Multi-Site Search Management

Multi-Site Search Management enables organizations to create, govern, and optimize search experiences across multiple websites from a single platform. It provides centralized control while allowing teams to customize search for specific sites, brands, or audiences.

Organizations can manage search across dozens or thousands of websites without duplicating infrastructure or compromising security. Teams maintain oversight and brand consistency while regional or departmental groups customize their search experiences.

For more information about use cases and benefits, see our blog post: Multi-Site Management with SearchStax.

Two major building blocks enable this flexibility:

  • Apps: Unified search indexes that maintain separate permissions and data sources for distinct brands and environments. Some customers can also enable App-Level Permissions to control which users have access to specific Apps.
  • Search Profiles: Independent Profiles within an App that represent unique search experiences, such as a program finder, global search or location search.

Together, they allow web teams to manage and optimize multiple search experiences from a single platform.

How Search Profiles Enable Multi-Site Management

Search Profiles are the foundation of Multi-Site Search Management. When your Search App has more than one Search Profile, you can configure different search experiences for different sites, audiences or purposes—all within a single unified index.

When to use multiple profiles

Multiple profiles are useful when you need different search experiences within a single Search App. Common scenarios include:

  • Different campus locations: Configure location-based search to prioritize results near different campus locations
  • Content type separation: Set different default sorting for academic content vs. administrative content
  • Departmental customization: Customize sort options for different departments or business units
  • Audience-specific experiences: Tailor search behavior for different user groups or sites

Profile-specific settings

The following settings can be configured at the Search Profile level:

  • Analytics: View performance metrics for individual Search Profiles or aggregated across all profiles. Access detailed insights for specific search experiences or high-level rollups for administrators. See Analytics for more information.
  • Results Fields: Define which fields appear in search results for each profile. Customize the information displayed to match your audience’s needs. See Results Fields for more information.
  • Sorting: Control how search results are ordered for each profile. See Sorting for more information.
  • Location: Configure location-based search parameters for each profile. See Location for more information.
  • Faceting: Customize facets for filtering results. Prioritize facets that are most relevant to each audience. See Faceting for more information.
  • Promotions: Boost specific content or products for different audiences. See Promotions for more information.

For a complete list of App-level vs. Profile-level settings, see App vs. Profile Settings.

Configuring Multiple Search Profiles

When you make changes to profile-specific settings in an App with multiple profiles, you can choose which profiles receive your changes. This gives you precise control over how each search experience behaves.

Publish to Multiple Profiles

To configure settings for multiple profiles:

  1. From the Dashboard, go to the configuration you want to modify (Results Fields, Sorting, Location, Faceting, or Promotions).
  2. Make your configuration changes.
  3. Click SAVE DRAFT or PUBLISH. The profile selection window opens.
  4. In the Select Profile(s) dropdown, choose which Search Profiles should receive your changes. You can select:
    • The current profile only
    • Multiple specific profiles
    • All profiles

  1. Complete the save or publish operation.

How it works

When you save or publish configuration changes:

  • Your changes apply only to the selected profiles
  • Other profiles keep their existing settings
  • Each profile can have its own unique configuration

Note: When you apply configuration changes to multiple profiles, the entire configuration category is overwritten for the profiles you selected. For example, if you add a single Sort field to the Sorting configuration for Profile A and apply it to Profile B, all existing Sorting settings in Profile B will be replaced with Profile A’s complete Sorting configuration—not just the single field you changed. 

Example: University with Multiple Campuses

A university with three campuses demonstrates how Multi-Site Management with Search Profiles delivers tailored search experiences:

  • Main Campus Profile: Default sorting by relevance, location-based search centered on the main campus
  • Medical Campus Profile: Sorting prioritizes recent content, location-based search centered on the medical campus
  • Online Programs Profile: No location-based search, sorting prioritizes program popularity

Each profile provides a tailored search experience for its intended audience, all within a single Search App. The marketing team can update promotions and sort options without developer assistance, while IT maintains centralized oversight and security.

Related Topics

Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.