How to Manage Multiple WordPress Sites Efficiently As an Agency
Managing one WordPress site might not be stressful for you, but if you are a digital agency owner who manages multiple websites, you know how complicated it is.
When you are managing multiple sites, you will need to update plugins and themes on each site, keep passwords safe, back up data, and manage multiple hosting dashboards. All this can be overwhelming, and not everyone can handle it properly.
So, in this article, we will be talking about how to manage multiple WordPress sites effectively as an agency that handles several sites.
Let’s get right into it.
Here are ways you can manage WordPress sites effectively:
• Perform Regular Updates and Backups
If you want to safeguard the data and content on the sites you manage and prevent any security breaches, then you need to carry out frequent updates and backups.
There are unforeseen circumstances that could make you lose the data on your site, but if you often back up your site to cloud-based locations, you can be confident that you can easily restore the data even if it gets lost.
If you think you might not be able to always remember to carry out the backups, you can use an automated backup system to either notify you after a specific timeframe or to carry out the backup on its own within a certain period.
In terms of security, you need to frequently update the plugins and themes on the sites you manage in order to prevent security risks and breaches.
You can also set up notifications that will alert you whenever there is a plugin or theme that needs an update.
• Stick To Hosting and Plugins that Work
If you are familiar with one or two hosting providers that work properly, it is important for you to stick to them. This will save you from dealing with the stress of unreliable providers that your clients might be running their site on.
Even if your clients are running their sites on providers that aren’t trustworthy, you can talk to them and get them to migrate to the ones you know and trust. This will save you a lot of issues in the long run.
This also applies to plugins.
If you know plugins that are efficient for SEO, Security, Backup, and Image optimization, you must stick to them instead of using random plugins for these purposes.
For example, if you have been using Yoast SEO or Rank Math as your SEO plugin and they work well for you, you don’t need to experiment with other plugins. Just stick to using them on numerous sites.
• Use a Centralized WordPress Management Tool
When you are managing multiple WordPress sites, logging in and out of each of the sites is one of the most stressful tasks, but there is a way around it. Instead of going through that stress regularly, you can use a Centralized WordPress Management Tool to control all the sites from just one dashboard.
With this tool, you can update themes, plugins, and cores at the same time, from one dashboard without having to log in to all the sites individually. You can also use this tool to carry out backups, security scans, and uptime monitoring of multiple WordPress sites.
Some of the best centralized WordPress management tools you can use include:
• MainWP
• ManageWP
• WpRemote
• Keep Proper Documentation
Even though you will be using tools and software that will prevent you from logging into different sites frequently, you need to make sure that the passwords and documents are safely stored.
Instead of using Google Docs to save the passwords, you can use a secure password manager like 1Password or LastPass.
Apart from the password, you need to make sure you also keep the hosting access, plugin licenses, theme documentation, and maintenance logins as safe as you can, in case you need to debug something after some time or your clients demand the changes that were previously made.
Final Thoughts
Managing multiple WordPress sites can be stressful, but several hosting and management tools can make it easy for you. In this article, we have explained the ways you can easily manage more than one WordPress site and the tools you can use to do so.
So, choose the methods and tools that work best for you and make website management less of a chore.