Monitoring Multiple Sites: A Simple System for Agencies & Freelancers

[1,133 words, 6 minute read time]

Monitoring one site is easy. Monitoring 10, 50, or 200 client sites is where most agencies and freelancers hit the same wall: alert chaos.

The fix isn’t a fancier tool—it’s a simple system:

Scale monitoring without drowning in alerts.

This guide gives you a practical, repeatable approach for agency website monitoring: naming conventions, tags/groups, client alert policies, reporting templates, access separation, and a clear path to scale from 10 → 200 sites.

If you want the foundations of good alert routing first, keep this open too: alerts best practices.

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The core problem: “more sites” multiplies noise

When you add clients, you multiply:

• endpoints (homepage, login, checkout, API)
• alert channels (email, Slack, SMS)
• stakeholders (you, your team, client contacts)
• expectations (“Do you guarantee 99.99%?”)

Without structure, monitoring becomes:

• 30 alerts for one shared outage (CDN/DNS/hosting)
• clients pinging you before you’ve even confirmed the incident
• monthly reporting that turns into guesswork and liability

So you need a system that makes these things boring.

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Step 1: Build naming conventions and tags/groups (the foundation)

If you skip this, you’ll pay for it later.

A naming convention that scales

Use a format that encodes what matters:

[Client] – [Env] – [Type] – [Target] – [Priority]

Examples:

• AcmeCo – Prod – HTTP – Homepage – P2
• AcmeCo – Prod – Keyword – /pricing – P1
• BetaLaw – Prod – HTTP – /contact – P1
• ClientX – Prod – HTTP – API /health – P1

Why this works:

• sorting and searching works
• anyone can understand it at 2 a.m.
• you can route alerts and reports by priority

Tags you should use (minimum set)

If your tool supports tags/labels, use these consistently:

• client:acmeco
• env:prod (and env:staging if needed)
• tier:tier1 / tier:tier2
• service:web / service:api / service:checkout
• owner:team-a (optional)

Group/folder structure (example)

Top-level groups:

• Clients – Tier 1
• Clients – Tier 2
• Internal Sites

Inside each client group:

• AcmeCo / Web
• AcmeCo / Key Flows
• AcmeCo / API (if applicable)

This structure helps you:

• apply alert policies at the group level
• report consistently
• delegate ownership across your team

If you’re using UptimeRobot as your baseline tool, start with the setup guide: UptimeRobot setup.

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Step 2: Define a client alert policy (who gets what)

Your alert policy is where most agencies accidentally create liability.

You want clients to feel informed—but not to be spammed, and not to bypass your triage process.

The rule: clients should not receive raw alerts by default

Raw alerts create:

• false alarm panic (WAF blocks, transient blips)
• clients emailing you before you’ve confirmed scope
• pressure to “explain” issues that aren’t real

Instead, route raw alerts to you/your team, then communicate to clients when appropriate.

Simple client alert policy (agency default)

Tier 1 clients (revenue-critical, SLA-like expectations)

• You receive: immediate alerts (Slack/email), escalation if persists
• Client receives: confirmation-based notification after X minutes (e.g., 10–15 min) or immediately if confirmed high impact
• Client receives: resolution summary (always)

Tier 2 clients

• You receive: alerts (email/Slack), no paging
• Client receives: only if incident lasts beyond X minutes (e.g., 30–60 min) or impacts a campaign/launch

All clients

• Scheduled maintenance: pre-notice + “maintenance ongoing” + “completed” update

For channel decisions and escalation ladders, see alerts best practices.

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Client policy template (copy/paste)

Use this in onboarding or your MSA/SOW so expectations are explicit.

Client Monitoring & Incident Communication Policy

Monitoring scope

• We monitor: {homepage / key pages / key flows / API endpoints}
• Check interval: {5 minutes default; 1 minute for Tier 1 key flows if included}
• Confirmation: alerts require {2 failures and/or multi-region confirmation}

Notification

• Agency receives real-time alerts.
• Client notifications are sent when:
  • downtime is confirmed and persists for {10–15 minutes} (Tier 1) or {30–60 minutes} (Tier 2), or
  • the incident materially impacts {checkout / lead forms / login}.

Response

• Target response time: {e.g., within 15 minutes during business hours; best-effort after hours unless on-call is purchased}
• Escalation contacts: {client contacts list}

Reporting

• Monthly uptime summary provided for monitored endpoints.
• Uptime reflects monitored URLs and does not cover all third-party dependencies unless explicitly included.

Limitations

• Monitoring detects symptoms; root cause may be hosting/CDN/DNS/third-party.
• Uptime percentages are not a contractual SLA unless explicitly stated in the agreement.

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Step 3: Report uptime without overpromising (SLA vs reality)

Clients love “99.9%.” Agencies get burned when they promise it casually.

Don’t promise an SLA unless you can control the stack

If you don’t control hosting/CDN/DNS/app deployments, you can’t responsibly promise tight SLAs.

Instead, report:

• observed availability for monitored endpoints
• incident count and durations
• MTTR (your response/restore performance)
• top causes (hosting, DNS, app changes, third-party)

For stakeholder-friendly definitions and templates, use metrics.

A safer reporting language

• “Observed uptime for monitored URLs”
• “Incidents detected and time-to-notify”
• “Time-to-restore for incidents within our control”
• “Recommended improvements to reduce recurrence”

This protects you legally and keeps the report honest.

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Step 4: Access separation and client visibility

As you scale, you’ll need to decide: do clients see your monitoring dashboard?

Option A: Agency-only visibility (most common)

Pros

• reduces panic and misinterpretation
• keeps your workflow clean
• clients get curated updates

Cons

• clients may ask for “proof” during incidents

Solution: provide monthly reports + incident summaries.

Option B: Client-specific views (best when you have strong process)

If your tool supports it, give clients:

• a limited dashboard view (their monitors only)
• read-only access
• or a status page that communicates incidents clearly

Best practice: never give clients access that lets them change monitors or alert settings unless you’re prepared for chaos.

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Step 5: Scaling from 10 → 200 sites (what changes, what doesn’t)

Your core system stays the same. What changes is automation and standardization.

At ~10 sites

• manual monitor creation is fine
• one alert channel + email works
• reporting can be lightweight

At ~50 sites

• you must standardize naming, groups, and priorities
• you need dedupe/grouping policies
• you should add maintenance window suppression
• you should separate “down” vs “slow” alerts

At ~100–200 sites

• treat monitoring like inventory management:
  • every client has a defined “monitor set” (baseline + key flow)
  • every monitor has a priority and owner
• introduce tiers:
  • Tier 1: multi-location confirmation, faster intervals, escalation
  • Tier 2: baseline checks, business-hours response
• consider webhook routing into tickets/incidents
• ensure your reports are templated and repeatable

The agency scaling secret: a “monitor pack”

Create a standard package you deploy for every new client:

Baseline monitor pack

• HTTP homepage
• Keyword check for key page (pricing/booking/contact)
• Optional: API health (if relevant)

Then upgrade packs for Tier 1 clients:

• 2 regions + confirmation logic
• 1-minute checks for critical endpoints
• escalation policy

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Folder/group structure example (10 clients)

Clients – Tier 1

• AcmeCo
  • Web (Homepage, Pricing)
  • Key Flows (Login/Checkout)
• BetaShop
  • Web
  • Checkout

Clients – Tier 2

• ClientC
  • Web
• ClientD
  • Web

Internal

• Agency website
• Client portal

This is boring—and boring is good.

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CTA: Implement naming + groups before adding your next client

If you do one thing today, do this before you onboard another client:

1. Choose your naming convention
2. Create your group structure (Tier 1 / Tier 2 + per client)
3. Define your client alert policy (who gets what, when)

CTA: Implement naming + groups before adding your next client—because once you hit 50+ sites, retrofitting structure is painful and expensive.