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Wordpress Multisite Review

Wordpress Multisite Review

Wordpress Multisite vs SeoSamba

Franchise Marketing Review: WordPress Multisite vs. SeoSamba

Wordpress Multisite Review

wordpress multisite_sites

Wordpress MS pros and cons

Very popular amongst bloggers, Wordpress has become the most-used CMS in the world in a few years span. The reasons for this success lay in the ease-of-use for one-pagers and simple websites, as well as the ever increasing importance of content marketing which has spurred the creation of millions of blogs and news-based sites.

Over the years, Wordpress has evolved from a simple blog software to a website design software - including online stores - thanks to numerous extensions created by independant developers.

Due to a growing demand, Wordpress has more recently developed a multi-sites version dubbed Wordpress MU, that was later replaced by Wordpress Multisites aka WPMS with the release of Wordpress version 3.

While Wordpress' efforts to up its game for online marketers, the WPMS solution is still highly dependant on support from web hosting companies, thrid-party software and developers, which put website operators in a somewhat uncomfortable position.

Indeed, while WPMS is free to use, putting it to work will requires much additional investment to customize and supplement its basic offering, with the looming threat of service discontinuation either from plugin providers or hired developers.

True, Wordpress Multisite has a lot going for itself, but one needs to look beyond the "free and open source" smoke mirror to realize that things are not as easy, and certainly not as cost-effective as they seem.

SeoSamba Multi-sites Review

seosamba_franchise_network_home

SeoSamba Multi-sites Overview

Back in 2008 when SeoSamba developed its exclusive 'hub and spoke' online marketing model, Wordpress was still in its early years and essentially an open source blog platform.

Hence the need for a true multi-sites SEO platform bent on execution that could fit the needs of all website operators from single users to larger franchise networks and multi-location operations.

While Wordpress has grown exponentially since then, introducing its Multisite platform along the way, SeoSamba has focused its resources in developing its own software, including the SeoSamba Marketing Operating System online marketing platform, SeoToaster CMS and SeoToaster Ecommerce.

The combination of these powerful tools gives website operators that are serious about online marketing much more power right of the bat, without the need to constantly need developers on-hand and third-party software with all its implications.

In this report we take a good look at both solutions, and concatenate the analysis of reputable users marketers and technologists, which opinions you will find across the web with a simple search.

Wordpress Multisite Features Comparison

 

Features Wordpress MS SeoSamba
Franchisor’s Site Package check_no3 check_yes3
Franchisee’s Site Auto-install check_no3 check_yes3
Multi-sites Admin check_yes3 check_yes3
Subdomains Install check_yes3 check_yes3
Subdirectories Install check_yes3 check_yes3
Network-wide System Auto-update check_yes3 check_yes3
Turnkey White Label Admin check_no3 check_yes3
Turnkey Single Domains Install check_no3 check_yes3
“www.*” URL Support check_no3 check_yes3
Zero Plugin Functional Install check_no3 check_yes3
Segregated Main Site hosting check_no3 check_yes3
Geolocalized Cloud-based Instances check_no3 check_yes3
VPS Hosting check_yes3 check_yes3
Cloud Sites Support check_yes3 check_yes3
Pay-as-you-go Full Network Hosting check_no3 check_yes3
Integrated Front-end CMS Support check_no3 check_yes3
White-label Hosting Support Services check_no3 check_yes3
 Full Network Pay-per-use Auto-scaling check_no3 check_yes3
 Native Domain Mapping check_yes3 check_yes3
Expert Support by Software Maker check_no3 check_yes3
Open source framework check_yes3 check_yes3
Open source core code check_yes3 check_yes3
Free Themes and plugins check_yes3 check_yes3
Guaranteed Multisites
compatible Plugins
check_no3 check_yes3
White label out-of-the-box  check_no3 check_yes3
Staging server full compatibility check_no3 check_yes3
Low-cost development options check_yes3 check_yes3
Plugins/Extensions Marketplace check_yes3 check_yes3
Developer API check_yes3 check_yes3
Turnkey white label front-end CMS check_no3 check_yes3
Separate databases for Franchisees check_no3 check_yes3
Separate local DB policies check_no3 check_yes3
Unique user sets per website check_no3 check_yes3
Separate user permissions per website check_no3 check_yes3
Front-end CMS user management check_no3 check_yes3
Centralized multi-sites user management check_yes3 check_yes3
Unique security sets for affiliate websites check_no3 check_yes3

 

Our decision: SeoSamba wins by a wide margin 

seosamba logoWhile we do not pretend to compare WordPress Multisite and SeoSamba in every use possible, each one having its own merits and literally hundreds of features and extensions, we are confident that the latter is a much better overall solution in a multi-sites franchise network, MLM or multi-location online stores scenario.

The first and foremost reason why SeoSamba is undoubtedly a better fit in this case is that WordPress Multisite has been built as somewhat of an afterthought, an additional layer on top of the existing WP framework due to popular demand.

On the other hand, SeoSamba's very existence is specifically due to the lack of user-friendly and cost-effective multi-sites solutions that would replicate the benefits of franchise marketing. 

WPMS has been conceived to offer a reasonable way to tie together several existing WordPress platforms, while SeoSamba is a true multi-sites platform from which one can manage an unlimited number of websites.

From this sole - yet crucial - difference stems most of the drawbacks of the WordPress MS approach to build a franchise network. By trying to accomodate all types of website projects and businesses, WordPress overlooks many useful and specific features out of the loop, leaving outside developers in charge of providing those functions through highly specialized third party extensions that are sometimes overpriced, and often unsupported in the long run.

By contrast, SeoSamba and SeoToaster natively integrate all the features that can actually get online entrepreneurs started on the right foot and straight out-of-the-box, with a software backed by the very team who built it from the ground up over 10 years ago.

Needless to say, this pivotal discrepancy is also found in the quality of support you may receive between the generic WordPress and the specialist SeoSamba.

For all these reasons, we believe that while WordPress Multisite is a worthwhile solutions for many uses including blog-based content marketing, we can only recommend SeoSamba's software to give franchise and multi-sites online marketers the best out-of-the-box solution for a fast-to-market yet enduring online success.

* All trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

Wordpress Multisite Features Comparison

FeaturesWordpress MSSeoSamba
Franchisor’s Site Package check_no3 check_yes3
Franchisee’s Site Auto-install check_no3 check_yes3
Multi-sites Admin check_yes3 check_yes3
Subdomains Install check_yes3 check_yes3
Subdirectories Install check_yes3 check_yes3
Network-wide System Auto-update check_yes3 check_yes3
Turnkey White Label Admin check_no3 check_yes3
Turnkey Single Domains Install check_no3 check_yes3
“www.*” URL Support check_no3 check_yes3
Zero Plugin Functional Install check_no3 check_yes3
Segregated Main Site hosting check_no3 check_yes3
Geolocalized Cloud-based Instances check_no3 check_yes3
VPS Hosting check_yes3 check_yes3
Cloud Sites Support check_yes3 check_yes3
Pay-as-you-go Full Network Hosting check_no3 check_yes3
Integrated Front-end CMS Support check_no3 check_yes3
White-label Hosting Support Services check_no3 check_yes3
 Full Network Pay-per-use Auto-scaling check_no3 check_yes3
 Native Domain Mapping check_yes3 check_yes3
Expert Support by Software Maker check_no3 check_yes3
Open source framework check_yes3 check_yes3
Open source core code check_yes3 check_yes3
Free Themes and plugins check_yes3 check_yes3
Guaranteed Multisites
compatible Plugins
check_no3 check_yes3
White label out-of-the-box  check_no3 check_yes3
Staging server full compatibility check_no3 check_yes3
Low-cost development options check_yes3 check_yes3
Plugins/Extensions Marketplace check_yes3 check_yes3
Developer API check_yes3 check_yes3
Turnkey white label front-end CMS check_no3 check_yes3
Separate databases for Franchisees check_no3 check_yes3
Separate local DB policies check_no3 check_yes3
Unique user sets per website check_no3 check_yes3
Separate user permissions per website check_no3 check_yes3
Front-end CMS user management check_no3 check_yes3
Centralized multi-sites user management check_yes3 check_yes3
Unique security sets for affiliate websites check_no3 check_yes3

Our decision: SeoSamba wins by a wide margin

Wordpress too complicated and costly to maintain and scale?

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