Featured case study
CMIT Solutions
200+ franchise territory sites running as one WordPress multisite network.
Read the case study: CMIT SolutionsMulti-location & franchise
Twelve locations shouldn't mean twelve websites.
You're paying separate vendors to keep a dozen slightly different sites slightly on-brand. I consolidate multi-location web estates onto a single WordPress multisite network, with one codebase and one dashboard, so every location is current the day you publish.
The fragmentation tax
Every location pays for the same site separately.
Most multi-location brands got here honestly. Each location needed a site, someone hired whoever was nearby, and now the web estate is a patchwork of hosts, plugin stacks, and vendors, with three different versions of the logo in circulation.
The cost hides in plain sight. A menu change, a legal disclaimer, a rebrand: each one gets implemented separately, at each location’s pace, by whoever holds that site’s keys. Some locations rank in local search; most don’t. And when a location’s developer stops answering email, that site becomes a hostage negotiation.
None of it is a people problem. The architecture is wrong, and that has a known fix.
- 12x what every brand update costs you
- 0 shared control over brand and plugins
The architecture
What a network looks like
One network
One WordPress network. Every location.
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One codebase
Every location runs the same theme and plugin stack. A fix or a feature ships once and every site gets it. No per-location tickets, no quiet drift.
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Per-brand theming
Locations keep what's genuinely local (team, offers, service area) while brand, layout, and functionality stay locked network-wide. Sub-brands get their own look on the same engine.
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Acquisitions onboarded in weeks
A new location or an acquired brand becomes another site on the network you already run. Content goes in, DNS gets pointed, and you're live in weeks instead of quarters.
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One update, every site
Core, plugin, and security updates run once against the whole network. Two hundred sites patch in the time one used to take.
Multi-location brands I’ve built for
- CMIT Solutions
- Lightbridge Academy
- MY SALON Suite
- American Consumer Shows
- Blo Blow Dry Bar
Start small
A feasibility assessment, before you commit.
Before you commit to a build, I audit every site you're running (hosting, vendors, plugin stacks, who owns what) and put real numbers on what fragmentation costs you each year. You get the consolidation math, a migration plan sequenced location by location, and a written go/no-go recommendation you can take to leadership. If we build, the fee comes off the project; if the honest answer is don't consolidate, the report says so.
$2,500 fixed fee, credited in full against the build.
Book the assessmentVocabulary
Terms used on this page
- Multisite network
- One WordPress installation that serves many sites. The network shares a codebase, plugins, and users; each site on it has its own content, settings, and address.
- Location site
- A single site on the network that represents one location, territory, or franchisee. It inherits the brand theme and gets structured fields for what legitimately varies: owner, hours, service area, local offers.
- Domain mapping
- Pointing a domain or subdomain at a specific site on the network, so a location can live at its own address while still running on the shared codebase.
- Consolidation
- Migrating independently built location sites onto the network, with redirects from every old URL and local SEO content rebuilt as structured fields, so rankings carry over.
- Network-level update
- A core, plugin, theme, or brand change applied once at the network and inherited by every site on it. The alternative is repeating the change per location, per vendor.
- Location post type
- The simpler alternative to multisite: a single site where each location is a structured entry with its own page. Right for brands whose locations share everything but an address.
Before you ask
Common questions
What is WordPress multisite?
A built-in WordPress feature that runs many sites from one installation: one codebase, one set of plugins, one admin dashboard, with each location as its own site on the network. Updates ship once and land everywhere. Each site keeps its own content, users, and, if it needs one, its own domain.
When is multisite the wrong choice?
When your locations are really one site with a list of addresses. Ten locations that share every page and differ only by phone number and hours belong on a single install with a location post type. Multisite earns its keep when locations need their own editors, their own pages, or their own domains.
Can each location keep its own domain?
Yes. Domain mapping points any domain or subdomain at a site on the network. Most franchise brands use subdirectories (brand.com/city) because those pages inherit the main domain’s authority, but subdomains and separate domains both work.
What happens to our existing location sites and their rankings?
They move onto the network one location at a time. Every old URL is redirected to its new home, and the local SEO content (name, address, phone, service area, reviews) is rebuilt as structured fields. Rankings follow the redirects. The first few migrations prove the process before the rest follow, and no location goes offline.
How many locations do you need before multisite makes sense?
There is no magic number. I have built networks for five sites and for more than two hundred. The questions that matter are whether locations need separate editors, separate content, or separate domains, and what the current patchwork costs you every time the brand changes.
What does the feasibility assessment include?
A full audit of every site you run: hosting, vendors, plugin stacks, who holds the keys. You get the consolidation math, a location-by-location migration plan, and a written go or no-go recommendation. The fee is $2,500, credited in full against the build if we proceed.
Next step
Consolidate the network.
Tell me how many locations you have and what's holding the current setup together. I'll give you a yes or a no on multisite, and what it would take.
Get a straight answer