MultiSite CMS - Best Practices and Benefits

Do you ever feel like managing multiple websites all under one system feels like playing whack-a-mole?

Think about it… no soon as you’ve fixed that niggling branding inconsistency, there’s suddenly a UX tweak to make, a design bug, and don’t get us started on those scheduling problems that crop up on the daily!

Logging in and out, endlessly switching tabs, and no unified approach means that you’re always balancing everything… Surely there’s a solution?

That’s where a Multi-Site CMS (Content Management System) completely changes the game. It offers a centralized way to manage multiple websites. Plus, it makes sure that you stay consistent on design, branding, and all those BTS operations. 

In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the benefits of a Multi-Site CMS. Including how it not only streamlines operations but reduces costs, improves security, and frees your team to focus on growth instead of the nitty-gritty of day-to-day maintenance.

What is a Multisite CMS?

But before we get into the benefits, what are we actually talking about? What is a multisite CMS and who needs one? 

A multisite CMS is a  content management system that allows you to manage several websites from a single system. 

If you need to create  multiple micro sites for different brands or events and activities, being able to have one central management system will guarantee uniform branding, design, and functionality across all the sites you manage. 

It is also extremely cost effective and user-friendly for website teams as they can reuse existing components to build new pages in a few clicks. 

Who can benefit from a Multi-site CMS?

A multi site CMS is especially useful for: 

- Organizations that have ops across multiple regions, such as franchises locations (like your favorite fast food restaurant), 

- Businesses that have several brands under one corporate umbrella, 

- Membership organizations like YMCA who offer several seasonal events and activities

- Event organizers who need different micro-sites to promote each event.  

Key features of a multi-site CMS

Key features of a multisite CMS include centralized management, where you can control all sites from one dashboard. As well as this, there are content duplication tools, making it easy to copy all your resources across multiple websites. 

It's scalable, meaning it's easy to add on new sites. You can also use the endless customization options to specify specific audiences, products, languages, or more. 

The alternative is a single-site CMS, which has no back-end integration linking sites together. With a single-site CMS, you’ll need separate management for each website, which is frustratingly time-consuming and costs more too. 

If you’re a business with many different parts, then a multisite CMS is definitely worth the investment.

Benefits of MultiSite CMS Deployments

So far, so good, but what are the benefits of multi-site content management systems?

Manage Multiple Sites in a Central Platform

One of the biggest advantages is that they can be completely managed centrally. 

This means that if you've got many people on your team, different locations where people might be logging in from, even different teams that might need access to the CMS, then you can manage all of this in one central platform.

With one login for each individual, each member of your team can manage anything across the system ( as that role demands). 

Whether you need your team to update the content, manage user permissions, or even roll out new features, it's easy to do from just one place. All of this saves a lot of time and complexity, as you can imagine.

Keep Your Brand Consistent

Keeping your brand consistent across multiple sites is another major benefit. 

By managing branding and aesthetics in one central platform, a multisite CMS keeps all of those small, niggling branding issues in line. 

Set your fonts, colors, size of writing, and even design elements in one place, and protect your brand from small inconsistencies.

At the same time, your local teams can make changes if they want. This helps ensure that everything looks the same online, even as you can experiment with localization.

More Efficient and Cost Effective

All these benefits mean that using a multi-site CMS is faster and cheaper than setting up a managing multiple single site CMS systems. 

Imagine bringing all of your team together with access to shared resources, templates, and content libraries. 

Think about how much time would be freed up if you eradicated all those hours of work, making sure the site looks consistent. 

And finally, how much time would you save if you could completely get rid of all those duplicated tasks that clog up your content management team's workflow?

The bottom line is that a multisite CMS is a reliable foundation for businesses looking to grow fast and stay on budget.

Best Practices for Multi-Site CMS Management

If you are thinking of implementing a multisite cms here are a few of the best practices we’ve gathered from our clients: 

Embrace Centralized Content Management

One of the main reasons you are looking to implement a multi-site CMS is probably how it can store all content in one central location, and how it makes content available for use across multiple sites. Like a content repository or library, a multi-site CMS can keep control of all of your content assets for use as your team sees fit. 

However, many businesses fail to take advantage of this feature because it requires an initial setup. Once you have created your central repository, though, you should have all your assets, such as blog posts, marketing materials, and product descriptions, in one location. This then helps your team to keep content creation consistent and saves time when updating content across multiple sites.

Plan for Scalability 

If your business suits a multi-site CMS platform, then the chances are that growth is in your future. Many businesses take a "We will cross that bridge when we come to it" approach here, which may impact the advantages you see from using a multi-site CMS.

Instead, plan for scalability from the beginning.  

Choose a platform with a modular architecture that means you can add new sites or features when you find you need them. Conduct regular performance testing to identify bottlenecks and optimize server resources. Take the time to set up the system carefully, and invest in consultancy if needed during your implementation phase. This will help you scale efficiently and minimize the likelihood of finding problems with your CMS as you go further down the road.

Make Security a Priority

Because a multi-site CMS can be complex, security is an issue. To really see the advantages of your new content management system, ensure that you take security seriously from day one.

Regularly update your CMS and its integrations, put into place role-based permissions and audit logs to track your users, and encrypt sensitive data if you can. 

Best of all, choose a CMS platform, like Coredna, that provides built-in security tools, like automated backups and centralized access controls, to keep your network secure.

Define User Roles and Permissions

An extension of the security aspect, making sure to clearly define roles and permissions is very important. Spend some time thinking about this aspect at the management level, and apply the same rules to everyone across locations and sites. To define roles, carefully think about the tasks each team member should be responsible for. 

Then, assign permissions based on responsibilities to streamline workflows and reduce the risk of errors or unauthorized changes. For instance, you might give content creators editing rights while administrators keep control over core settings.

Getting this right early will help you avoid costly permission changes down the line and will help you keep your site secure.

Choosing the Right MultiSite CMS Platform

So, now you've got a grip on the basics of using a multisite CMS, which platform should you go for? Let's take a look at some of the top features you should look out for.

Case Study: How RANDYS Worldwide deployed 7 brands in days with Core dna

Let's take a look at Coredna in action, and how they helped RANDYS Worldwide to grow.

Context

RANDYS Worldwide is a leading supplier in the automotive aftermarket. When they first created that website, they chose WordPress as a CMS, but as they grew, they quickly realized this was not a sustainable long-term choice.

The WordPress platform was difficult for customers to navigate and offered poor integration with the company's ERP system. This caused time-consuming manual data entry between the site and the ERP, which was inefficient and often meant that customers received problems with their orders. 

As a workaround, customers would decide to place orders via the phone,  and the business quickly understood that its CMS was undermining the company's online presence and growth potential.

RANDYS Worldwide needed a solution that could seamlessly add new entities from acquisitions into the existing digital framework. They also wanted a coherent look and feel across all sites. Most importantly, they wanted to improve the customer experience that their CMS offered. 

They looked for a new multisite CMS that could provide an intuitive and efficient online shopping experience (and banish those phone orders to a thing of the past!)

The Solution: Core dna

RANDYS Worldwide partnered with Core dna to address all of these challenges. 

Their new multisite CMS was able to handle all RANDYS' product data in innovative new ways. This included complex data structuring and extensive filtering options, making product searches for customers easy.

On top of this, Core dna makes it easy to integrate new websites into the existing environment with minimal effort. This is a secret weapon in the company's acquisition strategy. They can easily add new entities and bring them up to scratch with uniform branding and content in no time.

Most importantly, Core dna offers a user-friendly interface that has transformed a previously frustrating experience into a seamless one. RANDYS Worldwide has seen yearly online sales quadruple. 

As a testimony to how much their customers enjoy the new online order form, the customer account page became the ninth most viewed page on the website. 

Now, customers are utilizing the website for transactions instead of calling sales, reducing RANDYS staff time spent on calls and leaving time for more acquisition and growing the business.

Trends in MultiSite CMS for 2025 and Beyond

What does the future hold for multisite content management systems?

In 2025 and beyond, our experts predict that we will continue to see innovation on these platforms. Plus, as experiential content becomes increasingly important to your audience, it's never been more important to get a handle on a great content management system.

Headless CMS architectures, which separate content management from the audience-facing front-end, will continue to be the CMS model of choice for larger brands. Because of their flexibility,  headless CMS models allow businesses to deliver content across multiple platforms, including websites, apps, and even IoT devices, quickly and easily. 

But perhaps the trend that we're most excited about is how multisite CMS platforms intersect with AI. Increasingly advanced tools will analyze your behavior like never before, delivering personalized content that hits the mark. 

As AI becomes more embedded in the content infrastructure, we're expecting more and more audiences to become accustomed to personalized content experiences. Businesses will need to look carefully at their current content management system and ask themselves whether it can keep up.

AI won't just be about customer experiences, but we expect future CMS models to offer even more automation. This might look like a more streamlined workflow, but it also may recommend options for improving efficiency.

Managing multiple websites doesn't have to be overwhelming. A robust Multi-Site CMS streamlines operations to ensure brand consistency and sets the stage for future growth. By following best practices and choosing the right platform, businesses can unlock the full potential of their digital ecosystem and deliver exceptional experiences to users at every touchpoint.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that managing multiple websites doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Sharing content, standardizing brand appearances, and integrating new entities into your online platform seamlessly, are a part of our digital-first world. A MultiSite CMS  makes this simple by offering centralized management, ensuring consistent branding, and streamlining workflows. 

Successful implementation of a multisite CMS means planning for future growth, keeping a close eye on security, and working with your team to set appropriate roles and permissions. 

Core dna’s flexibility allows online businesses to create the structure that would best fit their business and help them scale.

 For multisite management, Core dna’s CMS enables multiple websites to be created under one central admin interface, allowing teams to be flexible, agile and in-control. 

Core dna’s advanced multi-site CMS  features improve governance, ensure brand consistency, and streamline all of your operations. It’s not just about creating new websites but also enabling seamless content duplication across sites for maximum efficiency.

To see more about Coredna and what it could do for your business, get started here.