INSTALL AND
DEVELOPMENT AND 
If you've read the previous sections of this review, you should already have a pretty good idea of what solution is best to get you up and running, but have you given any thought to what your hosting and support options will look like?
Finding a home for a single website is easier and cheaper than it ever was, but if you're looking at tying up dozens, hundreds of even thousands of websites, hosting becomes a serious issue.
With a multisites setup, you will need more than just a regular shared hosting account. You may not need a dedicated server to start with, but you should make sure you can move to one if your traffic and/or business picks up down the road.
The good news is that Wordpress is almost universally accepted by major web hosting companies, most of whom have special installation processes and Wordpress-specific plans to offer.
The bad news is that unlike regular Wordpress installs, a Wordpress Multisite SEO setup requires very specific setups including superior flexibility, high end scalability, ultra tight security and expert support.
While deploying WPMS on a blank space and hooking up single sites is fairly straightforward, no amount of preparedness or uptime warranty will actually keep your network trouble-free.
Believe us, 100% uptime does not exist - not even close - regardless of what web hosting companies may "guarantee" you. As things will go wrong at some point for any single website, you can imagine the potential catastrophic consequences of things going sideways for tens, hundreds or thousands websites all tied up on your multi-sites network.
In fact, due to the inherent construction of the WPMS framework, if your main site goes down, all sites in you network will go down as well. Needless to say this can be a huge deal breaker for affiliated sites and a serious threat to your planned income.
The problem with that is there really is no default procedure or best practices for WP MS setups, each situation being too specific. You will have to choose a host and hope they know what they're doing, or have your preferred developer take that risk for you.
Moreover, once your WP MS network is deployed and anchored with your web host, it might be very had to move out of it, as noted by open source expert Steve Burge.
So while installing a Wordpress instance is a real breathe, deploying a fully functioning multi-sites network with WordPress Multisite is nowhere near a walk in the park and you may shoot yourself in the foot if you are tight on budget for hosting.
This major drawback alone pretty much forces you to shoot for the very best hosting and support plan you can find (e.g. the costliest).
Regarding support, besides the TMI syndrome (Too Much Information) there are literally thousands of options out there but again, Wordpress Multisite is not Wordpress so we advise you to choose wisely, by selecting a true Multisite specialist.
In fact, your best option here is to go along with some ready-to-go Wordpress MS service that will install, deploy and support your entire network from end to end. But in this case, as you will soon find out, Wordpress Multisite will turn out far more costly that you may have envisoned when seduced by the "free" label touted by its maker.
At this point, you've probably understood that a smooth and efficient deployment of an entire multi-sites network is a real blocking point if you want to start on the right foot.
With SeoSamba, you can simply wave all the hassles and potential dangers of multi-sites network implementation because SeoSamba has been built from the ground up specifically for this type of setup, be it multi-location online stores, MLM companies or worldwide franchise networks.
SeoSamba deploys your entire network of websites for you and give you all the tools to manage them all from a centralized, cloud-based and white label online marketing platform.
SeoSamba's hosting solutions feature enterprise-strength security, highly secure facilities, infrastructure, network monitoring and physical surveillance, including protection against malicious attacks such as DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and password breaking attempts.
Another very important feature is cloud-based geolocalization leveraging a worldwide content delivery network with over 50 locations to dominate local markets through geolocalized and mobile optimization.
This is accomplished through an industrial-strength Content Delivery Network that can move your online properties across over 50 server locations worldwide.
You may think this kind of hosting service costs substantial amount of money. Think again, as it actually might save you much upfront investment and ongoing costs.
Instead of letting you get lost in the meanders of endless hosting companies and services, SeoSamba provides cost-effective web hosting with pay-as-you-go pricing models that reduce drastically your upfront investments in favor of usage-based monthly fees.
SeoSamba combines pay-as-you-go services, pay-per-use auto-scaling hosting, and on-demand ECU and RAM scalability to always allocate just the right amount of resources that your network needs.
Whether your traffic and resources grow or shrink, your hosting fees follow the same pattern: pay only for what you use, allowing for massive savings across the board while scaling your operations is never an issue.
Add to this sizeable volume savings and the more websites you operate, the more you will actually save for each website.
Regarding support, let's just say that you cannot get better help for a software than by the people who actually built it and work with it for countless customers on a daily basis.
Additionnally, SeoSamba embarks many nifty features such as in-site tagging straight from the front-end CMS to direct all franchisees' requests to a white-label premium support service, providing swift expert - and billable - help in your own name instead of a generic hosting company support service.
Thanks to the powerful combination of a secure cloud infrastructure and SeoToaster built-in security features, SeoSamba has successfully protected its customers from any major security incident, resulting in zero website hack or defacement for over 6 years.
Features |
Wordpress MS |
SeoSamba |
| Segregated Main Site hosting |  |
 |
| Geolocalized Cloud-based Instances | |
|
| VPS Hosting | |
|
| Cloud Sites Support | |
|
| Pay-as-you-go Full Network Hosting | |
|
| Integrated Front-end CMS Support | |
|
| White-label Hosting Support Services | |
|
| Full Network Pay-per-use Auto-scaling | |
|
| Native Domain Mapping | |
|
| Expert Support by Software Maker | |
|
With scores of hosting companies and levels of services to choose from, it is very easy to get lost and end up with the wrong choice that will derail your entire franchise network deployment strategy sooner or later.
WordPress Multiste is flexible enough to run on many different frameworks but ensuring that your franchise network will keep afloat no matter what is a whole different story from a business standpoint.
You will find some prominent hosts that will help you get you started on the right path and provide trustworthy support for your WPMS setup, such as Rackspace or HostGator, but they will do so with a hefty price tag.
By providing pay-as-you-go hosting services tailor-made for franchise networks of any size, SeoSamba cust to the chase and ensures a failsafe support for open source software that was built for multi-sites setup.
SeoSamba provides the benefits of cloud-based geolocalization for franchisees, a unique 'hub and spoke' model ensuring maximum uptime for you entire network (even if the event of a malfunction on the main franchise site unlike WordPress), and pay-as-you-go services yielding sizeable volume savings.
For all these reasons, SeoSamba's franchise network solutions undoubtedly have the upperhand over any WPMS setup, not to mention they will do so for a fraction of the price.
* All trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
Being open source and wildly used all over the world, WordPress* benefits from a strong network of supporting hosts who have developed specific WordPress-related setup procedures and expertise.
To start your franchise network, you will be able to choose between a dedicated server, a VPS (virtual private server) or a cloud-based hosting. The cheaper option that is 'shared hosting' will not let you grow easily and extra costs may ensue when it will be time to deploy your full-scale online network.
WordPress Multisite being essentially an extra layer of software on top of single WordPress installs, the vast majority of reputable hosting companies support these types of deployment. However, some hosts do not support wildcards subdomains, others will simply shut you down if your resources usage runs too high.
You must also keep in mind that due to the very nature of the WPMS framework, if your site goes down, all sites in you network will go down as well. Needless to say this can be a huge deal breaker for affiliated sites and a serious threat to your planned income.
This single major drawback pretty much forces you to shoot for the very best hosting and support plan you can find (e.g. the costliest). While deploying WPMS on a blank space and hooking up single sites is fairly straightforward, no amount of preparedness or uptime warranty will actually keep your network trouble-free.
Regardless of you final choice, make sure your hosting company is very familiar with WordPress Multisite as you will very likely need extensive support when trouble starts arising.
Instead of letting you get lost in the meanders of endless hosting companies and services, SeoSamba provides cost-effective web hosting with pay-as-you-go pricing models that reduce drastically your upfront investments in favor of usage-based monthly fees.
Whether your traffic and resources grow or shrink, your hosting fees follow the same pattern: pay only for what you use, allowing for massive savings across the board while scaling your operations is never an issue.
SeoSamba's hosting solutions feature enterprise-strength security, highly secure facilities, infrastructure, network monitoring and physical surveillance, including protection against malicious attacks such as DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and password breaking attempts.
Another very important feature is cloud-based geolocalization leveraging a worldwide content delivery network with over 50 locations to dominate local markets through geolocalized and mobile optimization.
Additionnally, SeoSamba embarks many nifty features such as in-site tagging straight from the front-end CMS to direct all franchisees' requests to a white-label premium support service, providing swift expert - and billable - help in your own name instead of a generic hosting company support service.
Finally, thanks to the powerful combination of a secure cloud infrastructure and SeoToaster built-in security features, SeoSamba has successfully protected its customers from any major security incident, resulting in zero website hack or defacement for over 6 years.
Features |
Wordpress MS |
SeoSamba |
| Segregated Main Site hosting |  |
 |
| Geolocalized Cloud-based Instances | |
|
| VPS Hosting | |
|
| Cloud Sites Support | |
|
| Pay-as-you-go Full Network Hosting | |
|
| Integrated Front-end CMS Support | |
|
| White-label Hosting Support Services | |
|
| Full Network Pay-per-use Auto-scaling | |
|
| Native Domain Mapping | |
|
| Expert Support by Software Maker | |
|
sales: 
sales: 