Managing multiple WordPress sites can be a strategic advantage for your business. It enables you to cater to various customer segments while ensuring the security of your primary site.
However, linking these sites and ensuring they function cohesively can pose some challenges. Fortunately, it’s simpler than you might expect.
In this guide, we will discuss three effective methods to seamlessly connect all of your WordPress sites.
Why Should You Connect Multiple WordPress Websites?
Imagine you own several websites, such as a WordPress blog and an online course platform.
If a customer buys a course from your blog, you would need to manually enroll them on your site that hosts the learning management system (LMS). This process can be time-consuming and expensive if you require assistance.
Conversely, linking these websites can automate various tasks, saving you both time and effort.
When a customer purchases a course, they are automatically registered and enrolled on a separate membership site, which helps maintain the security of your primary WordPress site.
Many people consider establishing a WordPress multisite network when connecting multiple sites. However, running a multisite network is not necessary for linking each website. In fact, it is often not the most effective solution.
In the following sections, we will explore three effective methods for seamlessly connecting multiple websites. Feel free to click on any section link below to jump directly to the information you’re interested in:
- Method 1: Connect Multiple WordPress Sites Using a Plugin
- Method 2: Create a Subdomain to Link WordPress Websites
- Method 3: Utilize Interlinking to Connect Websites
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
Method 1: Connect Multiple WordPress Sites Using a Plugin
The most effective way to link two websites and enable communication between them is by using the Uncanny Automator plugin. This powerful WordPress automation tool allows you to create automated workflows for your site.
You can think of this plugin as the Zapier for WordPress. With Uncanny Automator, establishing connections between multiple websites becomes a breeze.
For this tutorial, let’s imagine you operate a WooCommerce store alongside a membership site.
We will demonstrate how to connect both websites using Uncanny Automator. Our objective is to automatically enroll customers on your membership site when they purchase a course from your store.
Important Note:Before you begin, ensure that you have added a product to your WooCommerce store and established various membership levels on your membership site.
First, install the Uncanny Automator plugin on both of your websites. For detailed instructions, refer to our guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
Once activated, you will be prompted to install the free version of the Uncanny Automator plugin. This lite version has limited features and serves as the foundation for the pro version.
Next, navigate to Automator » Settings in your WordPress dashboard and input your license key. You can find this key in your Uncanny Automator account area.
After entering the key, make sure to click the ‘Activate License’ button.
You will need to repeat the activation process for both WordPress sites.
Creating a Recipe for Product Purchases on Your WooCommerce Store
The next step is to create a recipe in your WooCommerce store that activates when customers purchase your product. These ‘Recipes’ automate tasks.
To begin, go to Automator » Add New in your WordPress admin panel.
After that, you will be prompted to choose a recipe type. Logged-in recipes are triggered exclusively by logged-in users, while ‘All users can trigger everyone’ recipes allow any user to activate them.
Select ‘Logged-in users’ as the recipe type since your customers will need to create an account and log in to make purchases. Then, click the ‘Confirm’ button.
Next, enter a name for your recipe and choose ‘WooCommerce’ as the integration. This name is for your reference only and will not be visible to users.
Now, you need to choose a trigger for your recipe.
Select ‘A user completes, pays for, lands on a thank you page for an order with a product’ as the trigger.
Next, you will be prompted to select the trigger condition.
Choose ‘pays for’ as the condition and then click the ‘Save’ button.
After that, Uncanny Automator will prompt you to select a product for your recipe.
Select the digital product from your WooCommerce store. For this tutorial, we will choose ‘WordPress Course: Ultimate Growth Hacking.’
Remember to click the ‘Save’ button after selecting a product.
Now, you need to choose an ‘Action’ for your recipe.
To create the action, you will need to select an integration.
By utilizing a webhook, you can effortlessly transmit customer registration information to your membership site. A webhook is a piece of code that enables various tools and applications to share data with each other in real time.
Select ‘Webhooks’ as your integration option.
No need to worry about coding skills; we will guide you through each step of the process.
Now, choose an action for the integration you’ve selected.
Simply choose the ‘Send data to a webhook’ option, as shown in the screenshot above.
Next, you will need to input your webhook details.
Keep this tab open for the time being.
To finalize the setup on your WooCommerce store and enter the webhook information, you must create a webhook on your membership site.
How to Create a Webhook on Your Membership Site
First, open your membership site in a new tab. Then, navigate to Automator » Add Newin your WordPress admin panel on your membership site.
Select ‘Everyone’ as the recipe type and click the ‘Confirm’ button.
Next, you will need to provide a name for your recipe and choose a trigger integration.
Simply click ‘Webhooks’ as the integration option.
The next step is to choose a trigger for your integration.
Select the ‘Receive data from a webhook’ option as your trigger.
The plugin will display the webhook URL. Make sure to save this URL in a text file, as we will need it later to complete the setup on your WooCommerce store.
Scroll down to the Fields section. Enter ‘Email’ in the Key field and select ‘Email’ for the Value type.
Remember to click the ‘Save’ button.
Next, add an action to your recipe by clicking the ‘Add action’ button.
You will see various integrations available for your action. Choose the membership plugin you used to create your membership site.
In this case, we will select MemberPress since it was used to set up the membership site.
After that, you can select an action for your chosen integration.
To automatically subscribe customers to a membership, select the ‘Add the user to a membership’ option.
A popup will appear indicating that the action requires WordPress user data.
Click the ‘Set user data’ button.
You will need to choose between an ‘Existing User’ or a ‘New User.’
Click on the ‘New User’ option to get started.
A form will appear where you can enter user information. The first name and last name fields can be left empty.
Next, click the asterisk icon (*) next to the ‘Email’ field. From the dropdown menu, choose ‘Field #1 Email’ under ‘Receive data from a webhook.’
You can repeat this process for the ‘Username’ field as well. Other fields can remain blank.
Under the ‘What to do if the user already exists’ section, select ‘Do nothing’ and then click the Save button.
Next, choose the membership plan for the WooCommerce customer by selecting from the Membership dropdown menu.
Additionally, you will see fields for subtotal, tax amount, tax rate, status, gateway, and more. You can keep these at their default settings.
Remember to click the ‘Save’ button once you have completed your entries.
If desired, you can add more actions to the recipe, such as enabling WordPress to send a confirmation email or registering the user for a Zoom webinar.
If you prefer not to add more actions, you’re all set!
You can now publish your recipe. Simply switch the ‘Draft’ toggle on the right side of the page to ‘Live.’
Completing Your Purchase Recipe in WooCommerce
Now that your recipe is live on the membership site, it’s time to finalize it on your WooCommerce store.
First, return to your WooCommerce site and open the recipe we created earlier. Then, paste the webhook link we saved in a text file (during the recipe creation on the membership site) into the ‘URL’ field.
Next, scroll down and keep the default settings for ‘Request method’ and ‘Data format’.
In the ‘Body’ section, click the asterisk (*) for the ‘Key’ field and choose ‘Billing email’ as the option. Similarly, select ‘Billing email’ for the ‘Value’ field.
You also have the option to send test data to verify if your connection is correctly established.
Once you’re finished, make sure to click the ‘Save’ button.
Next, publish your recipe by toggling the ‘Draft’ option to ‘Live’.
And there you have it!
Now, whenever a customer purchases your selected WooCommerce product, they will automatically be subscribed to a membership plan on your membership site.
You can use this same approach to set up similar automation that connects multiple WordPress sites.
Method 2: Create a Subdomain to Link WordPress Websites
One effective method to connect multiple WordPress websites is by setting up a subdomain. However, it’s important to note that these sites will not synchronize automatically, so you’ll need to manage updates for each site manually.
Subdomains are extensions of your main domain name that help organize different sections of your WordPress site. They can be used to separate various functions from your primary website.
For instance, if you want to establish an eCommerce store while keeping it distinct from your main domain, you can create a subdomain specifically for your online store. Your website would then appear as follows:
https://store.yourexamplewebsite.com
Likewise, you can set up subdomains for various geographical locations, such as uk.yourexamplesite.com or fr.yourexamplesite.com.
At CanadaCreate, we also utilize a subdomain for our video content. You can explore https://videos.CanadaCreate.com/ to access a wide range of video tutorials on WordPress.
Creating a subdomain is straightforward and can be done through your WordPress hosting account. For more information, check out our detailed guide on subdomains and the process of creating one.
After that, refer to our guide on how to install WordPress to set up another WordPress site on the subdomain.
Method 3: Utilize Interlinking to Link Your Websites
You can connect several WordPress sites by creating interlinks. These links enhance your WordPress SEO by transferring authority (link juice) between domains.
A popular method is to include a custom link in your primary navigation menu.
Additionally, you can place a link in your website’s footer. For instance, CanadaCreate features links to sites within the CanadaCreate product family, along with other relevant links.
To modify your WordPress footer and insert links to another website, refer to our guide on editing the footer in WordPress.
We hope this article has helped you understand how to connect multiple WordPress sites. You can also explore our guides on managing multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard and optimizing disk space and inode usage in WordPress.
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