Okay, now you're getting beyond me.

I've just been doing a new install if it's going to be on another IP address and using that Multi Network plugin and it all works.

Thanks

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Chris Mercer

12 years ago

A few of the plugins/themes I use don't play nicely with the MS mode enabled so I personally don't use the MS feature and have opted for separate installs.

If you want to avoid MS, you could always make clones of your original with WP Twin (or an equivalent).

- Mercer

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sakthiganesh

12 years ago

Wordpress multi sites lets you start service like Wordpress.com- Blog hosting solutions.

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zedert

12 years ago

The MS service is quite useful to create a nest of sites.
For seo purposes,I systematically create subdomains to obtain the most frequent searches related queries on Google.
Panda seemed to lower my ranks a bit but i created a single author per subdomain, and it seems to improve the whole thing a bit.
hope it helps.

Thanks
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monere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by zedert

The MS service is quite useful to create a nest of sites.
For seo purposes,I systematically create subdomains to obtain the most frequent searches related queries on Google.
Panda seemed to lower my ranks a bit but i created a single author per subdomain, and it seems to improve the whole thing a bit.
hope it helps.

yes, it helps

But could you please tell me what you meant by "create subdomains to obtain the most frequent searches"?

Is there any real difference between subdomains and subfolders (in terms of SEO) and if yes, why is there a difference? In which way?

Thanks

Thanks

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Syimen

12 years ago

Originally Posted by monere

hi

what's the benefit of creating a multi-site using wordpress?
Please tell! Thanks

To me, it's a great way to try and use the new themes I re-design to show to my customers and friends as an examplesince I am making money as webmaster of Wordpress based

Thanks

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Istvan Horvath

12 years ago

Is there any real difference between subdomains and subfolders (in terms of SEO) and if yes, why is there a difference? In which way?

Usually, subdomains are treated by SEs as separate sites, while subfolders are part of the same site.

Thanks
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monere 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

Usually, subdomains are treated by SEs as separate sites, while subfolders are part of the same site.

that makes sense. Thanks
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seothatworks

12 years ago

i use wpmu, with domain mapping. have 100 sites installed on on wpmu. very easy to manage. disadvantage is that its all on one ip.

Thanks
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monere 12 years ago

Originally Posted by seothatworks

i use wpmu, with domain mapping. have 100 sites installed on on wpmu. very easy to manage. disadvantage is that its all on one ip.

yeah I've heard about this before. Well, free always has limitations
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retsek 12 years ago

Originally Posted by seothatworks

i use wpmu, with domain mapping. have 100 sites installed on on wpmu. very easy to manage. disadvantage is that its all on one ip.

it's no disadvantage as the plugin allows you to use multiple IPs if you configure that way!
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- monere 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by retsek
  
  it's no disadvantage as the plugin allows you to use multiple IPs if you configure that way!
  
  now that I didn't know
  
  Thanks
  
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  Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value - Albert Einstein
  
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wordpress MultiSite

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