Microsite Mirror Most Content On Parent Site

  • I’m considering using WordPress for an upcoming project for a Franchisee business and one of the features they would like is “microsites”.

    Those microsites would mirror about 90% of the content that is on the parent (corporate) site but would have some area’s (such as a blog) that would give the franchisee a place to contribute.

    I would like it to function in a way that if the content on the parent site was updated it would also in turn update the content on the microsite.

    Also when creating a new microsite it would automatically be created with that parent site content.

    I know this is possible with a lot of custom work (I’m assuming creating templates that reference the parts or the parent site content where I want them), but I’m wondering if there is a out-of-the-box solution that has done most of the work for me already?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Eeeeeehhhh I hate this question.

    Mirroring content is a dangerous, dangerous thing, and will hurt your site’s SEO if you don’t get it exactly right.

    Look at how the big boys (McDonalds) does stuff like that. They don’t mirror content. The main stuff is on the parent site, and they will link to it, with a separate, custom, entry on the child site. I promise, the extra work pays off.

    People don’t like auto posts, and neither does google.

    If you really, really must do this, there are plugins like https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/threewp-broadcast/

    Thread Starter iseehow

    (@iseehow)

    Mika- I could not agree more and have them aware of the dupelicant content issue. But they like the “once upon a child idea” because of the exposure. Just google “once upon a child” to see what I mean.

    I’ll tell you what their issue is any maybe you’ll have a better solution. They want to give their franchises a voice but not make an empty website for those who choose not to Add any content. The solution is that we will push most content while giving them a chance to add content.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Just becuase other people do it, doesn’t make it right, and it’s the wrong sort of exposure in the long term.

    Do you make your sites SEO friendly this way? Sure. But as a visitor, I learn nothing about your local franchise. I’d really advocate a placeholder page until those franchises start adding content. Otherwise you will end up diluting your brand. All of those hits for “once upon a child idea” are really worthless. They tell a visitor nothing, and if I remove quotes (which is how most people search) my second hit is about how it’s a rip off. Not really winning that argument, they are.

    Give the franchise a voice, but remember that your goal is to sell the parent brand. People will find “your product chicago” because it’ll still show up that way if you design the site right. Link back to the main site for ‘network wide’ news.

    Or yes, use the plugin I pointed you to. But this is a case where you, the developer who supposedly knows more than they do, needs to sit down and explain “You will hurt your bottom line.” There’s study after study, a hundred articles on the web, and a million people who will tell you this isn’t a great idea. Do your best, man I know how it feels to bang your head on that wall ??

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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