The days of building multiple websites using templates is over. A system which took ages to upload and adjust, business owners with time management on their minds have found an alternative.

Systems such as WordPress or similar alternatives like the 123 Reg website builder means anyone can learn how to set up websites in a relatively short time. If you have several sites to run you can just repeat the process. Furthermore there are now multi-site management tools and consolidated virtualised platforms that act as a one stop hosting solution.

If you are looking for tools to help you manage your multiple sites then these examples could help:

1. WordPress Tools

In WordPress 3.0 you can create a network of sites through one installation. Other programs include WP Remote which is a free program that allows you to update themes and plug-ins across the board. Infinite WP and Manage WP have basic free programs but also paid upgrades that allow things such as Auto-scheduling and can integrate with Google Analytics.

2. CMS Commander

It may be you are not using WordPress but Drupal, Joomla or phpBB sites then take a look at CMS Commander, as a way to streamline your work load.

3. Google Analytics Plug-In

Analytics and metrics tell you what is going on with your site, how it is performing, the number of people that have found it, plus a host of other information. Google provides an Analytics plug-in that you can sign up for in your general Google account. It will track your meta data and generate metrics showing thing like the total number of comments, where they came from and when. This way you can tell the best times to publish information or make offers to generate the most online activity.

4. All in One SEO

Uploading a program called All in One SEO will give you functionality to help with being found on the Web by Google Bots that crawl around cyber space analysing websites. This is very important because the better your website, the more regular you update and post and the more services you provide to your clients then the higher up the search engine rankings you’ll go. This tool helps you manage the SEO aspects of your site to ensure nothing gets left to chance when it comes to establishing yourself online.

Also look at Pinglers Multi-Rank checker tool if you want to keep track of your online performance.

5. Last Pass

Despite the fear of storing passwords online, it may prove worthwhile looking into something like Last Pass where authorisation is needed by several people in your company before access is granted. Try to keep separate accounts when managing groups of websites for different businesses or brands as it will make life easier if you need to update or sell any of your sites.

An important tip with multiple website management is to keep them regularly maintained to avoid problems. It may prove useful creating basic scripts to function automatically and you can even find tools which monitor emails from multiple accounts to help you with this side of things.